Augmented Psychology
Our project arises from the shared vision of creating cutting-edge tools to promote psychological well-being and facilitate therapeutic intervention.
We are psychologists and psychotherapists, technologists and designers, researchers and storytellers; all professionals with the awareness of the benefits that a transformative experience can bring to people’s lives.
Augmented Psychology
Augmented Psychology is an innovative model merging virtual reality into psychology, based on the last psychological research frontiers. Augmented Psychology tools are immersive experiences, virtual narratives that can be integrated into any kind of psychological or psychotherapeutic intervention, regardless of the clinical orientation (psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, systemic,…), in order to facilitate the process of change. Through immersive experiences, the patient lives in first person, experiencing a high level of presence, transformative metaphorical stories – for example, a boat that overcomes the storm, a mountain to climb, a tree that grows, the meeting with a dragon-, which become a rich source of images and insights, later processed with the psychologist/psychotherapist, in order to extend and amplify the therapeutic experience.
For clinical practice
We provide to psychologists and psychotherapists Virtual Reality immersive experiences which allow patients to live perceptive states for positive change, offering analogical stimulations bringing insights, elaborations and restructuring.
For corporate empowerment
We provide to work psychologists immersive experiences offering companies Virtual Reality paths designed to reduce work-related stress, promote empowerment, boost creativity, contributing to positive work climate and Corporate Wellness.
For psychological research
We develop for neuroscientists highly-custom and realistic Virtual Reality environments for psychological research, respecting experimental setting and ecological criteria requirements, collaborating with prestigious scientific institutions.
Immersive experiences
for clinical practice
This section is dedicated to Virtual Reality immersive experiences available for psychologists’ clinical practice. To be used, the experiences require an Augmented Psychology Protocol (APP) certificate of competency, which can be achieved by enrolling to the Advanced Training Course in Augmented Psychology.
Immersive experiences
for Corporate and Sports empowerment
This section is dedicated to Virtual Reality immersive experiences available for Corporate, managerial and sports empowerment, through specific protocols application.
POSITIVE EMOTIONS
ENGAGEMENT
RELATIONSHIPS
MEANING
ACCOMPLISHMENT
Immersive experiences
for relaxation and distraction therapy
This section is dedicated to Virtual Reality immersive experiences available for stress recovery, stress management, relaxation and distraction therapies.
Training courses
Advanced Training Courses in Augmented Psychology are aimed at Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Medical Doctors enrolled in their respective Professional Registers and at graduates in Psychology and Medicine.
The Certificate enabling the use of the Augmented Psychology Protocol (APP) will be issued only to mental health professionals.
Scientific bases
Augmented Psychology is based on the results of over twenty years of researches in the field of Virtual Reality applications in mental health and wellbeing. Below is a selection of meta-analysis and systematic reviews summarizing the main results of these researches. The results indicate the potential of Virtual Reality in different areas of psychotherapy, such as anxiety disorders, pain treatment, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and work-related stress.
Riva, G., Baños, R. M., Botella, C., Mantovani, F., & Gaggioli, A. (2016). Transforming Experience: The Potential of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for Enhancing Personal and Clinical Change. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 7(164).
Gaggioli, A. (2016). Transformative Experience Design. In: Gaggioli, A., Ferscha, A., Riva, G., Viaud-Delmon, I. (Eds). Human Computer Confluence: Transforming Human Experience Through Symbiotic Technologies. De Gruyter Open: Warsaw.
Gaggioli, A., Riva, G. (2014). Psychological Treatments: Smart Tools Boost Mental-Health Care. Nature, 2014 Aug 7;512(7512):28.
Gaggioli, A., Riva, G., Peters, D., Calvo, R. A. Positive Technology, Computing, and Design: Shaping a Future in Which Technology Promotes Psychological Wellbeing. In: Jeon, M., (Ed.). Emotions and Affect in human factors and human–computer interaction. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Gaggioli, A., Pallavicini, F., Morganti, L., Serino, S., Scaratti, C., Briguglio, M., Crifaci, G., Vetrano, N., Giulintano, A., Bernava, G., Tartarisco, G., Pioggia, G., Raspelli, S., Cipresso, P., Vigna, C., Grassi, A., Baruffi, M., Wiederhold, B., Riva, G. (2014).
Experiential Virtual Scenarios With Real-Time Monitoring (Interreality) for the Management of Psychological Stress: A Block Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res 2014;16(7):e167.
Liszio, S., Graf, L, Masuch, M. (2018). The Relaxing Effect of Virtual Nature – Immersive Technology Provides Relief in Acute Stress Situations (to appear). In Wiederhold, B. K. & Riva, G. (eds.), Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine (ARCTT), Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, CA, USA.
Botella, C., Fernández-Álvarez, J., Guillén, V., García-Palacios, A., & Baños, R. (2017). Recent Progress in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Phobias: A Systematic Review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 19(7), 42.
Tarrant, J., Viczko, J., Cope, H. (2018). Virtual Reality for Anxiety Reduction Demonstrated by Quantitative EEG: A Pilot Study. Frontiers in Psychology.
