AVATAR2 THERAPY TRIAL
RESOURCES
Explore a range of AVATAR-related resources and useful links below.
PUBLICATIONS
TRIAL RESULTS
Garety, P.A., Edwards, C.J., Jafari, H. et al. Digital AVATAR therapy for distressing voices in psychosis: the phase 2/3 AVATAR2 trial. Nat Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03252-8
Click here for access to the paper.
PRESENTATIONS, INTERVIEWS & PODCASTS
This podcast was co-created by members of the Patient and Public Involvement team and Research workers working on the AVATAR2 therapy trial, in the context of a Creative Workshop series. Together, they reflected on their experience of being involved with PPI work on the AVATAR2 trial and in research, more generally. They bring their reflections to life by sharing some of the creative pieces which have come out of the workshop. This podcast episode was co-written, recorded and edited by Sarah, Amy, Francis, Olly, Steph and Leonie.
What is AVATAR therapy like?
Watch this video to learn about what accessing avatar therapy is like from one of our patient and public involvement colleagues.
AVATAR Referrer Quotes
Referring to AVATAR2 has been designed to be as simple as possible for busy mental health staff. All we need to know is that someone has consented to find out more about the study. Here, you can read a selection of clinician's experiences of referring to the trial.
AVATAR2 Launch Event
Our Launch Event on 11th January 2021 was a huge success. If you missed it, you can watch the full recording here in which Professor Philippa Garety, Professor Tom Craig and the trial team introduce the AVATAR2 trial and provide software demonstrations and Q&A.
BBC Scotland
The AVATAR2 Trial makes the news in this BBC Scotland report.
BBC Sounds Podcast, Start the Week
Philippa Garety from the AVATAR2 team talks about virtual reality and AVATAR therapy in a flagship BBC radio programme, exploring new developments in VR, from a philosophical and cultural perspective, alongside her description of exciting therapeutic developments for people experiencing psychosis.
USEFUL LINKS
Understanding Voices
This invaluable website contains over 100 pages of information on different ways of understanding voices and supporting those who are struggling to cope with their experiences.
What is hearing voices?
This three minute animation explores what it’s like to hear voices, how common they are, and the different ways in which people interpret and find meaning in voice-hearing experiences.
Produced by Hearing the Voice, Durham University
Coping with voices: Being with people
Hearing voices can come in many forms – some voices are friendly, helpful, insightful and inspiring whilst others are scary, critical or commanding. This animation, produced by the University of Oxford and the McPin Hearing Voices Lived Experience Advisory Panel, shares the stories of people who hear one type of voices: those which threaten them or criticise them. Our hope is that this animation inspires more conversations about voices, because nobody should be hearing nasty voices alone.
To all appearances, Eleanor Longden was just like every other student, heading to college full of promise and without a care in the world. That was until the voices in her head started talking. Initially innocuous, these internal narrators became increasingly antagonistic and dictatorial, turning her life into a living nightmare. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, hospitalized, drugged, Longden was discarded by a system that didn't know how to help her. Longden tells the moving tale of her years-long journey back to mental health, and makes the case that it was through learning to listen to her voices that she was able to survive.
Voices in the dark: An audio story
What’s it like to hear voices? Are they hallucinations or a normal human experience? Chris Chapman explores what they are, why they happen and how they are being understood. Produced by Mosaic - the Wellcome Trust’s online science magazine, the podcast features interviews with researchers from Hearing the Voice researchers at Durham University as well as some familiar faces from our own Avatar research.
