Effect of virtual reality self-counseling with the intimate other avatar

Virtual reality self-counseling (VR-SC) is considered an effective approach for addressing mental health problems. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of VR-SC using Sigmund Freud's avatar as the counselor. However, considering that virtual reality (VR) enables embodied perspective-taking of another person, VR-SC using the avatar of a person who cares about the participant (an intimate person), such as a family member or friend, is considered effective because it could create warm attitudes toward the participants themselves. In this study, 60 undergraduate and graduate students were split into three conditions: VR-SC with intimate persons, VR-SC with Freud, and a control group. The intervention effects were then compared. The results showed that VR-SC with an intimate person was the most effective in improving anxiety symptoms. These results may be attributed to accepting and affirming oneself from the perspective of the intimate person's avatar and counseling oneself. This study is significant in that it is the first to conduct VR-SC with the avatar of an intimate person and compare the effects with Freud's avatar. More importantly, it showed that the same VR-SC method could have different effects depending on the avatar of the counseling partner.