Mindset-XR Innovation Support Programme company spotlight: XR Therapeutics

Our Mindset-XR Innovation Support Programme spotlight for March is on XR Therapeutics.

XR Therapeutics is a pioneering platform that combines Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with immersive virtual reality (VR) environments, offering tailored therapeutic solutions for individuals with anxiety, phobias and other mental health conditions. 

Penny Day, Chief Operating Officer, shares insights about the company and its innovative approach.

What’s the most exciting statistic or fact you have about XR in mental health? 

I think we were all ready to see an improvement in patient outcomes. What shocked us, however, was just how few sessions were needed to bring about that improvement. To have such an effective treatment that works with five times fewer sessions is what excites us about the future of this project.

How has user feedback, particularly from patients and clinicians, shaped your product? 

Feedback from both patients and clinicians has been invaluable in refining our immersive VR treatment. We have been able to adapt and co-design our products to make them suitable for users with diverse needs including neurodiversity.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in developing your innovation? 

The biggest challenge has been seeing how we can seamlessly integrate with current clinical pathways within the NHS setting to ensure our products are  supporting therapists in the right way.

How could your innovation tackle inequalities in mental health? 

By using technology to make treatments more accessible, efficient and scalable, we can help reduce barriers to mental health care, especially for underserved groups such as those:

• With learning disabilities
• With neurodiversity
• With poor access to digital
• In rural or remote areas

Why should the health and care system be excited about your innovation? 

Our therapy significantly reduces treatment time (from 12-20 sessions to just four over two weeks) while offering higher success rates. This approach could help alleviate NHS waitlists and provide quicker, effective support for individuals with anxiety.

Because our solution uses the talking therapies already used in the health and care system, our solution represents such a small change in the day-to-day treatment of patients but with such a massive impact on both the efficiency and effectiveness of those treatments.

What type of support are you seeking most from readers to help drive your project forward? 

We’re looking for partnerships with more NHS trusts, businesses and charities to scale our technology further. We're also looking for organisations and individuals interested in piloting our innovative projects. This includes areas such as anxiety prevention, self-harm prevention and more. We welcome any inquiries from those wanting to learn more about these projects.

We also welcome input from champions in the space who want to help drive important and needed change as thought and industry leaders can play a unique role in changing the healthcare landscape over the next decade.