Virtual Reality Avatar Therapy for People Hearing Voices

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Behavioral
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Not Applicable
SUMMARY

Hearing voices is probably the worst form of acoustic hallucinations; which can be experienced as severely disturbing and is influenced by diverse factors including the ability of the individual to influence and control the hallucinatory experience itself. In recent years virtual reality has become a treatment option. In the so-called AVATAR Therapy, patients with schizophrenia and acoustic hallucinations design a visual and auditory recreation (avatar) of the entity to which they attribute their hallucinations. Working with a therapist over the course of several sessions, participants change the avatar from controlling to benevolent. Avatar Therapy involves similar processes to learning and cognitive restructuring, comparable to other psychotherapeutic interventions. The investigators plan to conduct an interventional study using a cross-over design, to compare the feasibility and efficacy of virtual reality avatar therapy for patients with acoustic hallucinations (independent of psychiatric diagnosis) with a cognitive behavioural group therapy aimed to improve social competence.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Maximum Age: 65
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• Consistent acoustic hallucinations, with the presence of voices for at least two months.

• Participants are competent to give informed consent, as determined by the referring physician or psychiatrist.

• German language proficiency as a native speaker or level B1 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL)

Locations
Other Locations
Switzerland
Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich
RECRUITING
Zurich
Contact Information
Primary
Stephan T. Egger, MD
stephan.egger@puk.zh.ch
+41523049340
Time Frame
Start Date: 2021-07-01
Estimated Completion Date: 2025-12-31
Participants
Target number of participants: 100
Treatments
Experimental: Virtual Reality Avatar Therapy (VRAT)
In the VRAT, patients with schizophrenia and acoustic hallucinations design a visual and auditory recreation (avatar) of the entity to which they attribute their hallucinations. Working with a therapist over the course of several sessions, participants change the avatar from controlling to benevolent.
Active_comparator: Assertiveness Training Program (ATP)
The ATP is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural treatment programme, which aims to increase self-confidence and social competence in patients with a psychiatric disorder.
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Leads: Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov