Considerations and practical protocols for using virtual reality in psychological research and practice, as evidenced through exposure-based therapy

• Published in: Behavior research methods Vol. 53; no. 6; pp. 2725 - 2742
• Main Authors: Cullen, A. J., Dowling, N. L., Segrave, R., Morrow, J., Carter, A., Yücel, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Cognitive Psychology; Computer applications; Decision making; Humans; Psychology; Virtual Reality; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Exposure-based therapy; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 1554-3528; 1554-3528
• DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01543-3

Everyday client stressors are often challenging to replicate in clinical and research environments, which hinders the ability to reliably reproduce clinical outcomes. To overcome this obstacle, tools that can bridge the inherent disconnect between these settings and the real-world experiences of clients are urgently needed. Virtual reality (VR) promises to provide immersive experiences within controlled laboratory or clinical settings. While the potential opportunities and challenges of VR applications have been scientifically reviewed, clinical adoptions into psychology are hampered by a paucity of practical and methodological publications. This paper intends to address that gap, by providing a four-step process for decision-making considerations, including practical recommendations and an applied case study of developing an exposure-based system for obsessive–compulsive disorder. We provide a framework to make VR accessible for clinician-researchers to create similar systems that realise the promise while encouraging ongoing scientific rigour.