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Cited by 120Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsDigital Mental Health InterventionsPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Better, Virtually: the Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Open access
Lindner, Philip·2021·International Journal of Cognitive Therapy
DOI 10.1007/s41811-020-00090-7
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Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) is an immersive technology capable of creating a powerful, perceptual illusion of being present in a virtual environment. VR technology has been used in cognitive behavior therapy since the 1990s and accumulated an impressive evidence base, yet with the recent release of consumer VR platforms came a true paradigm shift in the capabilities and scalability of VR for mental health. This narrative review summarizes the past, present, and future of the field, including milestone studies and discussions on the clinical potential of alternative embodiment, gamification, avatar therapists, virtual gatherings, immersive storytelling, and more. Although the future is hard to predict, clinical VR has and will continue to be inherently intertwined with what are now rapid developments in technology, presenting both challenges and exciting opportunities to do what is not possible in the real world.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This narrative review summarizes the past, present, and future of virtual reality cognitive behavior therapy (VR-CBT), focusing mainly on anxiety disorders. It argues that consumer VR has created a paradigm shift, with automated VR treatments showing strong symptom reductions and growing potential for scalable mental health interventions.

Key findings

  • By 2012, k = 21 randomized controlled trials of VR exposure therapy for anxiety disorders were available for meta-analysis, showing that VR exposure outperformed waitlist controls, had similar outcomes to other evidence-based interventions, and had stable long-term effects (Opriş et al. 2012).
  • A 2015 meta-analysis found that previously reported within- and between-group effect sizes remained when only trials with in vivo behavioral outcomes were considered, indicating that fear reductions in VR translate to reduced fear in vivo (Morina et al. 2015).
  • A 2014 meta-analysis reported an overall significant correlation of r = .28 (95% CI: 0.18–0.38) between self-reported distress and presence during exposure, with significant differences across sample clinical characteristics and VR equipment type (Ling et al. 2014).
  • Recent automated VR exposure trials for acrophobia and spider phobia report impressive symptom reductions; one spider phobia trial examined non-inferiority against gold-standard in vivo exposure (Miloff et al. 2019). Adoption remains limited: Steam data in spring 2020 showed around 2% of active users had VR access, roughly 2 million users; Sony reported more than five million PlayStation VR units sold by end of 2019; at least twenty million VR units were distributed worldwide, possibly twice that.

Methods

  • Narrative review, not a systematic review or meta-analysis, providing a historical overview and context for VR-CBT and how technology developments have fueled clinical progress.
  • Focuses on VR-CBT treatments for anxiety disorders because this application dominates the literature, while also discussing other clinical applications.
  • Covers the past (roughly 1968–2013), present (2014–2020), and future, synthesizing milestone studies, meta-analyses, randomized trials, surveys, and technology developments rather than collecting primary data.

Limitations

  • The author states the aim is not to provide a systematic review or meta-analysis, the focus is on anxiety disorders, and coverage of VR as an experimental platform for psychopathology and treatment mechanisms is beyond scope.
  • The text makes evident that the review is non-exhaustive and selective, and that future-oriented sections are predictions based on gaps, trends, and recent advances rather than demonstrated outcomes.
  • The author reports involvement in academia-industry collaborations related to the work, including direct financial reimbursement for consulting for Mimerse, though holds no financial stake in any such company.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s41811-020-00090-7

Cites

136 of 136 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 88 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Premisecitation

    There is an overall significant correlation of r = .28 (95% CI: 0.18-0.38) between self-reported distress and presence during exposure.

    “A 2014 meta-analysis reported an overall significant correlation of r = .28(95% CI: 0.18-0.38)between self-reported distress and presence during exposure”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ling et al. 2014 source

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  • Premisecitation

    VR exposure therapy outperformed waitlist control conditions.

    “VR exposure therapy outperformed waitlist control conditions”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Opriş et al. 2012 source

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  • Premisecitation

    VR exposure therapy had stable long-term effects.

    “and had stable long-term effects (Opriş et al. 2012).”
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    • cites Opriş et al. 2012 source

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  • Premisecitation

    Internet-administered CBT (iCBT) has demonstrated efficacy equivalent to face-to-face treatments for mental disorders and psychosomatic conditions.

    “Internetadministered CBT (iCBT), which enjoys a robust evidence base with demonstrated efficacy equivalent to face-to-face treatments for mental disorders and psychosomatic conditions (Carlbring et al. 2018)”
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    • cites Carlbring et al. 2018 source

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  • Premisecitation

    The correlation between self-reported distress and presence during exposure differs across sample clinical characteristics and type of VR equipment used.

