Harnessing VR to prevent substance use relapse

(Press-News.org) Substance use recovery is a life-long process, but environmental triggers, such as alcohol at social gatherings or pain medication advertisements, can put individuals in recovery at risk of relapse. Research by social work Professor Holly Matto, with colleagues from George Mason’s College of Science, demonstrates how positive stimuli, called recovery cues, can counteract drug cravings and lower relapse risk. The team equipped individuals in recovery with VR technology to see how relaxing sensory experiences can regulate their emotional and physical reactions to triggers and improve decision-making.  

Participants were offered personalized VR scenarios aimed at reducing their bodies’ reactions to drug triggers. Comfort and familiarity were key to recovery cues, Matto emphasized.  

“If we can identify an individual’s own set of personally meaningful recovery cues, we have the unique opportunity to present these cues to the individual as a real-time personalized intervention at the time of drug cue exposure and at the onset of craving escalation to help the person stabilize back to a regulated state,” she said. 

Recovery cues, such as visualizing a beloved pet or audio messaging with inspirational affirmations, reorient the individual onto the recovery path when faced with something that potentially ignites a drug craving. The most effective scenario was when participants incorporated the “12-step chip and pamphlet” into their cue. The “12-steps” refer to the milestones that those overcoming addiction aspire to achieve in their recovery journey. This cue was highly effective, likely due to the recognizability it may elicit in the recovery community. 

Developing a “digital best self”  

Matto and colleagues are now working on two new research projects, building upon the findings of this study. The team is working on simulations that train individuals to implement their recovery cues so they can control their own reactions to drug cues. The goal is to help them develop a “digital best self” that represents the person they aspire to be following recovery. 

“Recovery is a process which requires learning opportunities that can create change in the ways an individual engages their thoughts and feelings to motivate behavior in environments that present challenges to their recovery. VR offers an immersive space where that learning can occur and where relapse triggers can be presented in ways that require implementation of learned recovery strategies,” said Matto.  

Examining the Power of Recovery Cues to Enhance Real-Time Regulation and Manage Substance Craving was published in Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services in June 2025.  

Matto’s team includes Professor Padmanabhan Seshaiyer and Associate Professor Nathalia Peixoto from the College of Science, and Bioengineering PhD candidate Bryce Dunn. 

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