VIRTUAL REALITY MEDICAL CENTER

Virtual Reality Treatment for Fears, Phobias, and Anxiety

SERVING PATIENTS FOR OVER TWO DECADES

For the past 25 years, Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) has successfully treated patients using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET).  In most cases, we offer the treatments in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy and biosensors (biofeedback). We specialize in treating phobias, anxiety (including pre-surgical anxiety), stress and pain. Conditions treated include specific phobias such as fear of flying, fear of heights, fear of public speaking, claustrophobia, agoraphobia,  panic disorder, fear of driving, fear of needles and posttraumatic stress disorder due to motor vehicle accidents. General stress management and relaxation skills are taught for stress-related disorders.  At VRMC-Coronado, treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder due to military deployment is offered using VR in combination with biofeedback and individual psychotherapy.

VRET places you in a computer-generated world where you “experience” the various stimuli related to your phobia. The VR is experienced via a head-mounted display (HMD) with small TV monitors and stereo earphones to receive both visual and auditory cues.  The VR can also be experienced non-immersively on a computer screen.

Please note: Currently  sessions are available via telehealth, as well as in-person in our La Jolla facility. We are licensed to provide psychological services in the following states: California and Virginia. We are also licensed to provide psychological services in Belgium. 

After an intake and clinical history session, you will be taught skills to help control your automatic responses to anxiety-provoking situations. Then you and your therapist will collaborate to create a hierarchy of anxiety-inducing situations. In careful, controlled stages, you will begin virtual exposure to these situations. Each stage can be repeated until you are more comfortable with the experience and satisfied with your response. At every step, the therapist can see and hear what you are experiencing in the virtual world. If the level of anxiety becomes overwhelming, you can return to a less stressful level of treatment, or simply remove your head-mounted display and exit the virtual world.  For those being seen in-person, physiology will be recorded in real-time to provide an objective metric of your responses.  For those choosing to be seen via telehealth, we can recommend physiological monitoring devices that you may wish to purchase for use during your sessions.  Many individuals find objective metrics, in addition to their subjective responses, to provide an added dimension to their understanding of their progress.

A San Diego, CA Psychologist winner of the Patients’ Choice Awards.
Verified by Opencare.com