    “albeit with significant differences across sample clinical characteristics and type of VR equipment used (Ling et al. 2014).”
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    • cites Ling et al. 2014 source

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  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 21
  • May combine two claims. 27

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Premisenone given

    VR technology has been used in cognitive behavior therapy since the 1990s and has accumulated an impressive evidence base.

    “VR technology has been used in cognitive behavior therapy since the 1990s and accumulated an impressive evidence base”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    The recent release of consumer VR platforms caused a true paradigm shift in the capabilities and scalability of VR for mental health.

    “yet with the recent release of consumer VR platforms came a true paradigm shift in the capabilities and scalability of VR for mental health.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    VR exposure solves practical issues in providing exposure therapy: there is no need to leave the therapy room, either to perform exposure exercises or prepare stimuli material in advance.

    “additionally solves practical issues in providing exposure therapy: there is no need to leave the therapy room, either to perform exposure exercises or prepare stimuli material in advance.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Interpretationcitation

    Presence is a necessary but insufficient requirement for symptom reduction.

    “suggesting that presence is a necessary but insufficient requirement for symptom reduction (Price and Anderson 2007), congruent with the 2004 study.”
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    • cites Price and Anderson 2007 source

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    Interpretationreasoning

    Automated VR exposure therapy has public health and clinical potential.

    “revealing the public health and clinical potential of this innovative approach to treatment.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Nine out of ten spider-fearful individuals would prefer VR exposure over in vivo exposure.

    “One early study reported that nine out of ten spider-fearful individuals would prefer VR exposure over in vivo exposure (Garcia-Palacios et al. 2001)”
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    Premisecitation

    The single effectiveness trial of VR exposure therapy demonstrated feasibility and replicated the effect size from the preceding efficacy trial, but had a relatively small sample size and used a single-case design instead of comparison with treatment-as-usual.

    “although it demonstrated feasibility and replicated the effect size from the preceding efficacy trial, the sample size was relatively small and for ethical and practical reasons, a single-case design was chosen instead of comparison with treatment-as-usual (Lindner et al. 2020a).”
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    Premisecitation

    Three high-quality randomized trials of automated VR exposure therapy have been published recently, featuring three different applications: two on acrophobia with comparison against waiting-list and one on spider phobia examining non-inferiority against gold-standard in vivo exposure.

    “Three high-quality randomized trials have been published recently, featuring three different applications: two on acrophobia with comparison against waiting-list (Donker et al. 2019;Freeman et al. 2018) and one on spider phobia examining non-inferiority against gold-standard in vivo exposure (Miloff et al. 2019).”
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    • cites Freeman et al. 2018 source

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    Premisecitation

    Display properties in themselves also play a role in cybersickness.

    “although display properties in themselves also play a role (Saredakis et al. 2020).”
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    Premisecitation

    Cybersickness symptoms are believed to be caused primarily by sensory conflict between the visual and vestibular/proprioceptor systems.

    “symptoms resembling motion sickness believed to be caused primarily by sensory conflict between the visual and vestibular/proprioceptor systems”
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    • cites Rebenitsch and Owen 2016 source

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    • cites Saredakis et al. 2020

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    Premisecitation

    Clinicians reported fears about required training, handling the equipment, and financial costs, and reported an overall low degree of acquaintance with VR technology.

    “although they also reported fears about required training, handling the equipment and, financial costs, and reported an overall low degree of acquaintance with the technology (Schwartzman et al. 2012;Segal et al. 2011).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
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    • cites Segal et al. 2011

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    Premisecitation

    After the advent of consumer VR, both professional and recreational experiences of using VR were still rare, and knowledge of VR exposure therapy was still low.

    “although both professional and even recreational experiences of using VR were still rare, and knowledge of VR exposure therapy still low (Lindner et al. 2019d).”
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    • cites Lindner et al. 2019d

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    Premisecitation

    Participants who practiced delivering compassion in one virtual body and then experienced a recorded version embodied as the receiving party had reduced depression and self-criticism and increased self-compassion.

    “In another recent study, participants practiced delivering compassion in one virtual body and then experienced a recorded version of this act embodied as the receiving party, leading to reduced depression and self-criticism and increased self-compassion (Falconer et al. 2016).”
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    Premisecitation

    VR head rotation data can be used as a proxy measure of other physiological variables like heart rate that indicate emotional distress, with proof-of-concept already demonstrated.

