Wall Street Journal Reports New Benefits for Virtual Reality Therapy

Skip Rizzo is quoted in this article that covers the development, research results and new applications for virtual reality exposure therapy, including treating victims of sexual assault who are suffering from post-traumatic stress. The story notes that virtual reality exposure therapy dates back to the early 1990’s and that researchers say it has shown to be successful in treating eating disorders, alcoholism and phobias, like a fear of flying or of public speaking.
“All we’re really doing here is taking an evidence-based treatment and delivering it with new technology,” said Rizzo, who developed the Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan exposure therapy treatment that is featured in the story. “People will never forget the horrible things they’ve gone through. But that doesn’t mean they’ve earned a life sentence of pain.”