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Fear of flying and Virtual Reality

Fear of flying
and virtual reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is a less complex, cheaper alternative to in vivo exposure for 2.2. Going to the airport 2.3. Boarding Gate 2.4. The Plane the treatment of flying phobia. This technology does not require a high imagination capacity on the patient as the case of the typical exposure techniques. Also, the exposure can be modified to the patients needs when using VR, as the healthcare professional can control different parameters such as duration of the flight, weather conditions, people on the flight,etc. healthcare professional

Many studies demonstrate the efficiency of VR as a treatment for specific phobias. A systematic review about the use of VR as a therapeutic tool of flying phobia showed that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) combined with relaxation techniques and VR exposure is effective for the treatment of flying phobia (Costa et al. 2008). Also, a study by Botella (2004) demonstrated the efficiency of VR as  treatment for flying phobia in long and short term.

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Fear of driving – Appendix

Appendix

Self-report Hierarchy Psious environments: Highway
ITEMLEVEL OF DISCOMFORT (0-100)
I am a co-pilot on a sunny day, the highway seems very calm because there is no traffic.
I am driving a very rainy night by a bridge , and the co-pilot starts to show me something on his mobile phone.
There is not much traffic this rainy night and I am driving towards a tunnel that I enter. The tunnel is not very long and I will hit the road again soon after.
I am in the passenger seat, we are a few friends in the car and we are on the highway. It is a very good day, and then we see that there is an accident car on the right side of the road.
I am in the passenger seat, it is a very good day and we enter a tunnel. My partner is going at a normal pace because there is not much traffic.
I am driving with a group of friends inside the car because tonight we are going to have dinner outside. There is little traffic but all of a sudden it starts to rain.
I go as a co-pilot when we start to travel an area with many curves. My friend is going pretty fast because there is little traffic.
I’m driving, and I’m just crossing a bridge. It is night, and as it is raining, it seems that a lot of traffic has been concentrated.
There is a lot of traffic, and I find myself driving at night on the highway. I’m not going too fast and all of a sudden, the co-pilot plays the music very loud.
It’s a very good day, and I’m taking some friends to the beach. There is a lot of traffic on the highway, so I’m not going too fast.
I’m sitting in the passenger seat, we’re on the road on a very rainy night. At one point, we began to circulate through an area with many curves.
I find myself driving on a bridge, it is night but everything is very quiet because there is little traffic. At a certain moment I get a call on my mobile.
I am a co-pilot on a rainy day, the road is very quiet because there is no traffic at all.
I am driving on the highway at night, and a section with quite a few curves begins.
I am driving only on the dual carriageway. The weather is very good, and there is almost no traffic. I am going at a normal speed, not very fast, and suddenly the car begins to slow down until it stops; There seems to be an engine failure.
I am sitting in the passenger seat, it is night and it rains a lot. Still, there is not a lot of traffic when we are about to cross a bridge.
I find myself driving on the road on a rainy day, and I start driving on a very winding section.
I am driving on a bridge, there is not a lot of traffic so I am going quite a bit. Quick. As I go, I see on the shoulder that there is a crashed car.
While I am sitting next to a friend who is driving on a busy road, a phone call comes in.
It is a good day, and I am driving very fast down the highway When there is no traffic.
I find myself sitting next to a friend while he is driving through a tunnel. There is almost no traffic, so it goes a little fast. Suddenly, the car starts to slow down until it stops, because there is an engine failure.
When I am driving quietly through a tunnel, my friend starts playing the radio very loudly without asking for permission.
I am driving only on the road. It is night and it rains a lot, and as I move through the traffic I see a car that has had an accident.
I am driving on the road on a clear night. I go with some friends and there is also a lot of traffic. 
I am driving with some friends on the highway. I’m not going too fast, and when we enter a tunnel, the car seems to stop responding until it comes to a complete stop. Then, an error signal appears in the car. 
Co-pilot’s while a friend is driving on the highway. Although it rains a lot and there is a bit of traffic he goes quite fast, and I can see that there is a car on the shoulder that has suffered an accident.
When I am driving down a section of curves on the highway, in addition to raining, a friend starts me to teach things from his mobile.
I am driving on the highway on a sunny day, and there is no traffic.
I am driving on a very sunny day on the highway, and the co-pilot begins to teach me things from his mobile.
I am driving with a few friends in the car and we are on the highway.
It’s a very good day, and then we see that there is a crashed car on the right side of the road.
Self-report Hierarchy Psious environments: City
ITEMLEVEL OF DISCOMFORT (0-100)
I am a co-pilot on a sunny day, the city is very quiet because there is nothing Traffic.
I am driving through the city at night, and as it is raining, it seems that a lot of traffic has been concentrated. I am moving forward but all of a sudden I have to brake sharply.
