Personalized Virtual Reality for Promoting Well-Being and Psychological Flexibility in General Practitioners

NCT ID: NCT07140705

Last Updated: 2025-12-23

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 21 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-11-30

Brief Summary

General Practitioners (GPs) face significant daily challenges, and promoting their well-being is essential. In particular, psychological flexibility (PF) is a key indicator of well-being. PF, conceptualized within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), supports adaptation to change and fosters adaptive responses to demanding and complex situations. ACT identifies six core processes, which can be grouped into two functional units: the mindful acceptance of one's thoughts and emotions (acceptance, cognitive defusion, openness to internal experiences), and the commitment to engaging in actions that enrich one's life (values and committed action).

This project will investigate the feasibility of a transformative metaphorical Virtual Reality (VR) experience to promote psychological flexibility and well-being in GPs. Specifically, this goal will be pursued through the integration of a metaphorical virtual experience, previously validated by the research team for its capacity to foster a transformative experience (TE)-that is, an experience that enables individuals to explore new ways of thinking and contributes to reshaping self-perception-with guided reflection on personal values and support in enacting value-consistent behaviors.

A total of 25 GPs will participate in a single in-person session involving a 10-minute transformative VR experience ("The River and the Leaf"). Drawing on ACT metaphors, participants will be guided to reflect on aspects of the experience, on the professional challenges they face, and on the personal resources available to them. Following this experience, they will be supported in identifying the values that guide their everyday actions. After the in-person session, all participants will be encouraged to identify and implement value-based committed actions over the following two weeks, supported by two audio tracks.

Conditions

Healthy Participants

Keywords

Virtual reality; Transformative Experience; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; General Practitioners; Personal values; Committed action; Psychological flexibility

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Experimental group

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Transformative Virtual Reality Experience and ACT for General Practitioners

Intervention Type: OTHER

This intervention consists of an individual, in-person session in which each participant engages in a 10-minute transformative Virtual Reality (VR) experience entitled "The River and the Leaf", delivered through the Meta Quest 3 headset. Drawing on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) metaphors, participants are guided to reflect on key aspects of the experience, their professional challenges, and the personal resources available to them. Following the VR session, participants are supported in clarifying the values that guide their everyday actions. After the in-person session, all participants are encouraged to identify and implement committed actions aligned with their values over the subsequent two weeks, supported by two dedicated audio tracks.

Interventions

Transformative Virtual Reality Experience and ACT for General Practitioners

This intervention consists of an individual, in-person session in which each participant engages in a 10-minute transformative Virtual Reality (VR) experience entitled "The River and the Leaf", delivered through the Meta Quest 3 headset. Drawing on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) metaphors, participants are guided to reflect on key aspects of the experience, their professional challenges, and the personal resources available to them. Following the VR session, participants are supported in clarifying the values that guide their everyday actions. After the in-person session, all participants are encouraged to identify and implement committed actions aligned with their values over the subsequent two weeks, supported by two dedicated audio tracks.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• being a General Practitioner and having an adequate understanding of the Italian language.

Exclusion Criteria

• having pre-existing medical conditions that prevent the use of the Meta Quest 3 headset:
• presence of binocular visual abnormalities;
• history of seizures or epileptic conditions;
• presence of cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, or implanted devices;
• use of hearing aids.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR)

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

European Union

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Daniela Villani

Associate Professor in General Psychology

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Milan, Milano, Italy

Countries

Italy

Other Identifiers

19/25

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id