Using Virtual Reality to Promote Self-Identity Reconstruction as the Main Focus of Therapy

Abstract

Based on the repertory grid technique, we developed Explore Your Meanings (EYME), a digital platform that helps patients explore identity values and internal conflicts using virtual reality (VR). EYME was part of a research project treating depression in young adults, including 10 weekly, 1-h sessions aimed at changing personal constructs—cognitive schemas that shape how individuals interpret reality. We present the case of Mary, a 21-year-old woman diagnosed with persistent major depressive disorder and social phobia. Early sessions with EYME revealed key implicit dilemmas in Mary's worldview, such as feeling that she had to be selfish (an undesired personal characteristic) to become smarter and more self-confident (desired pole). As Mary visualized these constructs in VR, she began to recognize her identity conflicts and strengths, ultimately helping her to improve her negative self-image. Interventions focused on reframing these constructs, particularly around “intelligence” and introducing “emotional intelligence,” which helped Mary adopt a more nuanced view of herself. A key session involved a two-chair dialog between her “critical” and “emotional” selves, facilitating the integration of polarized aspects of her personality. In subsequent sessions, EYME reinforced these changes, with Mary reinterpreting behaviors like being “selective” as protective rather than negative. By the end of therapy, she no longer met the criteria for depression or social phobia, and her psychological distress had normalized.