Redefining therapeutic success with virtual reality exposure therapy

The success rate for treating phobias with in vivo exposure is high. Unfort unately few phobics (less than 15-20%) ever seek treatment. Virtual reality (VR) exposure therapy is also proving to be highly effective. The present surveys assessed 162 students high in fear of spiders. In Study 1, when ask ed to choose between multisession in vivo exposure vs. multisession VR expo sure therapy, 81% chose VR. In Study 2, comparing one-session in vivo versu s multisession VR exposure therapy, 89% chose VR. Results suggest that VR e xposure therapy may prove valuable for increasing the number of phobics who seek treatment.