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Kim Bullock, MDClinical Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
Foundations of Virtual Reality Exposure TherapyLesson 8 of 50
When Imaginal Exposure Isn't Enough (and how VR helps)
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Kim Bullock, MDClinical Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford UniversityLesson summary
When clients are too anxious to imagine a feared scenario — or when there's a wide, distressing gap between what they picture and real life — imaginal work stalls. VR provides a vivid, graded stimulus in session so treatment can move forward and clients start real-world exposures from a lower SUDS level.
Key learning points
- Imagining scenarios can be difficult
- Using immersion to increase engagement
- Bridging from imaginal to in-vivo