The Study of Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy in Reducing the Driving Phobia: A Case Study

The present research aimed to examine the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy in reducing the driving phobia in a single case study. the research was conducted within an experimental framework and the case study was selected among all people who referred to the Counselling Centre of Allameh Tabatabai University in October 2015. On the basis of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the symptoms of driving phobia were extracted for the case study and the virtual reality exposure therapy was performed for the applicant. The Driving Cognitions Questionnaire (Blanchard, Hickling, Taylor, & Loos, 1995) was completed by applicant before and after treatment. Visual analysis and percent of improvement were used for analysis of the data. The results showed that virtual reality exposure therapy could significantly change the score of cognition scale and consequently reduce the driving phobia in the applicant. In addition, findings for two consecutive months proved that the results were 63% stable. virtual reality exposure therapy is not only an effective method in reducing driving phobia, but it can also be considered as a modern method of treatment in Iran.