Specific phobia affects between 4% and 8.8% of the population at any given time. Its treatment is based on exposure therapy, which gradually confronts the patient with the feared stimulus.
Virtual reality reproduces these situations in an immersive and secure environment, for patients unable to expose themselves in reality. According to a survey of 777 students, 76% preferred a virtual reality exposure to an in vivo exposure.
Exposure in real situations remains a reference in the management of phobias. However, reproducing these situations in consultation is not always simple.
Some depend on an external context that is difficult to provoke, such as a traffic jam or a plane flight, or on the presence of elements that the practitioner cannot control, such as a spider or a dog. Their repetition and progression also remain difficult to control outside the office.
Virtual reality makes it possible to recreate these situations directly in the office, in a controlled and reproducible environment, whatever the phobia being worked on.
The C2Care environments make it possible to recreate the situations feared by the patient, from the highway to the airport via a building or an elevator.
Depending on the phobia being worked on, the patient may be confronted with a highway entrance, a plane flight or the presence of a spider. The practitioner adjusts the intensity of the stimulus and the duration of exposure based on the observed reaction.
This progressiveness makes it possible to work with the patient on catastrophic thoughts, anticipatory anxiety and avoidance mechanisms associated with the phobogenic stimulus.
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 scene reproduces a specific anxiety-provoking situation, for graduated exposure in complete safety.
Driving activities cover highway, city, tunnels, bridges and mountains.
The patient can work on each step of the journey, from terminal to landing.
Elevators, tunnel, modular room and container allow you to scale the exposure.
Cliff, roof, chairlift and elevated structures offer several height levels.
Spiders, dogs, rats and wasps are available in progressive confrontation scenes.
Speaking, interviewing, dining and conversation allow for social exposure.
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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.
Chang YC et al. — VR Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Innovative virtual reality exposure therapy for anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
Tan YL et al. — VR Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorders
Virtual reality exposure therapy for social anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis and meta-regression of randomized controlled trials
Steenen SA et al. — Interventions to reduce dental anxiety and phobia
Interventions to reduce adult state anxiety, dental trait anxiety, and dental phobia: A systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials
van Loenen I et al. — Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy using VR exposure for severe anxiety disorders
The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Exposure-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Severe Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Meta-analysis
Gao Y et al. — VR intervention to reduce pain, anxiety and fear in children
Effectiveness of virtual reality intervention on reducing the pain, anxiety and fear of needle-related procedures in paediatric patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis
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
Find answers to the questions most asked by practitioners and patients about virtual reality exposure therapy.
C2Care has been testing its virtual reality software in hospitals since 2016. The approach is based on older work, notably systematic desensitization and in vivo exposure described by Wolpe in 1958, at the origin of current exposure therapies.
The patient wears a headset and moves in a virtual environment reproducing the feared situation. The practitioner controls the intensity and frequency of the stimuli, adjusts the graduated exposure according to the patient's reaction and adapts the scenario to each session.
A virtual environment is an immersive scene reproducing an anxiety-provoking situation or place (plane, elevator, crowd, spider). The patient experiences it via a headset, in a setting controlled by the practitioner, without direct confrontation with reality.
Virtual reality is used in the treatment of anxiety disorders, specific phobias, addictions and certain cognitive disorders. She also works in cognitive remediation and behavioral activation, particularly with patients treated in geriatric psychiatry.
Cybersickness, which combines nausea and slight dizziness, affects around 10% of virtual reality headset users. This phenomenon remains minority and temporary. The practitioner adapts the session if the patient feels discomfort.
Therapeutic virtual reality is aimed at practitioners: psychologists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists. It is deployed in health establishments (CHU, hospitals, clinics, EHPAD, SSR) as well as in private practices, always under the control of the practitioner.
Virtual reality exposure therapy facilitates the management of unexpected events and accessibility to phobic situations. It reduces avoidance, reduces the costs linked to the reproduction of the real environment and improves the patient's adherence to treatment.
Virtual reality is not presented as a risky device, but it can cause cybersickness (nausea, dizziness) in around 10% of users. The practitioner supervises the session and adjusts the graduated exposure according to the patient's tolerance.
