Brain Based Interventions

Mindfulness and meditation has frequently proven beneficial in alleviating anxiety symptoms. These techniques can initially be difficult for individuals when first learning new skills. VR is helpful in eliminating environmental distractions and making the skill immersive as the brain adapts to learning self regulation.

VR has become a highly adaptable way to create exposures to be used for ERP. The brain has an innate ability to create its reality based on imagined outcomes. This can be a maladaptive ability when OCD thought patterns create an individual's reality based on imaginary results instead of sense based reality testing. VR has the unique ability to bring these imaginary or sometimes very real outcome exposures into the therapist's office to help the individual lean into these exposures that they might otherwise not be able to in a safe environment as they build self-efficacy. The clinical team at Cascade Home will use a combination of VR, imaginal, and environmental exposures to treat each obsession and compulsion as individualized as each student that comes to the program.