It is a very good day, and I am taking some friends to have a drink. There is a lot of traffic, so I am not going very fast.
I am a co-pilot on a rainy day, the city is very quiet because there is no traffic.
I am sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, it is night and it rains a lot. Still, there is not a lot of traffic.
It is a good day, and I am driving very fast through the city when there is no traffic.
I am driving with a group of friends in the car because tonight we are going to have dinner outside. There is little traffic and it starts to rain.
One night that it rains a lot I have taken the car, there is not a lot of traffic and then I hear an ambulance approaching and I must hurry to get away a little.
I am accompanying a friend in his car, it is night and it rains a lot. We are driving through the city with little traffic, but suddenly my friend stops.
I am driving through the city on a very sunny day. I go alone in my car and also there is no traffic.
I am accompanying a friend on a short journey in his car, and we are taking a tour of the city, where there is little traffic.
It is very sunny and I find myself driving in the city. There is little traffic, but as I am driving I begin to hear a loud horn near me.
I am driving on a rather rainy day, and since there is a lot of traffic I have to move slowly. After a while, I find myself in a traffic jam that I don’t move for 5 minutes.
I’m in the passenger seat, accompanying a friend by car around the city, and it seems that there is a lot of traffic, maybe it’s because it’s raining a lot.
I am in town driving a clear night with a little traffic. My journey is very short and simple, so I am going a bit fast.
I find myself driving at night through the city, I am taking some friends, there is a little traffic and there is a very loud horn near me.
I am a co-pilot in my friend’s car, it is a very good day but there is a lot of traffic. Also, we are crossing many streets where cars come from both directions.
I am driving very calmly since there are not many people circulating, and then I hear a siren. Immediately I stop and an ambulance crosses in front of me.
It is daytime and it rains a lot, and I am driving with some friends in the car. There is a lot of traffic and we must cross several streets with cars in both directions. At some point, I have to give the car a hard braking.
I am in the passenger seat because a friend has come to pick me up. We are circulating and there is a lot of traffic, so after a while we were stuck in a traffic jam for about 10 minutes.
While sitting in the passenger seat, I see how it rains and I hear the siren of an ambulance. As there is a lot of traffic, the driver stops quickly and the ambulance crosses in front of us. 
I am driving on a very rainy day, and since there is a lot of traffic I have to circulate slowly.
I am driving on a clear night, and there is a lot of traffic around the city. On my route I have to go through quite a few corners, and also on many streets where cars circulate in both directions.
I am sitting next to a friend who is driving his car around the city. Although there is not much traffic, he is going fast enough, and suddenly I hear a loud horn.
I am driving a clear night through the city, and there is a lot of traffic. After a while I find myself in a traffic jam, but soon it dissolves and the circulation seems to be smoother
It is daytime and very sunny, I am driving quietly through the city and I find myself in a traffic jam of about 5 minutes
While sitting next to my friend, who is driving the car, I see that there is a little traffic. I don’t know what’s going on, but suddenly my friend gives a very hard braking.
I’m driving a rainy night through the city. There is not a lot of traffic and I am going quite slow.
Today is a very rainy day, and I am driving with some friends. Let talking and moving, and we heard a siren, so I stop and letgo to the ambulance coming very fast.
Tonight it rains a lot, and I’m driving very fast through the city when there is no traffic.
As I drive calmly through the city, even if there is little traffic, I must suddenly stop.

[ DISCLAIMER: This document has been automatically translated using Google Translate. ]

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Fear of driving – Bibliography

Bibliography


  • Da Costa, R.T., de Carvalho, M.R. & Nardi, A.E. (2010). Virtual reality exposure therapy in the treatment of driving phobia. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 26(1), 131-137.
  • Ehlers A, Taylor JE, Ehring T, Hofmann SG, Deane FP, Roth WT, et al., (2007): The driving cognitions questionnaire: development and preliminary psychometric properties. J Anxiety Disord.;21:493-509.
  • Sánchez, S., & Sánchez, J. (2009). Amaxofobia. Cómo enseñar a vencer el miedo a conducir. Barcelona: Gráficas Ochoa. 
  • Kraft, T. & Kraft, D. (2004).Creating a virtual reality in hypnosis: A case of driving phobia. Contemporary Hypnosis, 21(2), 79-85.
  • Wald, J. & Taylor, S. (2000). Efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy to treat driving phobia: A case study. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 31(3-4), 249-257.
  • Wald, J. & Taylor, S. (2003). Preliminary research on the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy to treat driving phobia. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 6(5), 459-465.
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Area

Driving – Recommendations

Recommendations for use

To increase the sense of immersion in Virtual Reality, you can include comments, questions or ideas in the session so the experience will seem more realistic to your patient.

