Augmenting Therapy

Using Immersive Technology, Art and Innovation
Building Social Connections and Improving Wellbeing for Welsh Young People

In the last two years we have been researching how immersive technologies can be used to support anxious teenagers.

From Gaming and Virtual Reality, to Avatar Therapy and Augmented Reality we have been working with young people, youth organisations, researchers, technology companies and parents to help us develop a therapy intervention for young people who may not be interested in more traditional therapeutic approaches.

We have developed an approach using 2D and Augmented reality in partnership with Sugar Creative based on a guided imagery approach and have been piloting this on mobile phones with Welsh young people to see how this might be used in future therapeutic sessions.

If you'd like to see more , or want to hear how this type of technology could be used in your work with young people you can book a demo session with us below.

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A New Way of Working

Our latest research and innovation

Art, guided visualisation and play are used regularly in our therapeutic work, yet many of our clients are not able to visualise (Aphantasia) or feel comfortable enough to close their eyes, talk, draw or play.

Through our work, we learned that many of our young people were more likely to engage with games and gaming technologies, have access to mobile devices, and find it easier to communicate using these platforms than they might in more typical group environments.

So we asked ourselves:

“How might immersive technologies be used to reduce teenage anxiety”

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Over the past two years, supported by Media Cymru Seed and Development funding, we have explored how immersive technologies— Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Gaming technologies—can be used to help young people manage anxiety and increase their sense of connection.

We wanted to find ways of engaging the young people who DIDN’T want to engage with traditional talking therapy and our project was born.

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“Imagine you are standing in an unfamiliar landscape. In front of you, a plant that represents

you appears.”

We developed an augmented reality/ 2D therapy intervention in which the young person builds a plant that represents them. From flower type to the number of leaves, environmental factors to the plant’s condition, the process is designed to help young people share with their support worker (and each other if they wish) their plant, its qualities, and how this links with what might be happening in their outer life.

Used on a mobile phone the application is device-specific for security and does not require an internet connection to operate.

Working in partnership with Cardiff Youth Service we ran pilots over the course of six weeks with six young people.

During the introduction of the therapeutic intervention we saw a statistically significant reduction in depression and anxiety scores and an increase in social connection.

Find Out More

Alexa Young, CA

“A modern way of thinking and exploring emotions..we all spend a lot of time on devices now so tech-based stuff is really appealing”

“I liked how I could put

the plant wherever I

wanted in the room. It felt like I was controlling my space and that gave me confidence”

Lisa Driver, MI

"This would be great for group sessions. Everyone could make their own flowers and then share them with the group."

Alexa Young, CA

“I like the more abstract way of exploring emotions and identity as it makes less intense and in a format that might feel safer as your talking about the flower rather than about yourself like its not all on you”

“The people running the

session were lovely and really helpful and seem like they really care about making an app that works for young people and can be used to help us engage better in therapeutic settings”

Lisa Driver, MI

“Using ways that don't require talking in the traditional sense could help make group therapy less daunting and more accessible and less like 'just something I have to get through' “

Alexa Young, CA

Youth Worker 1

“Before the sessions, the participants were quiet, they were nervous to say stuff but session 2 and 3 they were taking part in their own way, verbally and gestures. I really loved that participants X and X said how beneficial the tech was and the sessions would be to help people to talk. It was just such a nice experience and was nice to include them in the work surrounding anxiety.

Youth Worker 2

“Before session 1, the participants here are very anxious, they don’t speak, they don’t give information on who they are with the exception of participant X. Participant X didn’t speak at all session 1 but after the session they reached out to me and asked if they could take part in additional activities that were similar to this.

Participant X doesn’t speak at all doesn’t engage, but engages in these sessions. Participants X and X will speak when asked but engaged in the sessions. If more sessions were run, I could see a major improvement with this group. All of them attended but normally with groups like this they would diminish each session but these lot would come regardless”.

Augmenting Therapy

Using Immersive Technology, Art and Innovation Building Social Connections and Improving Wellbeing for Welsh Young People

Using Immersive Technology, Art and Innovation
Building Social Connections and Improving Wellbeing for Welsh Young People