Study Purpose?
Vaginismus (fear of painful vaginal penetration) is common and affected individuals experience
difficulties with vaginal intercourse and gynaecological exams, as well as diminished sexual desire,
sexual dissatisfaction, and poor sexual self-efficacy.
Therapist-guided exposure therapy includes an individual progressively inserting vaginal dilators in the
presence of a supportive clinician. It is highly effective in treating Vaginismus, showing greater success
than common, self-guided interventions. Despite this effective treatment approach, in North America
therapist-aided exposure practices are not permitted due to institutional restrictions and licensing
regulations; as such, the development of alternative exposure-based treatments is needed.
We propose an innovative application of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRE) to address this
significant health care gap.
When does this study take place?
VIVID 2.0 is taking place during the Summer and Early Fall of 2025, and we are currently recruiting
participants who:
- are 19+ years of age
- have normal or corrected to normal vision
- have sufficient English fluency
- have symptoms of Vaginismus for the past 6 months or longer
- are able to travel to Vancouver for 3 weekly VRE sessions, each lasting 2 hours
What will happen after this study?
Once the testing phase of VIVID 2.0 is concluded, we will be consulting with individuals across Canada
with lived experience of Vaginismus to decide how to best share study findings with health care
providers and the public. This study is a collaboration between the UBC Sexual Health Research Lab
and the Brain, Attention, and Reality Laboratory. It is funded by research grants from the Canadian
Institutes for Health Research.
The Principal Investigator is Dr. Lori Brotto, Professor, UBC Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
Contact Information
For more information, please email the study coordinator, Lauren Selden, at lselden@student.ubc.ca