The Use of Virtual Reality to Facilitate Mindfulness Skills Training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury: A Case Study
Frontiers in Psychology April 23, 2018 A. Flores, M. Linehan, S. Todd et al.
Two patients with spinal cord injury (SCI)—one with quadriplegia and severe depression, the other with paresis and mild depression—used immersive virtual reality (VR) goggles to experience a simulated river float while listening to Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Mindfulness skills training. Patient 1 reported reductions in negative emotions after each of four VR DBT sessions. Patient 2 had mixed results on some negative emotion measures after two sessions but both patients reported feeling less depressed, less anxious, and less emotionally upset after VR DBT Mindfulness skills learning. Patient 2 reported large reductions in short-term ASD/PTSD symptoms after his first session. The authors conclude that VR DBT is feasible and acceptable for SCI patients with paralysis.