    “This includes the possibility of using VR head rotation data as a proxy measure of other physiological variables like heart rate that indicate emotional distress, proof-of-concept of which has already been demonstrated (Noori et al. 2019) and is possible with related methods (Lomaliza and Park 2019).”
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    Approximately half of the world's population is now estimated to have access to a smartphone.

    “By comparison, approximately half of the world's population is now estimated to have access to a smartphone.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    The choice of control condition is a long-standing debate and multifaceted issue in psychotherapy research, with placebo interventions remaining the gold-standard despite being hard to implement in traditional psychotherapy research.

    “The choice of control condition is a long-standing debate and multifaceted issue in psychotherapy research, with placebo interventions remaining the gold-standard despite being hard to implement in research on traditional psychotherapy (Gold et al. 2017).”
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    Interpretationcitation

    The advent of modern consumer VR has resolved most logistic barriers to running larger clinical trials, as reflected in larger sample sizes in recent studies.

    “The advent of modern consumer VR has resolved most of the logistic barriers to running larger clinical trials (but see below), as reflected in the larger sample sizes found in recent studies (Donker et al. 2019;Freeman et al. 2018;Miloff et al. 2019).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Donker et al. 2019 source

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    • cites Freeman et al. 2018 source

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    • cites Miloff et al. 2019 source

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    Interpretationnone given

    Patients are likely to have markedly fewer preconceptions of what constitutes a VR psychological treatment, offering good grounds for (double) blinding.

    “Patients, in turn, are also likely to have markedly fewer preconceptions of what constitutes a VR psychological treatment, offering good grounds for (double) blinding.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Patients have markedly fewer preconceptions of what constitutes a VR psychological treatment.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Concerns have been raised about research quality of trials examining VR exposure therapy for anxiety disorders, primarily reliance on small samples and no or questionable control conditions.

    “Concerns have been raised about research quality of trials examining VR exposure therapy for anxiety disorders, primarily the reliance on small samples, and no or questionable control conditions (Page and Coxon 2016).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Page and Coxon 2016 source

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    Modern consumer VR is primarily marketed and used as an entertainment platform.

    “The fact that modern consumer VR is primarily marketed, and used, as an entertainment platform”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    There is some preliminary, indirect research in support of using VR storytelling therapeutically, but therapeutic effects on psychopathology have yet to be demonstrated.

    “Although there is some preliminary, indirect research in support of this approach (Shin 2018), therapeutic effects on psychopathology have yet to be demonstrated.”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    VR has a long history of studying negative effects in the form of cybersickness.

    “VR has a long history of studying negative effects in the form of cybersickness (Rebenitsch and Owen 2016)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    At the end of 2019, Sony confirmed having sold more than five million units of their Playstation VR device.

    “At the end of 2019, Sony confirmed having sold more than five million units of their Playstation VR device.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    A recent study found no difference in evoked anxiety between exposure to standardized catastrophic scenarios in VR and imaginal exposure with personalized scenarios, suggesting that perfect tailoring is at least not necessary.

    “One recent study compared exposure to standardized catastrophic scenarios in VR, to imaginal exposure with personalized scenarios, and found no difference in evoked anxiety (Guitard et al. 2019), suggesting that perfect tailoring is at least not necessary.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
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    Premisecitation

    A 1996 review article on VR psychotherapy made predictions, some of which turned out true but most ultimately did not.

    “A review article from 1996 on “VR psychotherapy” made a number of interesting predictions on the future of the field: while some predictions did turn out true, most ultimately did not (Glantz et al. 1996).”
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    Premisecitation

    Recent survey research suggests ordinary clinicians continue to see certain risks in using VR in therapy, although positive views outweigh negative.

    “Recent survey research suggests that ordinary clinicians do continue to see certain risks in using VR in therapy, although positive views outweigh negative (Lindner et al. 2019d).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Lindner et al. 2019d

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Sandbox-type paradigms require additional developmental resources, which may not be cost-effective in relation to efficacy.

    “since so-called sandbox-type paradigms require additional developmental resources, which may not be costeffective in relation to efficacy.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Privacy concerns about collecting vast amounts of data from VR usage have already been raised and must continue to be discussed within clinical research.

    “privacy concerns have already been raised (Slater et al. 2020;Spiegel 2018) and must continue to be discussed within clinical research”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
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    Premisecitation

    A recent systematic review identified k = 152 studies investigating different factors of importance in social presence experienced with avatars and agents.

