Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Anxiety

Overview

Despite strong evidence of effectiveness exposure therapy is an underutilized treatment for anxiety disorders at a time when effective treatment for anxiety is greatly needed The significant worldwide prevalence and negative impact of anxiety are documented and highlight the importance of increasing therapist and patient use of effective treatment Obstacles to the use of exposure therapy are explored and steps to lessen these obstacles are proposed The authors advocate for providing continuing education in VRET to practicing clinicians and including training in exposure therapy and VRET in training programs Ongoing development of VR applications for clinical use is encouraged especially when developed in collaboration with software developers clinical users therapists who are experienced in VRET and researchers