Attentional focus
At first, the patient is immersed in a virtual environment in which everything looks pink. Likewise, you can move from one exercise to another (Introduction, Leaves, Lemon tree…) or repeat them by selecting the specific event.
From the beginning, the patient will be instructed to concentrate on the present and on his own breathing, leaving behind any kind of distractions.
First, the patient will be asked to observe a tree that is in the same place as him. Specifically, he must look at the leaves slowly falling from the tree, in which he may focus his attention, following the path of these until they reach the ground. If the patient is distracted or is surprised by some thought or concern, he will have to choose another leaf and continue with the process. Therefore, this exercise aims for the patient to put aside their concerns and learn to redirect the automatic and intrusive thoughts.
At the end of this exercise, the avatar will move a few steps and a lemon tree will appear in front of him. In this case, the patient is shown the existing physical and mental connection, through an exercise in which he will have to focus his attention on a lemon and imagine its taste when he bites it.
Then, the avatar will move again through the meadow until reaching a bridge, where he will stop to watch the river while the third exercise takes place. The patient will have to keep their eyes on the environment, both in what he sees, and in what he hears, but without judging these stimuli, while watching the flow of the river. This exercise is based on the concept of Vipassana meditation, central to mindfulness, which refers to techniques of internal noise reduction to distance oneself from thoughts that cause a state of alertness. It is about realizing the thoughts and feelings that are presented to us, but without reacting to them or judging them.
Simply paying attention to what arises, waiting passively for it to dissipate, and returning again to what was being done or continuing with what is next (Spira et al., 2006). In the same way as in the exercise of the leaves, the patient will be instructed that if any thought arises to let it go with the course of the river and redirect their attention.
Finally, the patient arrives at a meadow, which is a wider environment with more stimuli (flowers, butterflies, etc.). This increase in stimuli will help to train the patient’s ability to focus their attention on themselves, and to simply concentrate on the “here and now”. In this way, the exercise allows improving the focus of attention to concentrate in the present moment, which is known as the Zen absorption technique (Spira et al., 2006).
Through the audio, the patient will be instructed to concentrate on each of the flowers and butterflies, to observe them carefully. If interrupted by some thought or concern, they should refocus their attention on another element of the meadow.
Once it has finished, new elements will slowly appear in the landscape and in the patient’s visual field, such as trees, a mill, birds, small falling leaves, etc. They will be asked to look around and become aware of all the surrounding elements, and to listen carefully to the sounds. The goal is to focus on the here and now.
Little by little, it will get darker, and the landscape will disappear before the eyes of the patient. At this time, the audio will give indications that they should focus on themselves this time, on their own body and sensations instead of their surroundings. To finish, the patient should focus on their own breathing and reflect on the importance of the here and now.
SETTINGS VARIABLES
- Audio guide
Allows you to choose whether the audio guide is a female, male or none voice.
REFERENCES
Spira, J. L., Pyne, J. M., Wiederhold, B., Wiederhold, M., Graap, K., & Rizzo, A. (2006). Virtual reality and other experiential therapies for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Primary Psychiatry, 13(3), 58-64.