VRET is usually delivered via a head-mounted display which tracks the users' head-movements and allows for real-time updating of the scenes they can see (Wiederhold and Wiederhold, 2005). The environments can be tailored to represent the individual's fears and, in the case of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), can be used to recreate a traumatic experience (e.g., Roy et al., 2006 Rizzo et al., 2009). It permits the individual to face their triggers in a safe environment and allows the therapist to control the intensity and duration of the stimuli, based on their clinical appraisal. In a VRET treatment protocol, an individual is immersed into a virtual environment that allows for sensory exposure to the feared stimuli via computer-generated displays. On a theoretical level the proposed underlying mechanisms reflect those in traditional exposure therapy emotional processing is facilitated by activating the underlying fear structure through confrontation with the feared stimuli, allowing responses to be modified in a controlled therapeutic setting, so the stimuli will become less anxiety provoking when subsequently perceived (Rothbaum et al., 2000). Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) has the potential to help clinicians manage a range of symptoms related to anxiety disorders (e.g., Rothbaum et al., 1995 North et al., 1996).
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