    “with a recent systematic review identifying k = 152 studies investigating different factors of importance (Oh et al. 2018).”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    The field of VR-CBT is expanding rapidly with new publications every week.

    “The field of VR-CBT is expanding rapidly with new publications every week”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationnone given

    The question of to what degree virtual environments need to be tailored has received surprisingly little research attention.

    “This question has however received surprisingly little research attention thus far.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Small sample sizes characterized early VR research, and this is not unexpected given added practical requirements in providing VR treatment with previous generation technology.

    “The small sample sizes that characterized early (and to a lesser degree, also current) research is not unexpected given the added practical requirements in providing VR treatment, at least with the previous generation of technology”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    The recent release of consumer VR platforms constitutes a true paradigm shift in the development and dissemination of clinical VR.

    “The recent release of consumer VR platforms constitutes a true paradigm shift in the development and dissemination of clinical VR”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Widespread reports of difficulties in implementing exposure therapy for PTSD in clinical settings stress the importance of considering therapist views in efforts to disseminate new treatments.

    “Widespread reports of difficulties in implementing exposure therapy for PTSD in clinical settings (Waller and Turner 2016), for example, stress the importance of considering therapist views in efforts to disseminate new treatments.”
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    Premisecitation

    Human-computer interaction research has shown that head rotation provides an adequate proxy measure of eye gaze: gaze tends to focus around a rotation-controlled crosshair, and gaze shifts above 25° are typically accompanied by subsequent head movement with a lag of 30-150 ms.

    “In fact, human-computer interaction research has shown that head rotation provides an adequate proxy measure of eye gaze: gaze tends to focus around a rotation-controlled crosshair, and gaze shifts above 25° are typically accompanied by subsequent head movement with a lag of 30-150 ms (Sidenmark and Gellersen 2020).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
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    Premisecitation

    Creative bibliotherapy has a long history yet has received very little research attention and cannot currently be considered an evidence-based treatment.

    “so-called creative bibliotherapy-patient reading selected works of fiction, as opposed to self-help material-has a long history yet has received very little research attention (Troscianko 2018) and can therefore not currently be considered an evidencebased treatment.”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Clinical researchers have only begun to scratch the surface of the clinical potential of virtual embodiment, especially with regard to merging such experiences with traditional, evidence-based CBT techniques.

    “Arguably, clinical researchers have only begun to scratch the surface of the clinical potential of virtual embodiment, especially with regard to how such experiences can be merged with traditional, evidence-based CBT techniques.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    Despite VR now being an accessible and affordable consumer product, mass adoption has yet to occur and growth remains linear rather than exponential, hindering the full public health and clinical potential of VR.

    “Despite VR now being an accessible and affordable consumer product (Lindner et al. 2017), mass adoption has yet to occur and growth remains linear rather than exponential, hindering the full public health and clinical potential of VR.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Lindner et al. 2017 source

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    Interpretationcitation

    Since expected effect sizes in VR exposure studies were large, even smaller trials may have been well powered; VR allows greater standardization, which should decrease outcome variance and sample size requirement.

    “However, since the expected effect sizes in these studies were large (as with in vivo exposure therapy), even smaller trials may nonetheless have been well powered; further, the fact that VR allows for a greater, even full degree of standardization should decrease outcome variance and thereby sample size requirement (Lindner et al. 2020b).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Lindner et al. 2020b

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    • Rests on an assumption: The expected effect sizes in VR exposure studies were large.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    6DOF technology remains underutilized in clinical VR, in particular as core clinical components.

    “6DOF technology, although not new but now much more userfriendly, remains underutilized in clinical VR, in particular as core clinical components.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Interpretationcitation

    Research has begun to collect and analyze user engagement metrics and self-reported data from self-guided VR interventions, but there has been surprisingly little research on data that offers deeper insight.

    “While research has begun to collect and analyze user engagement metrics and selfreported data from self-guided VR interventions (Donker et al. 2020), there has been surprisingly little research on data that offers deeper insight.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Donker et al. 2020

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    Premisenone given

    Steam hardware statistics in spring 2020 revealed that around 2% of the platform's active user base has access to VR, equivalent to roughly 2 million users.