Lindner, P., Miloff, A., Hamilton, W., Reuterskiöld, L., Andersson, G., Powers, M. B., & Carlbring, P. (2017). Creating State of the Art, Next-Generation Virtual Reality Exposure Therapies for Anxiety Disorders Using Consumer Hardware Platforms: Design Considerations. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 2017 Sep;46(5):404-420.
Maples-Keller, J. L., Bunnell, B. E., Kim, S. J., & Rothbaum, B. O. (2017). The Use of Virtual Reality Technology in the Treatment of Anxiety and Other Psychiatric Disorders. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 25(3), 103-113.
Mishkind, M. C., Norr, A. M., Katz, A. C., & Reger, G. M. (2017). Review of Virtual Reality Treatment in Psychiatry: Evidence Versus Current Diffusion and Use. Current Psychiatry Reports, 19(11), 80.
van Bennekom, M. J., de Koning, P. P., & Denys, D. (2017). Virtual Reality Objectifies the Diagnosis of Psychiatric Disorders: A Literature Review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 8(163).
Rus-Calafell, M., Garety, P., Sason, E., Craig, T., & Valmaggia, L. (2017). Virtual Reality in the Assessment and Treatment of Psychosis: A Systematic Review of its Utility, Acceptability and Effectiveness. Psychological Medicine, 1-30.
Castelnuovo, G., Pietrabissa, G., Manzoni, G. M., Cattivelli, R., Rossi, A., Novelli, M., . . . Molinari, E. (2017). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Aid Weight Loss in Obese Patients: Current Perspectives. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 10, 165-173.
de Carvalho, M., Dias, T., Duchesne, M., Nardi, A., & Appolinario, J. (2017). Virtual Reality as a Promising Strategy in the Assessment and Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder: A Systematic Review. Behavioral Sciences, 7(3), 43.
Duffield, T. C., Parsons, T. D., Landry, A., Karam, S., Otero, T., Mastel, S., & Hall, T. A. (2017). Virtual Environments as an Assessment Modality with Pediatric ASD Populations: a Brief Report. Child Neuropsychology, 1-8. doi:10.1080/09297049.2017.1375473
Parsons, T. D., Riva, G., Parsons, S., Mantovani, F., Newbutt, N., Lin, L., . . . Hall, T. (2017). Virtual Reality in Pediatric Psychology. Pediatrics, 140(Suppl 2), S86-S91. doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1758I
Chirico, A., Yaden, D. B., Riva, G., Gaggioli, A. (2016). The Potential of Virtual Reality for the Investigation of Awe. Frontiers in Psychology.
Chirico, A., Cipresso, P., Yaden, D.B., Biassoni, F., Riva, G., Gaggioli, A. (2017). Effectiveness of Immersive Videos in Inducing Awe: An Experimental Study. Nature.
Institutions
Become has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Order of Psychologists of Lombardy (OPL) and stipulated a collaboration agreement for research with the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.
Management Staff
LUCA BERNARDELLI
CEO
luca.bernardelli@become-hub.com
He works as psychologist and he’s specialized in positive technology solutions development. Focused on technostress studies, he designed and released Relaxity VR, one of the first Virtual Reality experiences dedicated to stress recovery.
With twenty years of sales experience in Tech Enterprises, he’s co-founder of Bowman, a Milan start-up vendor focused on Big Data and Machine Learning platforms, and founder of the mainstream portal dedicated to the transformative experiences PersonalDreamer.com.
MAURIZIO RABUFFI
Director of Studies
maurizio.rabuffi@become-hub.com
Psychologist, specializing at the School of Specialization in Short Psychotherapies with a Strategic approach of the Institute for the Study of Psychotherapies. Expert in clinical hypnosis, imaginative techniques, mindfulness, EMDR, neuro-linguistic programming and psychodrama, he has deepened hypnosis use in clinical field for anxiety, depression, phobias, pain and addictions treatments. He’s author of the book “Hypnosis in practice. The induction of the trance and its application in the clinical field“.
FRANCESCA SFORZA
Director of Psychological Services
francesca.sforza@become-hub.com
Psychologist specialized in psychoanalytic-psychosomatic psychotherapy at ANEB Institute (National Association of Eco-Biopsychology), hypnologist and hypnotherapist, she practices in her studio in Monza.
Psychological Consultant for the Court, she has focused on the traumatic stress treatment through EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapeutic approach, and she’s an expert in Autogenic Training.
ALBERTO MAGNI
Creative Director
alberto.magni@become-hub.com
Active in design and creativity fields since the dawn of computer graphics, he’s founder of Studio 360, a partner of the largest Italian communication agencies in 3D design for international brands campaigns and projects. A 3D printing pioneer, he creates unique pieces using the most innovative techniques and the most sophisticated 3D printing machines. The innate desire of innovation led him to explore Virtual Reality technology, that allows him to create scenarios with infinite narrative and applicative opportunities.
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