Farmingdale State College (FSC) Campus Mental Health Services (CMHS) is proud to now offer leading-edge virtual reality (VR) therapy to help enhance its behavioral and cognitive care, increase treatment effectiveness, and expand relaxation techniques for anxiety and stress management. 

“Virtual reality has been around in health fields for more than 25 years,” said Campus Mental Health Services Director Andrew Berger, PhD, ABPP. “It actually began as a tool to teach surgery techniques to residents. The idea was to recreate scenarios that lack a little bit of the actual pressure but still hold true to the challenges.”

From there, the increasingly sophisticated technology expanded into psychology, where it has become a valuable and trusted treatment option. 

“Exposure therapy, over time, can be the single most effective therapy for many people,” said Berger. “But our ability to expose somebody we’re working with to a feared thing can be limited. VR became seen as a very special opportunity…a new channel for treatment of fear disorders and anxiety disorders.”  

According to “Considerations and Practical Protocols for Using Virtual Reality in Psychological Research and Practice, as Evidenced Through Exposure-Based Therapy,” a 2021 article published in Behavior Research Methods, virtual reality helps overcome traditional treatment barriers, such as time, cost, and insufficiencies in imaginal exposure via mental imagery and growing evidence supports it is highly effective across a range of conditions, and especially in anxiety disorder treatment. 

Anxiety disorders are among the most common of mental disorders affecting nearly 18.1% of adults, according to “Using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy to Enhance Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Identifying Areas of Clinical Adoption and Potential Obstacles,” a 2019 article published in the National Library of Medicine which stated that clinical virtual reality exposure therapy “is a practical, empirically-based treatment” that can “help patients learn and practice anxiety management skills and permits controlled, gradual exposure, which minimizes distress and optimizes treatment success.” 

“Using virtual reality allows clients to experience and face their fears more directly and realistically and in ways that might be difficult to arrange or dangerous,” agreed Campus Mental Health Services Assistant Director Shane G. Owens, PhD, ABPP, who shared that while the therapy is still fairly uncommon in college clinical settings, FSC is equipped to offer the state-of-the-art treatment for the following issues: 

• Fear of public speaking 
• Fear of flying 
• Fear of spiders 
• Fear of dogs 
• Fear of heights 
• Fear of bridges 
• Fear of darkness 
• Fear of storms 
• Fear of needles 
• Fear of roaches 

Each unique module can be customized to a client’s individual needs. Virtual audience sizes can increase from an empty room to a classroom full of waiting students—cue the errant cough or cellphone buzz. Footbridges hang over a quiet stream or a fast-flowing river. Navigating the roof of a tall city building, a gentle breeze or a thumping helicopter can be heard overhead. Additionally, FSC’s virtual reality treatments can be used to teach successful mindfulness and breathing techniques through a scenic beach module with softly-crashing waves, ambient music, and guided meditations.  

After initial clinical assessments which determine appropriate care, CMHS offers VR therapy as part of its wide range of professional counseling services available to all registered students. These services are free and confidential and can be provided for individuals, couples, and groups. Additional areas that can be addressed through CMHS include coping and problem-solving skills, relationship issues, depression, family crisis, trauma and loss, adjustment to college life and living, anger management, communication skills, substance use and abuse, and habit disorders.  

CMHS, which serves as a liaison and information source for students, also works with local community organizations to arrange specialized assessment services and resources. An array of educational and personal growth-oriented programs and presentations are available throughout the year to provide members of the campus community with opportunities to explore areas of personal interest and development. 

“Our office is proud to offer a variety of support services, and we’ve already received great feedback from students who found the VR modules to be very helpful,” said Owens. “We look forward to sharing this wonderful technology with the campus community this fall.” 

To learn more, please visit the Campus Mental Health Services Virtual Reality Therapy wepage. 

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