2010 Winter Editorial

Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation

Winter 2010, Volume 3, Issue 4

 

  EDITORIAL

Let me take this opportunity to welcome readers to the Winter 2010 issue of the Journal of CyberTherapy & Re- habilitation (JCR). Our peer-reviewed academic journal continues to promote and explore advanced technologies for therapy, training, education, prevention and rehabil- itation. With the end of 2010 drawing to a close, we take this time to reflect on the advancement and recognition JCR has received. We have seen our exposure grow, partly as a result of newly acquired indexing with Scopus and Embase, Cabell’s, Gale, EBSCO and PsycINFO. JCR continues to reach an ever-expanding number of readers around the globe, both as subscribers and at var- ious academic conferences.

In the first article of this issue, Cho and Lee describe the creation and implementation of a virtual optokinetic stimulation program to treat pseudoneglect in healthy individuals. Results and whether the program might be applicable in a clinical setting are addressed as well.

In the second paper, Valtchanov and Ellard explore physiological and affective responses to immersion in Virtual Reality (VR) to determine which environments, natural versus urban, have the most soothing effects on stress.

Next, Lister, Piercey, and Joordens discuss the effective- ness of VR to treat fear of public speaking and expound on future areas of application.

The following paper by Kündiger et al. addresses an online counseling system to treat eating disorders, and how it can complement more traditional methods of treatment and therapy. Level of acceptance for patients is discussed and ways in which to make the program more effective and user-friendly.

An interesting study by Wiederhold, Gavshon, and Wiederhold explores the combination of psychodynamic psychotherapy and VR. Often VR is used in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy, but its use with other types of therapy have found success as well.

A final paper by Santos-Ruiz et al. explores whether the Trier Social Stress Test can be integrated with VR environments to effectively measure levels of stress and anx- iety.

I would like to send a sincere thanks to contributing au- thors for their inspiring work and dedication to this field of research. I also want to thank JCR’s Associate Editors – Professors Botella, Bouchard, Gamberini and Riva for their continued leadership and hard work, as well as or internationally renowned Editorial Board for their contributions. Our board continues to grow, representing diverse disciplines, countries, and areas of expertise.

We continue to strive to provide readers with engaging, informative material, as well as extra supplements, including the newly added continuing education quizzes and book reviews. As always, we welcome your input and suggestions on ways to strengthen JCR’s scientific rigor and visibility. As well as input and recommendations, we welcome new submissions from scholars, researchers, and academics, instructions for which can be found in the back of the journal.

We look forward to providing our readers with cutting-edge studies and information in the upcoming year, and thank you for your continued support.

 

 

Brenda K. Wiederhold, Ph.D., MBA, BCIA

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation

Virtual Reality Medical Institute