VCU news

By Madeline Reinsel

Jarrod Reisweber has guided hundreds of veterans through anxiety, depression and addiction — all through the screen of a virtual reality headset. This month, lawmakers got their own view when the Virginia Commonwealth University professor and his VR colleagues visited Washington to demo the technology.

Reisweber, Psy.D., is an affiliate assistant professor in VCU’s Department of Psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences, as well as a clinical psychologist at the Central Virginia Veterans Affairs Health Care System. He developed the VR treatment, which introduces patients to therapy inside of a serene, virtual lakeside cabin, to help combat the addiction crisis among veterans.

On April 2, Reisweber traveled to Washington alongside Richmond-based visual effects artist Mark Lambert and Lambert’s team from Lighthouse XR, who developed the program with Reisweber. There, they hosted a demo of the technology, called Transcending Self Therapy at The Retreat, for lawmakers during a conference hosted by The Science Coalition.

Lessons in The Retreat are guided by a virtual Reisweber, who teaches patients basic concepts of cognitive behavioral therapy. The popular clinical technique, which can be applied to a wide variety of mental health disorders, helps patients change their thoughts and behaviors to ultimately change the way they feel.

“Our old methods for treating addiction aren’t good enough, and virtual reality is showing a lot of promise,” Reisweber said. “We’re trying to get it in front of policymakers so they can be informed of what’s available in our efforts to help fight the opioid epidemic.”

The purpose of The Retreat is to extend the therapeutic reach of mental health practitioners, Reisweber said. He likens it to practicing your swing in between tennis lessons.

“If you came in to learn how to play tennis and you just practiced for one hour each time, you wouldn’t get much better at tennis,” he said. “But if you practice for 10 hours in between one tennis coaching session and the next, you’ll come back with so much more. It’s taking that one-hour therapy session and turning it into 11 hours of therapy.”

The Retreat also gives veterans a more engaging way to complete their therapy “homework.” Instead of filling out worksheets, patients can learn about anxiety by climbing a virtual mountain, which lets them earn virtual rewards like a cross-country road trip.

Reisweber initially worked with Lambert to develop the first iteration of The Retreat in 2020 after being connected by Brent Fagg, the assistant director for innovation at VCU TechTransfers and Ventures, which helps commercialize campus inventions.

“It was a very, very strong collaboration between Lighthouse XR, the VA and VCU,” Fagg said. “It’s been a much closer collaboration than most licenses and technology developments.”

Both Reisweber and Lambert had witnessed how mental health and substance use disorders can hurt people and their families. Reisweber’s grandfather, a World War II veteran, returned from the war with undiagnosed PTSD and alcoholism, and another close family member died due to issues with substance use.

“We know the hell that that addiction can unleash on people and their families,” Reisweber said. “And so we’re really, really intrinsically motivated to address it.”

The data shows that the VR headsets are effective: Patients treated in The Retreat are 43% more likely to complete treatment than those who don’t have headsets, and the vast majority of patients find the treatment to be helpful. Many of the veterans are also using the headsets in the evenings, and approximately 20% have used it in the middle of the night. That could mean veterans are turning to The Retreat instead of substances, Reisweber said.

“This is something so needed because there are way too many people struggling,” he said. “We can break that chain of addiction that runs through so many families.”

In addition to TechTransfer and Ventures, Reisweber credits VCU’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation for helping connect him to Lambert and bringing the treatment to veterans in need.

“Dr. Reisweber’s work in leveraging new technologies to address illnesses that have impacted society for centuries is a perfect encapsulation of how VCU’s research directly improves lives across the country,” said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., vice president for research and innovation. “Just as important, however, is the ability of our TechTransfer and Ventures team to work closely with our faculty to not only protect their intellectual property, but to also find creative ways to ensure that new uses of technology like this have as large of an impact as possible.”

The technology is already being used by some private-sector providers and VA facilities in Richmond, Minnesota, western Massachusetts and North Carolina. It is expected to be implemented in Phoenix and Washington in the next two months.

“When you have people that are passionate about this, who care about this, who are thoughtful and hard-working with the support of centers like those at VCU ¾ awesome things can happen, and that’s what’s happening here,” Reisweber said.