C2Care offers environments dedicated to the management of amaxophobia, the fear of driving. They allow the practitioner to gradually confront the patient with the most feared driving situations, as part of cognitive-behavioral therapy through exposure.
Exposure to driving situations can be relevant in supporting the amaxophobic patient. However, reproducing these situations in consultation is not always simple.
Some depend on particular traffic conditions or journeys that are difficult to organize, such as motorways, tunnels or night driving. Their identical repetition and controlled progression remain difficult to obtain in reality.
Virtual reality makes it possible to recreate these road contexts directly in the office, in a controlled and reproducible environment, without exposing the patient or the practitioner to road risks.
The C2Care environments make it possible to recreate the situations feared by amaxophobic patients and to gradually integrate them during the sessions.
On the highway, in a tunnel or in the city, the patient may be confronted with traffic, surrounding vehicles or night driving conditions. The practitioner adjusts the traffic density, the weather and the perspective, driver or passenger, according to the objectives of the session.
These situations can be repeated and gradually integrated into the practitioner's protocol in order to work with the patient on anticipatory anxiety, as well as on thoughts and automatisms associated with driving.
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
C2Care reproduces the main road contexts feared by amaxophobic patients.
Entrances, exits, lane changes, trucks and traffic allow you to gradually practice driving on the highway.
The patient can pass through short or long tunnels and progress at their own pace.
Driving in the city involves roundabouts, pedestrians and other vehicles.
Mountain roads, narrow or winding, complete the exposure 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.
Mélanie 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.
Elphinston et al. — Virtual reality psychological therapy for the treatment of driving phobia
Psychological therapy using virtual reality for treatment of driving phobia: a systematic review
Scheveneels et al. — Underlying mechanisms of virtual reality exposure: anxious expectations and habituation
Underlying Working Mechanisms of Virtual Reality Exposure: Exploring the Role of Fearful Expectancies and Habituation
Kaussner et al. — Treatment of driving phobia through exposure to virtual reality
Treating patients with driving phobia by virtual reality exposure therapy - a pilot study
Wald et al. — Preliminary effectiveness of virtual reality exposure for the treatment of driving phobia
Preliminary research on the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy to treat driving phobia
Bazhanov et al. — Virtualization of therapy for alcohol-related disorders: systematic scoping review
Virtualizing Alcohol Use Disorder Therapy: A Systematic Scoping Review
Discover more
Depending on your patients' needs, other areas may also be relevant to explore. Discover the different environments available in C2Care.
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FAQ
Here are the answers to the questions most asked by practitioners about the management of amaxophobia in virtual reality.
C2Care has been testing its virtual reality software in hospitals since 2016. This clinical experience has made it possible to refine the environments, including those dedicated to amaxophobia grouped in the C2Care application.
The patient wears a virtual reality headset and uses a steering wheel and pedals to reproduce the sensations of driving. The therapist controls the scene from a controller, adjusting traffic, weather and perspective (driver or passenger).
A virtual environment reproduces a real anxiety-provoking situation, such as the highway, the tunnel or the city in C2Care. The therapist controls the stimuli (traffic, weather, vehicles) to gradually expose the patient to their driving fears.
For the C2Care driving environments, a virtual reality headset combined with a steering wheel and pedals is required. These accessories activate muscle recruitment specific to driving and reinforce the feeling of presence during exposure.
No, virtual reality allows secure support, in a secure setting for the patient or the therapist. Some users may experience cybersickness, a discomfort that affects approximately 10% of people exposed to a virtual environment.
A feeling of cybersickness, similar to motion sickness, can occur in around 10% of people using a virtual reality headset. The therapist then adapts the session to limit this discomfort.
Practitioners such as psychologists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists use virtual reality to treat their patients. For amaxophobia, they rely on C2Care's driving environments to conduct graded exposures to feared situations.
Patients suffering from fear of driving, whether they dread the highway, tunnel or city, can benefit from virtual reality exposure therapy. Some are first exposed as passengers when their disorder has spread to car journeys.
The C2Care devices are aimed at practitioners: psychologists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists, both in private practice and in health establishments.
Virtual reality brings together the active principles of cognitive-behavioral therapies: security, repetition, accessibility and scaling of exposure.
Yes, all C2Care environments are grouped into a single application.
The technical service can be reached via live chat from the control platform. In the event of a problem with the VR headset, the defective material is replaced within 48 hours if necessary.
Patients with an anxiety disorder or phobia, such as amaxophobia, aviophobia, or fear of the subway, may benefit from virtual reality exposure therapy.