Some options for driving environments:
  • You are driving along a highway and there is still an hour left of driving.
  • It will take two more hours to get to our destination and it’s 8 in the evening. It’s getting dark…
  • Now the highway has curves and slopes. Are you scared? Of what?
  • You are about to get into the car to go to work and the day is very rainy.
  • Today we will drive around the town. You know that in towns there are many / a lot of cars. In addition, today we have to go by in rush hour. And by the way, your cellphone battery is dead, so you can’t call anyone to calm you down neither before nor during the trip.
  • Imagine you are alone in the car. Today we will travel for 4 minutes/10 minutes/30 minutes…
  • Picture yourself driving and that someone is recording you in case you need to get points taken off.
  • We are driving down a road packed with trucks. Yes, and you know that trucks sometimes overtake each other.
  • In this section, you must go 62m/h because if you go over this speed, you will obstruct traffic.
  • Now we are going to enter a tunnel. How long do you think the tunnel is? What do you feel when you see that the tunnel is longer than you expected?
  • If the car in front of you were to derail, do you think you would have time to react?

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Fear of driving – Intervention Protocol

Intervention proposal

“All the information contained in this section is for guidance only. Psious environments are therapy supporting tools that must be used by the healthcare professional within an evaluation and intervention process designed according to the characteristics and needs of the user.

Also remember that you have the General Clinical Guide in which you have more information on how to adapt psychological intervention techniques (exposure, systematic desensitization, cognitive restructuring, chip economy…) to Psious environments.”

Example of intervention Fear of driving

A proposal for a treatment protocol that includes the Psious tool is described below. It is recommended to combine virtual reality with traditional techniques, such as relaxation or cognitive restructuring. It is recommended that each healthcare professional adapts the virtual exposure within the treatment protocol that he or she uses regularly. 

Description of treatment sessions

SESSION 1: PSYCHOEDUCATION
  • Information about driving phobia: origin and manifestations (cognitive, physiological, and behavioral).
  • Treatment protocol explanation. The patient should understand the applicability of virtual reality and relaxation techniques.
SESSION 2 + 3: RELAXATION
  • Training of two relaxation techniques: Deep breathing and Progressive Muscular Relaxation.
  • Patient’s familiarization with VR: Use of neutral environments (e.g., environments for other phobias).

HOMEWORK
Practice of the relaxation techniques. Relaxation diary (see annex 6.2)

SESSION 4: VIRTUAL EXPOSURE + RELAXATION
  • Virtual exposure + Relaxation:
    • 1- City without cars, during the day when it’s sunny. Track 1. 
  • 2- City with cars, during the day when it’s sunny. Combine track 1 and 2 with traffic jams, slowdown and horn situations.
  • 3- City with cars, during a rainy day + interoceptive exposure (blurry vision)

HOMEWORK
Practice relaxation and self exposure. Relaxation and driving phobia diary (see annex 6.2).

SESSION 5: VIRTUAL EXPOSURE + RELAXATION
  • Virtual exposure + Relaxation:
    • 1- City with cars during a rainy night. Combine track 1 and 2 with the above mentioned situations.
  • 2- City with cars during a rainy night + interoceptive exposure (blurry vision → tunnel vision + hyperventilation)
  • 3- Road without cars during the day. Low, mid and high speed.

HOMEWORK  
Practice relaxation and self-exposure. Relaxation register and driving phobia diary (see annex 6.2).

SESSION 6: VIRTUAL EXPOSURE + RELAXATION
  • Virtual exposure + Relaxation:
  • 1- Highway with cars during a sunny day. Mid speed combined with some type of distractor
  • 2- Highway with cars during a rainy day. Sections of tunnels and bridges. Highway with cars during a rainy day. 
  • 3- Sections with tunnels and bridges. Add curves and combine with accidented car. High speed.

