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That\u2019s the big question Michael Hasselberg\u2019s department chair asked him to ponder. Hasselberg, an assistant professor of psychiatry and clinical nursing, is acutely aware of the high demand, regionally and nationally, for behavioral health services and specialists to treat conditions like depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders.<\/p>\n In this line of work, the gold standard treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy. CBT is a form of psychotherapy that usually involves a therapist and patient working together to recognize and change the latter\u2019s thinking patterns while also developing coping skills, according to the American Psychological Association<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s our first-line treatment for several of the diagnostic clusters we treat, specifically the depressive and anxiety disorders, and there\u2019s a lot of evidence to show its effectiveness,\u201d Hasselberg explains.<\/p>\n Given that a majority of Americans today own a smartphone\u201477 percent, according to the Pew Research Center<\/a>\u2014a web or mobile app seems like an obvious answer. Indeed, such apps abound.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea of putting cognitive-behavioral therapy on a computerized app isn\u2019t new,\u201d Hasselberg says. Typically, such computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy (cCBT) features a voiceover with animation or perhaps a video of a therapist talking\u2014but no meaningful interaction.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients download the app, but after using it once or twice, they disengage from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Could a more immersive, customized experience, one harnessing today\u2019s advances in virtual reality and augmented reality (VR\/AR), help keep patients engaged with an app?<\/p>\n Hasselberg pitched the idea a year ago during a meeting of the UR Health Lab<\/a>, a multidisciplinary campus collaboration that leverages computing, analytics, and technology to solve challenges in medicine. Afterward, two faculty members approached him: Jiebo Luo, professor of computer science in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Matthew Brown, professor of music theory at the Eastman School of Music.<\/p>\n Luo, whose research interests include machine learning, data mining, and personal analytics, has previously worked on a computer program that could monitor mental health by analyzing \u201cselfie\u201d videos and social media posts<\/a>. Brown, meanwhile, directs TableTopOpera<\/a>, a musical multimedia ensemble at Eastman, and has always \u201cbeen very interested in the social impact and therapeutic functions of music.\u201d<\/p>\n Both were keen to bring their expertise to bear on such a project. Galvanized, Hasselberg tapped his colleague Wendi Cross, a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, to help develop evidence-based scripts and storyboards for a working prototype of the virtual reality app.<\/p>\n Cross immediately thought ahead to how patients would use such an app. \u201cIn a typical psychotherapy situation, you\u2019re interacting in the office for 45 minutes,\u201d she explains. \u201cWell, nobody is going to stay online in an app for 45 minutes\u2014people like to come and go in ways that suit them. With this virtual reality app, the psychotherapy session is literally in the hands of the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"virtual](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/intersections.jpg\")
<\/a>What are new, innovative ways to increase community access to much-needed mental and behavioral health services?<\/p>\nVirtual reality app offer cognitive-behavioral therapy<\/h2>\n