by Dr. Cristen Wathen, Dr. Kelly Coker, and Dr. Darlene Chen

Using new technology in the classroom requires understanding, integration, flexibility, training, and research as best practices are developed and translated into clinical practice.  Research around VR mental health shows effectiveness and more openness for the use of VR (Meyerbroker, 2021), especially for anxiety disorders, PTSD, and specific phobias in mental health counseling. As the culture shifts, counselors and counselor educators must stay abreast of technology and its benefits and challenges in respect to providing quality mental health care. This session describes creative ways an innovative technology that is backed in research is incorporated into the counseling classroom.

In this session:

  1. Opening with a VR volunteer and environment displayed- question posed about strengths, challenges, and perspectives. 5 mins
  2. Discussion of VR- History, Research, Relation to Mental Health Counseling- 5 mins
  3. Overview of the project and other creative approaches to use VR in counseling- 10 min
  4. Discussion of curriculum integration- 10 mins
  5. Discussion of Strengths and Challenges of using this in the classroom- 5 mins
  6. 5 mins of VR demonstration

Learning objectives:

  1. Participants will identify the strengths and challenges of incorporating VR into the counseling classroom
  2. Participants will learn about ways to use VR in the Counseling Classroom
  3. Participants will explore and understand the history of VR and research supporting the utilization of VR in mental health settings.

Dr. Cristen Wathen: Dr. Wathen is an Associate Professor at Palo Alto University, program lead for Clinical Mental Health Counseling students, and the director of PAU’s Center for Educational Excellence. She has a background in working with survivors of sexual trauma and child sexual abuse. She also has experience counseling and advising college students and working with underserved populations in educational settings. Cristen attended Baylor University for her master’s and Idaho State University for her Ph.D. Before joining PAU, she was an Assistant Professor at Montana State University for four years.  Her research interests include innovative counseling pedagogy (digital and in person), group counseling, and mental health issues for chronic disease and transplant patients/clients.  She has served on the ACES executive board as the ACES secretary and as past RMACES President.  She loves Broadway musicals, the outdoors, and riding bikes with her daughter.

Dr. Kelly Coker: Dr. Kelly Coker is a Professor and Faculty Director of Program and Student Learning Outcomes at Palo Alto University. She has 25 years of experience as a counselor educator and 15 years of experience teaching in distance learning programs. Dr. Coker is also a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) in North Carolina and maintains a small tele-mental health practice. Her research interests include teaching and supervising in digital learning environments, lifespan development, mother’s identity development, and doctoral counselor education.

Dr. Szu-Yu Chen is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of MA Counseling Program in the Counseling Department at Palo Alto University. She is a licensed professional clinical counselor, national certified counselor (NCC), and registered play therapist (RPT). Her teaching and research interests include child and adolescent counseling, diversity issues in counseling, counselor education and supervision, and distance learning pedagogy.