HOMEWORK
Practice relaxation and self-exposure. Self Recording of relaxation and driving phobia diary (see annex 6.2).

SESSION 7: VIRTUAL EXPOSURE + RELAXATION
  • Virtual exposure + relaxation
  • 1- Road with cars during a rainy day. Tunnels and bridges. High speed. Combine last session settings and the use of some type of distractor
  • 2- Road with cars during a rainy night. Combine the different elements and add interoception effects. 

HOMEWORK
Practicing relaxation and self-exposure. Self Recording of relaxation and driving phobia diary (see annex 6.2).

SESSION 8: CONCLUSIONS AND RELAPSE PREVENTION
  • Evaluation of the treatment. 
  • Future self-exposure planning.
  • Tools for future relapse prevention. 
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Fear of driving – Evaluation Protocol

Evaluation

“All the information contained in this section is for guidance only. Psious environments are therapy supporting tools  that must be used by the healthcare professional within an evaluation and intervention process designed according to the characteristics and needs of the user. 

Also remember that you have the General Clinical Guide in which you have more information on how to adapt psychological intervention techniques (exposure, systematic desensitization, cognitive restructuring, chip economy…) to Psious environments.”

Fear of Driving

Evaluation Objectives
  • Evaluate the presence and comorbidity of other emotional disorders, in particular specific phobias, other anxiety and mood disorders.
  • Evaluate anxiety associated with components: intensity, frequency, characteristics…
  • Set the feared stimulative settings for the patient and define to what extent. Exposure hierarchy development. 
  • Measure the presence of distorted thoughts.
Some useful instruments for fear of driving

Taking the evaluation objectives into account let’s proceed onto listing some tools and devices that can be useful in gathering relevant information on the user characteristics. Always remember good goal setting, patient characterization and intervention planning are important in effective and efficient therapies, as that of your patients’ satisfaction. The following are the articles you will find in the bibliography where you can refer to the proposed tool characterization:

  • Open or semi-structured interview
  • Structured interview: ADIS-IV
  • Behavioral approach test/behavior avoidance (in vivo or with virtual reality)
SELF-REPORTING
  • Cuestionario para la evaluación del Miedo a Conducir (CEMIC, Sánchez y Sánchez, 2017)
  • Driving Cognitions Questionnaire (DCQ, Ehlers A et al., 2007 )
  • Psious Self-Reports for the elaboration of the hierarchy
Exposure Hierarchy development with Psious environments

Once we have received the evaluation information we can then proceed to develop the hierarchy exposure. To do this, in addition to using the data obtained during the initial evaluation, we can carry out a series of questions, (For example, what level of discomfort, on a scale of 0 to 100, does driving have to generate? What level of discomfort, on a scale of 0 to 100, would lead you to take a long car trip? Is there something that makes you feel even more uncomfortable?) all geared at the planning of the intervention via the virtual reality.

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Fear of driving and Virtual Reality

Fear of driving
and virtual reality

Fear of Driving is defined in the current mental disorders classification system as a situational phobia within specific phobias. It is characterized by an intense and persistent fear that increases with the anticipation or exposure to the driving stimuli. Recent studies have shown that the prevalence of this phobia is 4% of the population, although the percentage of people with some type of driving-related fear could raise up to 22%. The symptoms of this phobia can cause significant discomfort and serious interference with the daily lives of the patients.

Certain factors affect the intensity of the patient’s emotional reaction to driving. The typical and most important ones are: speed, weather, amount of traffic, distance to be covered, time of day, characteristics of the road, type of car, if they are driving alone or with company, where the patient is driving through, etc.

Virtual Reality has been proved to be a good alternative to traditional exposure techniques in the treatment of driving phobia. This technology is especially useful in repeating the exposure as many times as necessary in order to recreate the unpredictable circumstances that occur in the real situation. Moreover, VR naturally eliminates the chances of suffering an accident and the healthcare professional has total standardization and control over the exposure session parameters.  