    “publically released hardware statistics from the Steam gaming platform in spring 2020 revealed that around 2% of the platform's active user base has access to VR, equivalent to roughly 2 million users.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    In the first effectiveness trial of VR exposure therapy in routine care, the clinic was reimbursed either through existing occupational healthcare contracts or patients paid out-of-pocket, with no additional cost included to cover the clinic's investment in VR.

    “In the first effectiveness trial of VR exposure therapy in routine care, the clinic was reimbursed either through existing occupational healthcare contracts or the patients payed out-ofpocket (Lindner et al. 2020a), in no case with any additional cost included to cover the clinics investment in VR.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Lindner et al. 2020a

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationnone given

    Social VR is growing increasingly popular.

    “Social VR is growing increasingly popular”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
44 of 44

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    VR exposure is always safer than in vivo equivalent exposure.

    “Further, VR exposure will always be safer than in vivo equivalent exposure”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Consumer VR will achieve mass adoption.

    “VR and other mixed reality technologies are still awaiting mass adoption, but when this does happen, there will already be a firm evidence base to inform the next generation of VR interventions for mental health.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    VR technology will continue to develop rapidly.

    “The future of VR-CBT will continue to be inherently intertwined with the development of VR technology, yet the latter now develops at a pace so rapid that clinical researchers are struggling to keep up”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The expected effect sizes in VR exposure studies were large.

    “since the expected effect sizes in these studies were large (as with in vivo exposure therapy), even smaller trials may nonetheless have been well powered”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Patients have markedly fewer preconceptions of what constitutes a VR psychological treatment.

    “Patients, in turn, are also likely to have markedly fewer preconceptions of what constitutes a VR psychological treatment, offering good grounds for (double) blinding.”
5 of 5

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Relatively limited research has explored the potential therapeutic applications of VR beyond exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy approaches, and research in youth is highly limited.

    “However, relatively limited research has explored the potential therapeutic applications of VR beyond exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approaches, and research in youth is highly limited [2,5,6,16].”

    From A Virtual Reality–Based Cognitive Defusion Application for Youth Depression and Anxiety: Mixed Methods Experimental Study. (2025) · cites this paper as [16]

    The 'VR for Other Disorders' section describes emerging VR treatments for conditions that had received little attention and reports only two depression studies in a 2017 review. The paper mentions work involving children and an adolescent feasibility study, but the passages do not establish the broader claim that research in youth is highly limited. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Most research on VR for mental disorders has focused on VR-based cognitive behavioral treatments (VR-CBTs).

    “Most of this research has focused on VR-based cognitive behavioral treatments (VR-CBTs) [16].”

    From A Virtual Reality–Based Cognitive Defusion Application for Youth Depression and Anxiety: Mixed Methods Experimental Study. (2025) · cites this paper as [16]

  • Ellipsis Health is an ML-based mobile app that detects depression using speech analysis of smartphone audio, potentially allowing accessible screening and monitoring of depression.

    “Ellipsis Health is an ML-based mobile app that detects depression using speech analysis of smartphone audio, which can be easily recorded and transmitted, potentially allowing accessible screening and monitoring of depression.”

    From Digital health technologies and major depressive disorder (2023) · cites this paper as [114]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • The same cited article has two publication years

    Minor

    The references list the same article title and DOI under both 2018 and 2019, so its publication year is inconsistent within the paper.

1 of 1

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Alsem, S. (2019). Using interactive virtual reality to treat aggressive behavior problems in children. in 9th World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies.
  2. Carl, E., Stein, A. T., Levihn-Coon, A., Pogue, J. R., Rothbaum, B., Emmelkamp, P., et al. (2019). Virtual reality exposure therapy for anxiety and related disorders: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 61, 27–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2018.08.003. · DOI · Paper page

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Authors
Lindner, P.
Affiliations
Region Stockholm (SE)
Corresponding author
Lindner, Philip
ORCID
Lindner, Philip
Venue
International Journal of Cognitive Therapy
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-10-20
Volume
14
Issue
1
Pages
23-46
ISSN
  • 1937-1209 (ISSN-L)
  • 1937-1217
DOI
10.1007/s41811-020-00090-7
OpenAlex
W3093847664
Semantic Scholar
f6bc7da21bcb63e0a542b5762a0a47d2df138d1b
Cited by
120
References
136
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 1
FWCI
7.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
International Journal of Cognitive Therapy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Karolinska Institutet
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
virtual reality, cognitive behavioral therapy, immersive technologies, embodiment, gamification, immersive storytelling, psychotherapy

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-10.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-10.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

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