Introduction to Virtual Reality Therapy Part 1

Name of Workshop:  Introduction to Virtual Reality Therapy Part 1

Virtual reality therapy (VRT) is a powerful computerized tool for mental health professionals who want to reach a much wider audience by offering treatment strategies with significant success rates compared with exposure therapy (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5421394/)

Course Description

Virtual therapy offers therapists the opportunity to provide mental health services either face-to-face or remotely.  Patients will not only overcome crippling phobias through VRT counter conditioning in just 12 to 16 sessions (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8490820)  but will also acquire practical self-regulation stress management strategies that improve with practice over the course of a lifetime.  

 Providers who implement VRT into their practices will be able to offer effective treatment for anxiety disorders, PTSD, OCD, phobic anxiety, chronic pain, and pretty much any disorder involving autonomic over-arousal.

behavioralassociates.com/media_v/virtual-reality.mp4

This course will take you through the evolution of Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT)  over the past 25 years.  Advances in technology have made VRT much easier for the therapist to learn, far less expensive to implement, and considerably more immersive for the patient experience.  

Patients, who have usually tried all sorts of treatments before seeing you, will benefit from these "life-changing" technologies.  We have trained dozens of therapists over the past 25 years to use these technologies, and one thing they all agree on is "I wish I had done this earlier in my career". 

While you will be trained in learning how to implement VRT in this workshop, in order for you to add this training into your practice, you can get started by using your cell phone, apple or android, with a $25.00 "shell" that serves as your VR headset, easily available for purchase on Amazon.

This course is also required in order to take Part 2 in which you will further receive “hands-on”  training  in how to implement VRT into your practice including the “nuts and bolts” of making clinical decisions about how and when to use this technology with your clients. 

Teaching Methods:

• This course is geared toward adult learners.

• It will be taught with a combination of methods. Didactic lecture and the use of PowerPoint, video from both YouTube and YouTube VR, and other media. 

• Interactive activities such as role-play and in vivo practice allow participants to practice the interventions, skills, and techniques taught in the workshop. 

• Discussion of specific case examples to highlight the use of interventions will occur throughout. 

Learning Objectives:

In this workshop, Participants will learn:

1. which equipment to purchase to implement using VRT with their clients
2. how to set up the VRT equipment
3. how to incorporate VRT into their practice
4. the evolution of VRT over the past 25 years

About the presenter:

Robert H. Reiner PhD BCN BCB, Executive Director and founder of Behavioral Associates (BA), has been practicing psychology since 1981. He specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for individuals, couples, and families alone or in combination with Biofeedback, Neurofeedback, Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT), and QEEG assessment. Dr. Reiner can frequently be seen and quoted in the news 

behavioralassociates.com/media_v/virtual-reality.mp4

and media and is often called upon to make appearances on major news networks for his expert opinion. Throughout his career, he has served as a psychological consultant for several corporations, as well as an expert witness for a number of child custody and high-profile criminal trials, often opining on MMPI-2 Personality Exam scores. He is well known for his work in treating anxiety and phobias through biofeedback and virtual reality therapy. He has been credited for this work in articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Daily News, USA Today, Newsweek, and Time Out magazine. He has specifically had great success in treating patients for fear of flying, which was documented on an episode of The National Geographic Show featuring Dr. Reiner’s work with a phobic patient. (www.behavioralassociates.com)

Live Zoom

Date: December 15, 2023

Time: 9:00 – 1:15 pm

Cost: $125