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Fear of darkness and storms – Appendix

Appendix

Economy Contingency table
PSYCHOBOT TOKENS
Self-report Hierarchy home (children)
Darkness Psious 
ITEMLEVEL OF DISCOMFORT (0-100)
You are in the living room at home and, with the help of Psychobot , you can explore the different areas. You teleport to the dining room where there is less light and your mission is to find where the tallest vase is and which is closest to the ceiling. What level of difficulty do you think that mission has?
After you have teleported into the hallway, you see that it is quite dark. Your mission is to stay in this area for at least a minute… How difficult do you think this activity is?
With Psychobot you have moved super fast to the hallway bathroom, great! Now your mission is to explore this area that has very little light. Do you find it easier or more difficult than the others? 
You are in the hall. You see the entrance to the bathroom, with the bathtub and the shower curtain half open. Although there was little light when you teleported, there is now a little more. How long can you stay here for a mission? 
When you are in the room, which is very dark, you ask the Psychobot for help and he tells you that you are doing very well. How do you have your energy level?
After teleporting with your Psychobot friend, you have reached the hallway. Since there is enough light now, you can see the attic door and everything in the hallway. Do you find it a very complicated mission?
You are in the living room of your house with all the lights on, it is night and the moon shines a lot. Suddenly, a Psychobot appears, and explains that you have a super power to teleport, and that you are going to have to explore all the areas of your house to get points. Are you afraid of this new adventure?
When you and the Psychobot have already arrived in the room, you lie down on the bed and you only see the moon through the window because it is very dark. Do you think this mission is very difficult?
You and Psychobot have teleported super fast from the bathroom hallway to the living room, and there is a little light there. Your mission now is to explore the room as long as you want, do you find it easy or difficult?
You have a super important mission: teleport to the loft hallway, which has just a little bit of light, and be there for two minutes. Do you dare with this super mission?
You are with a Psychobot in the dining room of your house where there is a lot of light, and suddenly you teleport super fast to the room, which is very dark. What difficulty would you put on this mission?
Now your mission is to teleport from the room, which is very dark, to the living room, which is very bright, and your mission is to explore the area, does this seem easy to you?
Now you are going to be a super explorer! With the help of Psychobot, go to the dark room, and try to discover everything in it. Then, if you are very adventurous, lie down for a minute in bed. What do you want to accomplish this mission?
You’ve reached the bathroom hallway in no time thanks to your superpower! There you can see the bathroom door and what is inside, because now it seems that there is enough light. What you have to do is explore the area. Do you find it an easy mission or more difficult than others? 
With your superpower you have teleported from the living room to the dining room in just a second, great! Now you have to use another super power, be very brave and explore the area as long as you can, even if it is a bit darker. Do you dare or do you think it is very difficult? 
You just got to the hallway that leads to the loft, and you see it’s very dark. Can you explore the area to see what you find in it?
Now your mission is to teleport from the hallway that leads to the loft to the one that leads to the bathroom. On your way you can see how, although there is not much light, it seems that there is a little more each time. Do you think this is very difficult?
You are in the dark room, and suddenly you and the Psychobot teleport to thein a second dining room. How does it make you feel to go from a place without light to another that has much more?
Self-report Hierarchy home (Kids)
Darkness and Storms Psious 
ITEMLEVEL OF DISCOMFORT (0-100)
After reaching the dark room, you lie down on the bed. Nothing is heard, everything is calm because the weather is good. How long could you stay here?
You are in the living room at home and your mission, with the help of Psychobot, is to explore the different areas. You teleport to the dining room where there is less light and you can see lots of lightning and hear thunder. Your mission is to find where the tallest vase is and which is closest to the ceiling. What level of difficulty do you think that mission has?
After teleporting into the loft hallway, which is quite dark, you have a very important mission. You have to be very brave and look for where the window is, look through it and see the great storm that is tonight. Don’t be scared by lightning and thunder, think you have the help of Psychobot! 
You are in the living room with your friend Psychobot, and the lights are all on. Through the window you only see that it is night, and you don’t hear any noise from outside either. Does it seem like an easier or more difficult mission than the previous ones?
When you are in the dark room, where you can hear it raining a lot, you ask Psychobot for help and he tells you that you are doing very well. How do you feel to hear this?
You are in the hallway of the bathroom, which is not very very dark. Now you are going to have to look out the window to see what the weather is like; after doing it, you see that the night is dark but it doesn’t rain, you only see the very big and bright moon in front of you, are you very afraid? 
You have teleported very quickly to the dining room, and you see that the light there is not very strong. After exploring the area, your mission this time is to look out the window and see how it rains. What degree of difficulty do you think this mission has?
You are in the living room of your house with all the lights on, it is night and the moon shines a lot. Suddenly, a Psychobot appears, and explains that you have a super power to teleport, and that you are going to have to explore all the areas of your house to get points. What would you say your energy level is?
When you and the Psychobot have already arrived in the dark room, you lie on the bed and see many rays through the window. Do you think this mission is very difficult?
Now your mission is to teleport from the room, which is very dark, to the living room, which has a lot of light, and your mission is to look at the weather through the window. What do you want to do on this mission?
You and Psychobot have teleported super fast from the bathroom hallway to the living room, and there is a little light there but you hear a lot of thunder. Your mission now is to explore the room as long as you want. How difficult do you think this activity is?
After you have teleported into the hallway, you see that it is dark and that it is raining heavily. Your mission is to stay in this area for a minute, do you dare to do this activity?
You are in the dining room and it is dark, but you have to be brave and look out the window. Your mission is to approach this window and look and listen to the lightning and thunder that there is tonight. What degree of difficulty would you put on it?
You have reached the room in just a moment, great! Still, as soon as you get there you can see out the window that there is a big storm tonight, is this scary?
After you’ve teleported into the attic hallway, your mission is to find where the window is. After you have explored the entire hallway and found it, you have to look through it and see that it is raining. Are you afraid of this new adventure?
With Psychobot cobot you have moved super fast to the bathroom hallway, great! Now, your mission is to explore this area that has very little light, and you will have to dare to look out the window and see how it rains. Do you think this mission is easier or more difficult than the others? 
You are lying on the bed in the room, which is very dark. Psychobot is with you, and when you look out the window you can see that it is raining. How calm would you say you feel?
With your superpower you have teleported from the living room to the dining room in just a second, great! Now you have to use another super power, be very brave and explore the area as long as you can, even if it is a bit darker and you are hearing how it rains. Do you dare to explore the area? 
You have reached the loft hallway super fast, and you see that it is quite dark. Still, you are very brave and you explore the area, and through the window you can see that it is not bad weather and that the moon shines a lot. How difficult do you think this mission is?
You just got to the room, and you can only see the moon shine through the window because it’s so dark. Are you afraid or are you calm?

