First Resort

Stress, worry, and sadness can impact our mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.

Designed for everyone, anywhere.

We all experience sadness, worry, and stress. Our VR program is designed for self guided use, at home or in-clinic. First Resort, a virtual reality-based transdiagnostic intervention, teaches cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills to help users manage what they think, feel, and do to live a meaningful life guided by their values.

Evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques for emotional regulation.

First Resort includes assessments to track user progress and clinical outcomes

  • Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2)

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 2 (GAD-2)

  • Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4)

How it Works

Psychoeducation

Psychoeducational materials cover a range of CBT topics to help users understand the biopsychosocial drivers of emotional well-being. Understanding empowers users to make changes in what they Think, Feel, and Do to live a life driven by their values rather than by their emotional states.

Shifting Your Thinking

Cognitive reframing skills are taught and practiced to reframe emotional thoughts to be more accurate, flexible, and balanced through four components:

  • Learning about cognitive distortion types or “Thinking Traps”

  • Linking physical sensations and behaviors with emotional thought

  • Gathering evidence for and against negative thoughts, to better understand their accuracy

  • Cognitive defusion to gain objective distance from troubling thoughts

Mindfulness Practice

Eight unique mindfulness experiences, guided by a narrator, in different immersive 3D environments, with specific foci: grounding, releasing physical tension, embracing the unknown, mindful deep breathing, mindfulness of negative thoughts, self-compassion, acceptance and cognitive defusion, and mindfulness of others.

Values-Driven Behavioral Activation

Behavioral activation and committing to acting in service of one’s values are key components of CBT for emotional wellness. This MoA includes:

  • Guided Values Clarification and an interactive values sorting activity

  • Long-Term Goals Setting, in which users set three long-term goals aligned with their top three values

  • Short-Term Goal Setting, in which users learn how to make SMART short-term goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, and then set weekly SMART goals that are immediate steps they may take toward achieving their Long-Term Goals

  • Goal Check-Ins, in which users receive a report and feedback on their progress toward their goals.

Supporting Evidence

Shifting Your Thinking (cognitive reframing)

  • Bolinski, F., Etzelmüller, A., De Witte, N. A. J., van Beurden, C., Debard, G., Bonroy, B., Cuijpers, P., Riper, H., & Kleiboer, A. (2021). Physiological and self-reported arousal in virtual reality versus face-to-face emotional activation and cognitive restructuring in university students: A crossover experimental study using wearable monitoring. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 142, 103877.
    See Article

  • Lindner, P., Hamilton, W., Miloff, A., & Carlbring, P. (2019). How to Treat Depression With Low-Intensity Virtual Reality Interventions: Perspectives on Translating Cognitive Behavioral Techniques Into the Virtual Reality Modality and How to Make Anti-Depressive Use of Virtual Reality-Unique Experiences. Frontiers in Psychiatry / Frontiers Research Foundation, 10, 792.
    See Article

Mindfulness

  • Ma, J., Zhao, D., Xu, N. & Yang, J. (2023). The effectiveness of immersive virtual reality (VR) based mindfulness training on improvement mental-health in adults: A narrative systematic review. Explore , 19(3), 310–318.

Values

  • A-Tjak, J. G. L., Davis, M. L., Morina, N., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. A. J., & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2015). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinically relevant mental and physical health problems. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(1), 30–36.
    See Article

Goals

  • Mazzucchelli, T., Kane, R., & Rees, C. (2009). Behavioral activation treatments for depression in adults: A meta-analysis and review. Clinical Psychology: A Publication of the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association, 16(4), 383–411.
    See Article