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Is virtual therapy the way of the future for our psychological needs?

Shrinks are going sci-fi in 2018.

Therapy can be like dating – sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs before you find your perfect shrink. It’s essential to have a good rapport with your therapist, to trust them and value their advice. And if you don’t feel a connection with the first person you see, well then, just try another one. But what if you’re too cashstrapped to shop around or simply don’t have the time to fit a therapist visit into your already jam-packed schedule? Until now, you may have been forced to go without. But thankfully things are changing.

E-therapy is a fast-growing industry, unsurprising considering one in five Australians experiences a mental illness in any year. From mood tracking to cognitive behaviour therapy, it’s become increasingly easy to access support from home. Websites and apps such as Moodgym and Smiling Mind have been around for a while, but now there are tools that dig deeper to help those seeking more than a quick pick-me-up.

First, there are chatbots – computer programs that simulate conversation with you, often through Facebook. Bots can do anything from booking flights to helping refugees cope, and are now an add-on to face-to-face therapy. Prime among the “talk therapy” bots is Woebot, a digital therapist accessible through Facebook Messenger. Created by psychologists and AI experts, it uses chats, mood monitoring and games to help you manage your mental health. For a monthly fee, Woebot will check on you daily, using all the data at its disposal to ask educated questions. He (yes, Woebot identifies as male) is compassionate, wise, even cheeky – a combination of Dr Phil and your cheesy uncle. He’s not afraid of a dancing animal GIF, but can also identify life-threatening moods and prompt you to seek help. Talk therapy bots aren’t meant to replace your real-life therapist, but studies have shown that many people are more comfortable opening up to an anonymous bot than another person, so it’s likely they will eventually help change the way we treat mental illness.

Then there’s virtual reality (VR). As a fledgling technology, most VR programs are still in the research phase, although it’s already being used to treat phobias, such as a fear of heights. Using the principles of exposure therapy, VR simulates the experience the patient fears and helps them confront and overpower it in a safe space. Currently in testing (and not as scary as it sounds) is body swapping – a VR therapy for anxiety and depression. Wearing a VR headset, you enter a simulated doctor’s office. Sitting there is a virtual shrink, who asks a question like: “How are you feeling today?” You’re prompted to answer, and when it’s their time to counsel you, you become the therapist and counsel yourself. Then you swap back to hear the advice you’ve given you. It sounds like a bad ’80s sci-fi movie, but it’s actually self-help taken to a whole new level.

Psychologist Gillian Downes-morgan supports innovation in her industry, except for more severe psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. She says virtual care can work well in tandem with face-to-face therapy, but shouldn’t replace it, especially for severe depression or anxiety. “Psychologists don’t just listen to what a patient is telling us; we read facial expressions, body language and tone of voice,” she says. “A lot of this gets lost in translation over the internet.”