[ DISCLAIMER: This document has been automatically translated using Google Translate. ]

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Fear of darkness and storms – Bibliography

Bibliography


  • Antony, M.M., Craske, M.G. y Barlow, D.H. (2006). Mastering your fears and phobias: Client workbook (2a ed.). Londres Oxford University Press.
  • Arrindell, W. A. Dimensional structure and psychopathology correlates of the fear survey schedule (FSS-III) in a phobic population: A factorial definition of agoraphobia, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Volume 18, Issue 4, 1980, Pages 229-242, ISSN 0005-7967 
  • Brown, T. A., DiNardo, P. A., & Barlow, D. H. (1994). Anxiety disorders interview schedule for DSM-IV (ADIS-IV), adult version. Albany (NY): Graywind Publications Inc.http://www.libreriaolejnik.com/ventana. php?codig=31669
  • Carrobles, J.A. (1986). Cuestionario de Temores de Wope y Lang, FSS-III-122. En J.A.I. Carrobles, P. Bartolomé, P.T. Costa y T del Ser. La práctica de la terapia de conducta: Valencia: Promolibro. 
  • Craske, M.G., Antony, M.M. y Barlow, D.H. (2006). Mastering your fears and phobias: Therapist guide (2a ed.). Londres: Oxford University Press.
  • Gutiérrez, C. et al.(2012): Características psicométricas del inventario de Miedos de Ollendick. CUaDERNos HisPaNoaMERiCaNos DE PsiCología, Vol 12 No 1, 85-93  
  • Mikulas, W. L. y Coffman, M. G. (1989). Home-based treatment of children’s fear of the dark. En C.E. Schaefer y J.M. Briesmeister (Eds.), Handbook of parent training (pp. 179-202). Nueva York: John Wiley and Sons. 
  • Matesanz, L. (2006): Datos para la adaptación castellana de la Escala de Temores (FSS). Análisis y Modificación de Conducta. Vol. 32, Nº 144. 
  • Méndez, X. , Orgilés, A. y Espada, J.P. (2003). Escenificaciones emotivas para la fobia a la oscuridad: un ensayo controlado. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology. ISSN 1697-2600 2004, Vol. 4, No 3, pp. 505-520 
  • Méndez, X., Orgilés, A. y Rosa, A. I. (2005). Los tratamientos psicológicos en la fobia a la oscuridad: Una revisión cuantitativa. Anales de psicología. Vol. 21, no 1 (junio), 73-82 
  • Muris, P., Merckelbach, H., Ollendick, T. H., King, N. J., & Bogie, N. (2001). Children’s nighttime fears: Parent-child ratings of frequency, content, origins, coping behaviors and severity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39(1), 13-28. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00155-2
  • Lazarus, A. y Abramovitz, A. (1979). The use of “emotive imagery” in the treatment of children’s phobias. En H.J. Eysenck (Ed.), Experimentos en terapia de conducta: experimentación con niños (vol. 3) (pp. 37-45). Madrid: Fundamentos
  • Olivares, J., Y Méndez, F.X. (2001).Técnicas de modificación de conducta. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.
  • Ollendick, T. H. (1979). Fear reduction techniques with children. En M. Hersen, R. M. Eisler y P. M. Miller (Eds.), Progress in behavior modification: Vol. 8 (pp. 127-168). Nueva York: Academic Press. 
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Categories
Area

