Dyadic Interactions of Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia Patients Having Followed Virtual Reality Therapy: A Content Analysis

Abstract

(1) Background: Very little is known about the inner therapeutic processes of psychotherapy interventions for patients suffering from treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Avatar therapy (AT) is one such modalities in which the patient is undergoing immersive sessions in which they interact with an Avatar representing their main persistent auditory verbal hallucination. The aim of this study is to identify the most prevalent dyadic interactions between the patient and the Avatar in AT for patient’s suffering from TRS. (2) Methods: A content analysis of 256 verbatims originating from 32 patients who completed AT between 2017 and 2022 at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal was conducted to identify dyadic interactions between the patients and their Avatar. (3) Results: Five key dyads were identified to occur on average more than 10 times for each participant during the immersive sessions across their AT: (Avatar: Reinforcement, Patient: Self-affirmation), (Avatar: Provocation, Patient: Self-affirmation), (Avatar: Coping mechanisms, Patient: Prevention), (Patient: Self-affirmation, Avatar: Reinforcement), and (Patient: Self-appraisal, Avatar: Reinforcement). (4) Conclusion: These dyads offer a first qualitative insight to the interpersonal dynamics and patient-avatar relationships taking place during AT. Future studies on the implication of such dyadic interactions with the therapeutic outcome of AT should be conducted considering the importance of dyadic relationships in psychotherapy.

Keywords

• psychotherapy
• virtual reality therapy
• auditory hallucinations
• schizophrenia
• avatar therapy
• dyads