Virtual reality therapy (VRT) has also been shown to be an effective tool in the treatment of several phobias and disorders. Studies have demonstrated positive effectives of VRT for specific situational phobias including driving phobia (Wald & Taylor, 2003), acrophobia (Hoffman, 2004; Emmelkamp, Bruynzeel, Drost, & van der Mast, 2001), fear of flying (Rothbaum, Hodges, & Anderson, 2002; Rothbaum, Hodges, & Anderson, 2002), and public speaking (Harris, Kemmerling, & North, 2002; Anderson, Zimand, Hodges, & Rothbaum, 2005).
VRT has also demonstrated to be effective with combat related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Rothbaum, Hodges, Alarcon, Ready, Shahar, Graap, Pair, Hebert, Gotz, Wills, & Baltzell, 1999), and preliminary research suggests that it is an effective treatment for trauma associated with the World Trade Centre disaster(Difede & Hoffman, 2002). To date only a few studies have examined the effectiveness of VRT compared to gradual exposure for the treatment of Social Phobia.
Klinger, Bouchard, Legeron, Roy, Lauer, Chemin & Nugues, 2005 conducted a study comparing the efficacy of VRT to traditional CBT that incorporated in vivo exposure therapy for the treatment of Social Phobia. Klinger et al. (2005) found VRT to be equally as effective as CBT. No signficant difference was found between the two groups and researchers propose that a much larger clinical sample of 200 -300 participants would likely to be needed to find a statistical difference (Klinger et al., 2005).
Similar to CBT, VRT utilizes exposure techniques however instead of imagining or actually confronting the feared situation (in vivo) people interact in a three dimensional computer forum (Klinger et al. , 2005). In both treatments, a therapist usually works with the patient to help them adapt to their responses and challenge their emotions (Roy, Klinger, Legeron, Lauer, Chemin & Nugues (2003).
Both techniques utilize the concept of gradual exposure however VRT offers some advantages over traditional exposure therapy. VRT permits the therapist to manipulate the intensity of the stimuli in a controlled fashion, and the procedure can be stopped if needed (Roy et al. , 2003). This is not always achievable with imagined or in vivo therapy. VRT can be conducted in the privacy of the therapist’s office which offers greater confidentiality for the client.
Research also suggests that people are curious about VRT, and may find it more attractive because it is not associated with the stigma of clinical help (Garcia-Palacios, Hoffman, Hunter, Kwong, Tsai, & Botella, 2001). Compliance to VRT was shown to be excellent in a study conducted by Roy et al. (2003). Significant effects were not found for VRT over CBT in previous research by Klinger et al. (2005) however this may have been due to the study’s small sample size.
Given the proven success of VRT in the treatment of specific phobias, and the potential advantages associated with VRT, it is very possible that VRT is a better treatment option for clients. Based on this premise, we hypothesize that by employing a large clinical trial individuals utilizing a 7-day program of CBT that incorporates virtual reality therapy will achieve significantly lower scores on the Social Phobia Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) than a group using CBT with gradual exposure therapy.