Letting It Go: Four Design Concepts to Support Emotion Regulation in Virtual Reality

Depicting emotions, both in reality (e.g. art therapy) and in virtual reality (VR), is an established method for emotion regulation (ER), promoting reflection, behaviour change and mental well-being. However, the specific ways in which users engage with and process negative emotions in VR remain unclear. In this study, we conducted expert interviews with psychotherapists and collaboratively identified design requirements for VR interventions that support the processing of negative emotions. Our findings highlight the potential of VR to facilitate the transition from negative to positive experiences. Based on these findings, we propose specific design concepts for using VR as positive technology for emotion regulation.