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  • © 2019

Virtual Reality for Psychological and Neurocognitive Interventions

  • Details leading-edge applications of VR across a broad spectrum of psychological and neurocognitive conditions
  • Tracks the contributions of VR devices, systems, and methods to accurate assessment, evidence-based and client-centered treatment methods
  • Offers itself as an essential read for neuropsychologists, rehabilitation specialists (including physical, speech, vocational, and occupational therapists), and neurologists

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
  2. Virtual Reality: Whence, How and What For

    • William S. Ryan, Jessica Cornick, Jim Blascovich, Jeremy N. Bailenson
    Pages 15-46
  3. Virtual Reality and Anxiety Disorders Treatment: Evolution and Future Perspectives

    • Berenice Serrano, Cristina Botella, Brenda K. Wiederhold, Rosa M. Baños
    Pages 47-84
  4. Virtual Reality Applications to Treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

    • Melissa Peskin, Brittany Mello, Judith Cukor, Megan Olden, JoAnn Difede
    Pages 85-102
  5. Using VR for Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

    • Stéphane Bouchard, Mylène Laforest, Pedro Gamito, Georgina Cardenas-Lopez
    Pages 103-130
  6. Virtual Environments for Substance Abuse Assessment and Treatment

    • Patrick S. Bordnick, Micki Washburn
    Pages 131-161
  7. Virtual Reality in the Assessment and Treatment of Weight-Related Disorders

    • Giuseppe Riva, José Gutiérrez-Maldonado, Antonios Dakanalis, Marta Ferrer-García
    Pages 163-193
  8. Virtual Reality Distraction to Help Control Acute Pain during Medical Procedures

    • Hunter G. Hoffman, Walter J. Meyer III, Sydney A. Drever, Maryam Soltani, Barbara Atzori, Rocio Herrero et al.
    Pages 195-208
  9. Using Virtual Reality with Child Sexual Offenders: Assessing Deviant Sexual Interests

    • Dominique Trottier, Mathieu Goyette, Massil Benbouriche, Patrice Renaud, Joanne-Lucine Rouleau, Stéphane Bouchard
    Pages 209-225
  10. A Review of Virtual Classroom Environments for Neuropsychological Assessment

    • Thomas D. Parsons, Albert “Skip” Rizzo
    Pages 247-265
  11. Developmental and Learning Disabilities

    • P. J. Standen, David J. Brown
    Pages 267-287
  12. Virtual Reality and Psychotic Disorders

    • Roos Pot-Kolder, Wim Veling, Willem-Paul Brinkman, Mark van der Gaag
    Pages 289-305
  13. Assessment and Rehabilitation Using Virtual Reality after Stroke: A Literature Review

    • Pierre Nolin, Jérémy Besnard, Philippe Allain, Frédéric Banville
    Pages 307-326
  14. Developing Virtual Environments for Learning and Enhancing Skills for the Blind: Incorporating User-Centered and Neuroscience Based Approaches

    • Lindsay A. Yazzolino, Erin C. Connors, Gabriella V. Hirsch, Jaime Sánchez, Lotfi B. Merabet
    Pages 361-385
  15. Virtual Human Standardized Patients for Clinical Training

    • Thomas Talbot, Albert “Skip” Rizzo
    Pages 387-405
  16. Back Matter

    Pages 407-415

About this book

This exciting collection tours virtual reality in both its current therapeutic forms and its potential to transform a wide range of medical and mental health-related fields. Extensive findings track the contributions of VR devices, systems, and methods to accurate assessment, evidence-based and client-centered treatment methods, and—as described in a stimulating discussion of virtual patient technologies—innovative clinical training. Immersive digital technologies are shown enhancing opportunities for patients to react to situations, therapists to process patients’ physiological responses, and scientists to have greater control over test conditions and access to results. Expert coverage details leading-edge applications of VR across a broad spectrum of psychological and neurocognitive conditions, including:

  • Treating anxiety disorders and PTSD.
  • Treating developmental and learning disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder,
  • Assessment of and rehabilitation from stroke and traumatic brain injuries.
  • Assessment and treatment of substance abuse.
  • Assessment of deviant sexual interests.
  • Treating obsessive-compulsive and related disorders.
  • Augmenting learning skills for blind persons.

Readable and relevant, Virtual Reality for Psychological and Neurocognitive Interventions is an essential idea book for neuropsychologists, rehabilitation specialists (including physical, speech, vocational, and occupational therapists), and neurologists. Researchers across the behavioral and social sciences will find it a roadmap toward new and emerging areas of study.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Institute for Creative Technologies, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, USA

    Albert “Skip” Rizzo

  • Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, Canada

    Stéphane Bouchard

About the editors

Albert “Skip” Rizzo is a clinical psychologist and Director of Medical VR at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies. He is also a Research Professor with the USC Dept. of Psychiatry and School of Gerontology. Over the last 25 years, Skip has conducted research on the design, development and evaluation of Virtual Reality systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation across the domains of psychological, cognitive and motor functioning in both healthy and clinical populations. This work has focused on PTSD, TBI, Autism, ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other clinical conditions. He has also driven an extensive research program on the use of intelligent virtual human agents for clinical training, healthcare information support, and clinical assessment. In spite of the diversity of these clinical R&D areas, the common thread that drives all of his work with digital technologies involves the study of how Virtual Reality simulations can be usefully applied to human healthcare beyond what’s possible with traditional 20th Century methods.

Stéphane Bouchard holds the Canada Research Chair in Clinical cyberpsychology and teaches psychotherapy and cyberpsychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in Canada As a scientist-practitioner, his current research projects involve developing virtual environments to treat complex anxiety disorders and pathological gambling, leading randomized control trials on the efficacy of in virtuo exposure for mental health disorders, and conducting experimental studies to understand to why virtual reality is an effective treatment tool. Another prolific area of expertise is telepsychotherapy, where he conducts randomized control trials and processes studies on the efficacy of delivering cognitive-behavior therapy in videoconference. His research lab holds Psyche, the only six-sided total immersion virtual reality system dedicated to mental health research. He has received for more than 12 million dollars in research funding, has published more than 150 scientific articles and book chapters, delivered hundreds of scientific communications around the world and is actively collaborating with researchers from around the globe. He is also the president of Cliniques and Development In Virtuo, as company that distributes virtual environments to mental health professionals.



Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access