Universidad Jaume I - UJI (Principal Contractor - Spain)     Contact person for the project: Prof. Dra. Botella-Arbona Cristina     The role of the Universitat Jaume I in the Consortium is to offer the medical-psychological contents required for the development of the Anxiety Disorders module. In particular the Universitat Jaume I: - will define the characteristics of the developed Anxiety Disorders module; - will test its efficacy on both clinical and non-clinical samples; - will define an integrated protocol for its use. The UJI research team is composed by 8 people: - Head: Dr. Botella (Professor in Psychological Treatments) - Two Senior Lecturers (from the University of Valencia) - Two Lecturers - Three PhD. Fellowship Students Activities: In the last 10 years, the activities of this team have focused on both research and applied research, mainly in the following topics: - Relationships between Psychopathology and Treatments - Effectiveness and testing of treatments for Anxiety Disorders - Effectiveness and testing of treatments for Eating Disorder More in detail, these activities are: a) Research The team has developed standardized protocols for the assessment and treatment of Social Phobia, Panic Disorder with or without agoraphobia,   Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety,       Eating Disorders and Hypochondriasis. Furthermore, the team has carried out the software and clinical protocol for the assessment and treatment of Claustrophobia and Body Image disturbances in Eating Disorders by means of Virtual Reality (VR) techniques. Apart from these topics focused on VR as therapeutic and assessment tools for mental problems, this group is also concerned with theoretical issues: VR as experience of psychological knowledge; the relevance of individual differences in reality judgment and presence; and finally, the necessity of a theoretical framework that integrates and leads the research in this field. The team has got public financial support to carry out several research projects focused on VR and clinical psychology: "Development of high realism techniques for virtual reality systems in PC platforms. Application to clinical psychology" (IMPIVA 971801003559). "VR and clinical psychology: Development of a high realism virtual environment with 3D motion body capture. Application to the treatment of claustrophobia" (Generalitat Valenciana GV-D-ES-17-123-96); "Development of VR products with haptic interfaces for the treatment of agoraphobia, eating disorders and fear of flying."(European Community - FEDER 1FD97-0260-C02-01), and "Development of a specific therapeutic component for the body image in the treatment of eating disorders. Application by mean of standard methods and VR methods" (FIS 99/0997, Health Research Funding) . b) Clinical practice Dr. Botella organized in 1988 the first psychological assistance service within a university in Spain. In the last years, a great number of patients (most of them suffering from anxiety disorders and eating disorders) attended our unit. We have designed a suitable treatment program for each anxiety disorder, which has promoted the rich and broad experience of our team in the treatment of these disturbances. Thanks to the work done in these years, we have developed assessment protocols for all the anxiety disorders by adapting questionnaires designed by other authors, developing our own instruments and treatment programs, and designing materials supporting them (self-help manuals, specific daily records, etc.). Most of our assessment and treatment programs have been published in books and scientific journals, and they are being used both in mental health units within the Public Health Care system in our country, and in the private practice. Most Clinical Psychology Masters and Post-Graduate Courses have asked for our participation in order to share our experience on this field. This pioneer experience it is been carried out by many Spanish Universities.     Recent papers     Botella, C.; Banos, R.; Perpina, C.; Villa, H.; Alcaniz, M.; & Rey A. (1998). Virtual Reality Treatment of Claustrophobia: a case report. Behaviour Research and Therapy, Vol. 36, pp. 239-246. Botella, C., Baños, R., Villa, H., Perpina, C. & Garcia-Palacios, A. (in press). Virtual reality in the treatment of claustrophobic fear: a controlled multiple baseline design. Behavior Therapy. Botella, C., Rey, A., Perpiñà, C., Baños, R., Alcañiz, M., García-Palacios, A., Villa, H. y Lozano, J. A. (1999). Differences on Presence and Reality Judgement using a high impact workstation and a PC workstation. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 2, 49-52. Botella, C.; Quero, S.; Perpina, C.; Banos, R.M.; Alcaniz, M.; Lozano, J.A.; & Rey, A. (1998). Virtual Environments for the Treatment of Claustrophobia. International Journal of Virtual Reality, Vol. 3 (3), pp. 8-13. Botella, C.; Perpina, C., Banos, R. y García-Palacios, A. (1998): "Virtual Reality: A new clinical setting lab". In G.Riva, B.K.Wiederhold y E. Molinari (Eds.) Virtual Environments in Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience: Methods and Techniques in Advanced Patient-Therapist Interaction..Amsterdam: IOS Press OGM Ohmsha. 73-81. Botella, C., Villa, H., Baños, R., Perpiñá, C. y García-Palacios, A. (1999). The treatment of claustrophobia with Virtual Reality: Changes in other phobic behaviors not especifically treated. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 2, 135-141. Baños,R.M.; Botella,C.; Perpiñá,C (1999). Virtual Reality and Psychopathology. Cyberpsychology and Behavior 2 (4), 283-292. Baños,R.M.; Botella,C.; Perpiñá,C., Quero, S., Osma, J. & Crespo, E. (2000). The VR treatment of Flying Phobia. Presented at the XXX Congress of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies. Perpiñá, C., Botella, C., Baños, R., Marco, J.H; Alcañiz, M. y Quero, S. (1999). Body Image and virtual reality in eating disorders: Exposure by virtual reality is more effective than the classical body image treatment?. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 2 (2), 149-159.