Sleeping and Darkness – Recommendations

Recommendations for use

CHILDREN
  • When using emotive performances techniques, do remember to give a good introduction making it feel like a game. Psicobot will naturally give a clear explanation on how to “play” but don’t forget to give him a brief introduction. You could let the child meet Psicobot in video format, let him watch a Thor or Star Trek clip showing the child who teleportation is. Practise using the reinforcement “gesture” and say “Teleportation to…”: You could get the child to look at the mobile at the same time (before putting on the virtual reality glasses) so that the child already knows what movement he needs to make. Also practise naming the places the child can go to before beginning the game (training room, living room, bathroom, hall, bedroom). 
  • Adapt the room to each session where the intervention is carried out. In general, feeling disorientated is common when wearing the glasses and feeling familiar with the room is always advisable, for example touching the seat with their calves when standing up. When using the emotive performances technique with children this is of utmost importance: getting them to play out “superhero” will make them get into the role in a jiffy!
  • Asking for a brief summary on what the child has understood is advisable, after listening to Psicobot’s instructions, and before beginning “the game”. Clarify and doubts or misunderstandings at this point.
  • If a child asks why he/she cannot go to the kitchen, bathroom or attic, tell him/her that these zones have a force field that is blocking teleportation, and Psicobot is looking for ways to unblock them…
  • If at any time the child plays a game “unenthusiastically” or is not “motivated”, let the child know they are not concentrating. And as a result, the counterconditioning is not working properly. Tell the child to copy the gesture they practised at the beginning of the session better to make it work. 
  • The effect of the teleportation will be fascinating to the child when he/she looks up down and down. Try to make sure the child looks up or down when making the “lively” movement associated with teleportation. 
  • Make up games you can use during VR that parents can practise in vivo at home. For example finding a hidden object without them knowing (“Do not turn on lights!”), counting the objects in the rooms where it’s getting darker and darker, finding an object that we have requested, starting in the training area (e.g the tokens chart), playing hide and seek: where the child hides in one of the rooms (e.g lying down on the bed) asking them questions and he/she responds with hot or cold until we guess correctly. Try to be imaginative and let the child suggest the activities of interest. 
  • If you use the token economy don’t forget to plan the intervention well which will in turn be very useful in setting the objectives between the work done at the consultation and the work done at the home of the minor. 
ADULTS
  • Helping the patient by introducing the items you are going to work on, before you start to work on the VR, is always a good way of starting the activation, and thus stimulates a sense of presence. Tell your patient that they are going to work at night, at home, in a storm and that they will sometimes be situated close to the window in the living room. 
  • Remember the general sound in the platform will help you adjust the exposure. For example, you can lower the sound to lower the storm intensity in the case of storms.
  • Be imaginative! Use the different environments that Psious provides with the climate configuration settings (driving, generalized anxiety, travelling on a plane) to promote the generalized habituation. 
GENERAL
  • You can use the environments such as “travelling on a plane” so as to gain more flexibility in situations.
  • You can use the “darkness and storms” environment to help train diaphragmatic breathing lying down on the bed, at night, to the sound of rain.
Darkness environment

If you use the environment for sleep training, you can also give the patient prompts to increase the immersion.

For example:

  • You are lying in your bed after a long day of work/school. What do you think?
  • You have gone to bed late today and know you will have to get up early tomorrow.

You can use this environment to expose your patient to a sleeping situation while working with them, develop good sleep habits and practice avoiding behaviors and thoughts that keep them from sleeping well.