Blog – EN

Today we are going to talk about managing emotions and anxiety through the ACARA system. This technique is usually explained in the third session to anxious patients.

Psychoeducation is done during the first group therapy session and consists of explaining the patterns of anxiety for patients who are phobic, have OCD, or have generalized anxiety disorders. The models help explain the causes and mechanisms of anxiety, the goal is to get patients to understand what is going on in their brains. Ignorance leads to fear. In group therapy, it is important to establish a dialogue with your patients and to set up an exchange, giving patients the opportunity to participate as often as possible. In this article, we will look at Gray’s neurobiological mode and its implication in anxiety, phobias and OCDs.

Barlow’s etiological model is presented in the second group therapy session. This model explains the causes of phobias, anxiety, OCD… According to this model, there may be a biological hereditary vulnerability, that is, a sensitivity to anxiety that is passed on by the parents. This sensitivity has advantages, it allows us to be sensitive to the environment and the people around us. This can be an advantage in human care (nurses, care assistants, psychologists), with animals (veterinarians) but also in the arts. Artists are often anxious people but also sensitive to the environment and this sensitivity is very useful in the creative world.

Cognitive therapy is used to help patients transform their way of thinking, to stop interpreting the situation in a dysfunctional way. For example, when the patient sees a dog, he or she thinks directly that the dog will bite him or her. The goal of these sessions is to change the way of thinking.

Parents and guardians currently considering choices when it comes to reopening schools during the height of a deadly epidemic may have an additional challenge: children who are afraid to return to the classroom. Feelings of restlessness are common and anticipated in times of change or transition. This is especially true for children and adolescents returning to school or for children entering kindergarten for the first time. This transition can be painful and challenging for the whole family! Before the first day of school, the nervous child may cry, cling, complain of stomachaches or headaches, be grumpy, become moody or irritable, and become withdrawn. Whenever children attend VR therapy, they first learn coping skills that help them stay calm in stressful situations. Once they are satisfied with these approaches, they move on to virtual reality therapy. They view computer-generated environments and use avatars to experience relationships with other youth and adults.

The extreme fear of insects is called entomophobia and is one of the most common forms of phobia. It causes panic and acute anxiety in its victims, but there are effective ways to get rid of it, such as virtual reality, medication, etc. Psychologists offer virtual reality therapy to help clients overcome this fear by engaging in risky situations in a safe, virtual setting. These specialists use control parameters to adjust the computer-generated environment. The complex virtual environments involve replicating aspects of the real world through 360-degree views, 3D graphics and sound. Children and adults can develop entomophobia, especially when they have had hostile experiences with a particular insect. With approximately 6% of the population suffering from entomophobia, C2care provides its clients with psychological and medical treatment for various fears, eating disorders, addiction-related stress, and implements virtual reality exposure therapy into their program. Keep reading to understand how virtual reality can help eradicate the fear of bugs.

Recent years have seen a huge uptick in the use of VR in geriatrics. As Mathias et al reported in a 2019 review of the literature, VR has become an effective tool in screening for and treating cognitive impairment, while it has also found uses in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. The use of VR in treating mood disorders and other forms of depression in the elderly has lagged behind, but there are reasons to believe that it will be the next frontier in treating mental health disorders among American seniors. VR has been used with great success in treating ADHD, anxiety, and depression among teens and younger people, leading many geriatrics specialists to see exciting potential for older age groups. So let’s look in more detail about how the technology could be applied, and the kind of benefits seniors can anticipate.

Today, we are going to discuss an essential element of cognitive-behavioral therapy applied and enhanced by virtual reality: assertiveness. Which of your patients will be concerned by this type of technique? It is mainly patients who suffer from social phobias. So often, those who have difficulty speaking in public, those who are afraid to express themselves, those who are afraid to say “no” or those who do not dare to assert their point of view.

C2Care collaborated with the Hôpital Nord de Marseille (AP-HM) as well as with Maryse Pour la Vie to prepare patients for their stay in the ICU following lung transplantation surgery. The very first patient to have contributed to this study was exposed before her operation. The results obtained are very positive.

In the context of anxiety (phobias, OCD, GAD), today we will discuss hygienic and dietary guidelines. These guidelines aim to provide advice on lifestyle habits and complement the therapeutic elements you will teach your patient.