Embodying self-compassion within virtual reality and its effects on patients with depression
Open accessAbstract
Background: Self-criticism is a ubiquitous feature of psychopathology and can be combatted by increasing levels of self-compassion. However, some patients are resistant to self-compassion. Aims: To investigate whether the effects of self-identification with virtual bodies within immersive virtual reality could be exploited to increase self-compassion in patients with depression. Method: We developed an 8-minute scenario in which 15 patients practised delivering compassion in one virtual body and then experienced receiving it from themselves in another virtual body. Results: In an open trial, three repetitions of this scenario led to significant reductions in depression severity and self-criticism, as well as to a significant increase in self-compassion, from baseline to 4-week follow-up. Four patients showed clinically significant improvement. Conclusions: The results indicate that interventions using immersive virtual reality may have considerable clinical potential and that further development of these methods preparatory to a controlled trial is now warranted.
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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).”
From Better, Virtually: the Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavior Therapy (2021) · cites this paper as Falconer et al. 2016
Clinical VR has been successfully applied to reduce symptoms in different phobias and depression.
“The Clinical VR—the use of interactive 3D virtual environments for clinical purposes (34)—has been successfully applied to reduce symptoms in different phobias (35, 36) and depression (37).”
From Computer-assisted avatar-based treatment for dysfunctional beliefs in depressive inpatients: A pilot study (2021) · cites this paper as [37]
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- Authors
- Falconer, C. J., Rovira, A., King, J. A., Gilbert, P., Antley, A., Fearon, P., Ralph, N., Slater, M., & Brewin, C. R.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- University of Derby (GB)
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Falconer, Caroline J.
- ORCID
- Venue
- BJPsych Open
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2016-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 74-80
- ISSN
- 2056-4724 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4995586
- OpenAlex
- W2253634141
- Cited by
- 312
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 34.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BJPsych Open (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Derby Online Research Archive. (University of Derby) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council (MR/J009210/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- self-compassion, depression, immersive virtual reality, self-criticism, compassion training, virtual reality therapy, depression severity
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