Embodying Compassion: A Virtual Reality Paradigm for Overcoming Excessive Self-Criticism
Open accessAbstract
Virtual reality has been successfully used to study and treat psychological disorders such as phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder but has rarely been applied to clinically-relevant emotions other than fear and anxiety. Self-criticism is a ubiquitous feature of psychopathology and can be treated by increasing levels of self-compassion. We exploited the known effects of identification with a virtual body to arrange for healthy female volunteers high in self-criticism to experience self-compassion from an embodied first-person perspective within immersive virtual reality. Whereas observation and practice of compassionate responses reduced self-criticism, the additional experience of embodiment also increased self-compassion and feelings of being safe. The results suggest potential new uses for immersive virtual reality in a range of clinical conditions.
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In both conditions of that previous experiment, participants witnessed their previous embodiment delivering the speech, but the effect of the embodied condition was greater in improving self-compassion than the non-embodied.
“In both conditions (embodied in the child or not embodied) participants witnessed their previous embodiment delivering the speech, but the effect of the embodied condition was greater in improving self-compassion than the non-embodied.”
From Conversations between self and self as Sigmund Freud—A virtual body ownership paradigm for self counselling (2015) · cites this paper as [39]
A previous experiment adds weight to the idea that simply considering the personal problem when seeing one's own body from a different location (literal perspective taking) is not enough to explain the result.
“A previous experiment adds weight to the idea that simply considering the personal problem when seeing one’s own body from a different location (literal perspective taking) is not enough to explain the result.”
From Conversations between self and self as Sigmund Freud—A virtual body ownership paradigm for self counselling (2015) · cites this paper as [39]
A much simpler version of our paradigm was used to increase self-compassion amongst a non-clinical group of excessively self critical individuals.
“A much simpler version of our paradigm was used to increase self-compassion amongst a non-clinical group of excessively self critical individuals39.”
From Conversations between self and self as Sigmund Freud—A virtual body ownership paradigm for self counselling (2015) · cites this paper as [39]
In that previous experiment, those who were embodied in the child body reported a greater degree of self compassion after the experiment compared to before, with no significant change in the non-embodied group.
“The results suggested that those who were embodied in the child body reported a greater degree of self compassion after the experiment compared to before with no significant change in the non-embodied group.”
From Conversations between self and self as Sigmund Freud—A virtual body ownership paradigm for self counselling (2015) · cites this paper as [39]
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- Authors
- Falconer, C. J., Slater, M., Rovira, A., King, J. A., Gilbert, P., Antley, A., & Brewin, C. R.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- University of Derby (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Brewin, Chris R.
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2014-11-12
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- e111933
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4229123
- OpenAlex
- W1983396068
- Cited by
- 155
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 17.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (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, cc-by-sa)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- 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 › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- self-criticism, self-compassion, embodiment, virtual reality, compassion training, sense of security
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Attitude, Emotions, Empathy, Female, Humans, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, Self-Assessment, Self Care, Software, Young Adult, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
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