Acrophobia, or fear of heights, is worked on through graduated exposure in virtual reality, in progressively more difficult environments at height. “Virtual reality is 80% effective, with benefits lasting more than a year after treatment,” according to Eric Malbos, psychiatrist.
Exposure to height remains relevant when supporting an acrophobic patient. However, reproducing a cliff, a bridge or a building in consultation is not always simple.
These situations depend on an external location, weather conditions or access that is sometimes difficult to secure. Their progressiveness is also difficult to control: we cannot adjust the height or the exposure to vacuum in a fine and repeatable way.
Virtual reality makes it possible to recreate these situations at height directly in the office, in a controlled and reproducible environment.
The C2Care environments allow you to recreate anxiety-provoking situations linked to height and gradually integrate them during the sessions.
In a virtual building, the patient can walk onto a walkway or take a glass elevator. On a cliff or a bridge, he may be confronted with the absence of guardrails, the emptiness below or the noise of vehicles.
These situations can be repeated and gradually adjusted by the practitioner in order to work with the patient on anticipatory anxiety, as well as on catastrophic thoughts associated with emptiness.
VRET
The practitioner seats the patient on a swivel chair and fits them with the virtual reality headset
Using the control interface, the practitioner selects the environment suited to the session's goals and starts the exposure.
During immersion, the practitioner supports the patient using a visual feed and can adjust the exposure scene in real time
Environments
Each environment recreates an anxiety-provoking situation at height, in a progressive and secure setting.
Routes on roofs and around buildings provide graduated exposure to the void.
A structure suspended above a cliff gradually confronts the patient with height.
The patient remains seated on a chairlift stopped at altitude and tames exposure to vacuum.
Situations at very great height, on a crane or a skyscraper, complete the progression.
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Solène Montègue
Neuropsychiatrist
The developments C2Care is currently integrating into the interface are very promising and meet the established therapeutic objectives [...]: offering tailored exercises that can be adapted to levels of dependency, cognitive disorders, and patients' real-time responses.
Samia Lahya
Psychiatrist
With the acquisition of new equipment [...] and updates to the C2Care programs, its use has expanded even further: OCD, phobias, addictions, anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD. Ten years later, it is no longer merely a curiosity, but a genuine therapeutic tool that is stimulating, innovative, and effective.
Sabrina Gineau
Psychologist
I incorporate this technology into brief therapies lasting two to four months, with one session per week. I begin with relaxation techniques and, when patients are ready, we proceed. It makes it much easier to expose people to these situations.
Noël Schepers
Psychologist
Virtual reality can enrich and personalize treatment, facilitate patient-therapist collaboration in developing the treatment plan, and add a playful dimension. The possibilities for development and application are immense and extend to every area of psychology and psychotherapy.
MĂ©lanie Boucherot
Psychologist
The value of this technology [C2Care] lies in offering new possibilities for therapeutic support and expanding the range of tools available to healthcare professionals.
François Maltese
Psychologist
For several months, we have been using virtual reality in habituation therapies. Before the procedure, patients are progressively and immersively exposed to their future medical environment and psychologically prepared to accept it.
Dre Marie-Claude Roberge
Doctor of Psychology
Since 2022, we have been using virtual reality therapy with the C2Care platform to simulate exposure to aversive stimuli and triggers that cause anxiety. Exposure therapy is used to treat specific phobias, including fear of heights, enclosed spaces, flying, dogs, emetophobia, and many others.
Dr Laure Du Pouget
Urologist
Using a virtual reality headset for self-hypnosis during prostate biopsies creates a calm atmosphere for a procedure that can sometimes be uncomfortable, even with effective local anesthesia...
Delphine Py
Psychologist
Thank you to C2Care for providing innovative virtual reality solutions to support CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)! A major step forward in making exposure exercises easier and helping our patients overcome their phobias.
Guo et al. — Changes in brain function in acrophobic patients treated with virtual reality exposure
How Does Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment Change the Brain Function of Acrophobia Patients? A Randomized Controlled Trial
Francová et al. — Effectiveness of virtual reality exposure scenarios for the treatment of acrophobia
Efficacy of exposure scenario in virtual reality for the treatment of acrophobia: A randomized controlled trial
Hui et al. — Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Enhance Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy in Acrophobia
Efficacy of tDCS to enhance virtual reality exposure therapy response in acrophobia: A randomized controlled trial
Diemer et al. — Distraction versus concentration during virtual reality exposure therapy for acrophobia
Distraction versus focusing during VR exposure therapy for acrophobia: A randomized controlled trial
Arroll et al. — Systematic review and meta-analysis of treatments for acrophobia
A systematic review and meta-analysis of treatments for acrophobia
Discover more
Depending on your patients' needs, other areas may also be relevant to explore. Discover the different environments available in C2Care.
Create a free account to discover all exposure situations and subscribe directly online
FAQ
Here are the answers to the most asked questions about treating acrophobia with virtual reality.
C2Care has been testing its software in hospitals since 2016. This field experience has made it possible to refine the immersive environments and graduated exposure protocols offered today to practitioners to treat acrophobia and other anxiety disorders.
Virtual reality treats anxiety disorders, including specific phobias such as acrophobia, as well as addictions and certain cognitive disorders. Each environment reproduces a specific anxiety-provoking situation, here linked to height, to allow graduated and secure exposure.
Patients suffering from acrophobia, whether it manifests itself in front of buildings, cliffs or bridges, can benefit from this therapy. The practitioner adjusts the height, speed and appearance of the environments to adapt the graduated exposure to the pace of each patient.
A virtual environment is an immersive scene recreating an anxiety-provoking situation at height, such as a building, a cliff or a bridge. The patient is exposed to it gradually, with adjustable parameters (height, speed, appearance) to personalize each graduated exposure session.
Some people experience cybersickness, a form of nausea related to immersion. This phenomenon affects around 10% of users and generally remains limited in time. The practitioner can adjust the session if you feel the first signs.
Virtual reality exposure therapy is aimed at practitioners: psychologists, psychiatrists and other professionals trained in exposure therapy. It is deployed privately, in CHU, in hospitals and clinics, always under the support of a practitioner.
