In 2000, a virtual reality (VR) game – Snow World – was first used to treat children undergoing care in a Seattle hospital burn unit. Since then, VR has transformed our understanding of what’s possible in pain treatment. Over the past decade, Dr. Trost’s work has sought to move VR pain interventions beyond simple distraction toward immersive experiences that engage the body, emotions, and psychological change. In this lecture, Dr. Trost will trace the origins and evolution of VR for pain management and highlight ongoing lines of research using virtual technologies to expand the boundaries of physical and psychological experience to facilitate healing.

Among these projects is VRWalk, an embodied virtual intervention that—much like mirror therapy for phantom limb pain—harnesses brain-based perceptual-sensory integration to reduce neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury by allowing participants across the US to “walk” again in a virtual world. In a busy inner-city Emergency Department, a VR-intervention is currently being deployed for patients admitted for an opioid overdose, using this critical moment to engage them in a transformative emotional experience and allowing embodied interactions with post-recovery “hoped-for” selves, derived from interviews with individuals in addiction recovery across the country. This program, VR-Choice, aims to foster productive communication with the clinician, and inch people by their own volition toward recovery. A third initiative, VR-Awe, offers immersive experiences that cultivate resilience and meaning among individuals with chronic pain through feelings of vastness, connection, and perspective.

Dr. Trost will describe the complex iterative process involved in creating VR interventions and critical involvement of people with lived experience—individuals with spinal cord injuries, chronic pain, and histories of addiction—whose input can challenge and correct initial assumptions.  She will also address the scientific and clinical crossroads facing the field, which currently lacks a shared language or unifying theoretical framework to meaningfully guide progress. Dr. Trost will address common misconceptions about VR interventions and their capabilities, clarifying what these tools can—and cannot—achieve. Finally, she will highlight emerging efforts to move the field forward as technology races ahead.