D2.1
Tracks
Stream D
| Thursday, October 29, 2026 |
| 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM |
Overview
Spatial Therapeutics (STx): A VR-Augmented Framework for Psychological Wellbeing and Leadership Development | 30 mins
Presenter
Dr Marc Jurblum
Stx Pty Ltd
Spatial Therapeutics (STx): A VR-Augmented Framework for Psychological Wellbeing and Leadership Development
4:30 PM - 5:00 PMAbstract
Aims
Organisations face rising psychosocial risk, increasing mental health needs, and mounting pressure to provide support that is accessible and evidence-informed. In response, approaches grounded in cognitive science, sensory processing, and environmental psychology principles are emerging and are now more accessible through advances in technology. These offer less confronting and more accessible ways for individuals to safely explore psychological material and extend the capacity of existing services.
This presentation introduces Spatial Therapeutics (STx), a VR-augmented, modality-agnostic, saleable framework designed to enhance psychological interventions through applied environmental psychology, audio journalling, and spatial mind-mapping. The aim is to examine how immersive sensory-environmental design can support reflective capacity, emotional regulation, and engagement, and to explore its relevance for leadership development, coaching, workplace wellbeing, and EAP delivery. At the individual level, the STx environment is designed to enhance self-reflection, emotional awareness, and the capacity to reflect before responding under emotional load. At the organisational level, it introduces a structured, immersive approach to supporting stress management, building psychological safety, and increasing engagement with organisational health services.
Content
The presentation will introduce the theoretical foundations of STx, drawing on cognitive science, sensory processing, and applied environmental psychology. It will demonstrate how immersive virtual environments can be used to externalise, organise, and process psychological material through spatial mind-mapping and audio journalling, highlighting the role of sensory immersion in shaping engagement with internal experiences.
Early qualitative findings from an ongoing psychiatry-led clinical pilot in Melbourne will be presented, including patient and therapist observations. These examine potential mechanisms of action, including enhanced reflective functioning, increased safety and autonomy within the virtual environment, and improved capacity to engage with and integrate complex psychological material. Therapist observations also suggest improved collaborative reflective function and metacognitive awareness.
The presentation will outline the current research program evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of STx, and consider how these mechanisms may translate to organisational settings, including leadership development, stress management, psychological safety, and EAP service delivery.
Goals
• Develop an understanding of the STx framework and how immersive, sensory-environmental design supports psychological processes
• Critically evaluate the potential application of VR-augmented interventions in leadership development, workplace wellbeing, and EAP contexts
• Identify practical roles for integrated immersive technologies within organisational psychology and employee support services
• Consider how these approaches may contribute to addressing psychosocial risk and improving engagement with mental health support
Organisations face rising psychosocial risk, increasing mental health needs, and mounting pressure to provide support that is accessible and evidence-informed. In response, approaches grounded in cognitive science, sensory processing, and environmental psychology principles are emerging and are now more accessible through advances in technology. These offer less confronting and more accessible ways for individuals to safely explore psychological material and extend the capacity of existing services.
This presentation introduces Spatial Therapeutics (STx), a VR-augmented, modality-agnostic, saleable framework designed to enhance psychological interventions through applied environmental psychology, audio journalling, and spatial mind-mapping. The aim is to examine how immersive sensory-environmental design can support reflective capacity, emotional regulation, and engagement, and to explore its relevance for leadership development, coaching, workplace wellbeing, and EAP delivery. At the individual level, the STx environment is designed to enhance self-reflection, emotional awareness, and the capacity to reflect before responding under emotional load. At the organisational level, it introduces a structured, immersive approach to supporting stress management, building psychological safety, and increasing engagement with organisational health services.
Content
The presentation will introduce the theoretical foundations of STx, drawing on cognitive science, sensory processing, and applied environmental psychology. It will demonstrate how immersive virtual environments can be used to externalise, organise, and process psychological material through spatial mind-mapping and audio journalling, highlighting the role of sensory immersion in shaping engagement with internal experiences.
Early qualitative findings from an ongoing psychiatry-led clinical pilot in Melbourne will be presented, including patient and therapist observations. These examine potential mechanisms of action, including enhanced reflective functioning, increased safety and autonomy within the virtual environment, and improved capacity to engage with and integrate complex psychological material. Therapist observations also suggest improved collaborative reflective function and metacognitive awareness.
The presentation will outline the current research program evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of STx, and consider how these mechanisms may translate to organisational settings, including leadership development, stress management, psychological safety, and EAP service delivery.
Goals
• Develop an understanding of the STx framework and how immersive, sensory-environmental design supports psychological processes
• Critically evaluate the potential application of VR-augmented interventions in leadership development, workplace wellbeing, and EAP contexts
• Identify practical roles for integrated immersive technologies within organisational psychology and employee support services
• Consider how these approaches may contribute to addressing psychosocial risk and improving engagement with mental health support
.....
Marc Jurblum is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and researcher working across psychotherapy, human performance, and mental health in complex environments. His clinical work focuses on long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy with adolescents and adults in performance settings.
His research examines the interaction between psychological processes and environmental context, including isolation and confinement settings such as polar medicine and human spaceflight. He has lectured extensively on psychological health and performance in these environments.
Marc is currently completing a PhD on the relationship between cognition and environmental psychology, with a focus on the fractal nature of cognition. His research investigates how cognitive and sensory-environmental principles can be applied through design and virtual reality to support emotional regulation, decision-making, and psychological wellbeing.
He is a co-developer of Spatial Therapeutics (STx), a VR-augmented framework designed to enhance psychotherapy and extend its application to leadership, performance, and workplace wellbeing.
Mr Tony Nguyen
Managing Director & Principal Psychologist
Nenya Health & Psychology
Spatial Therapeutics (STx): A VR-Augmented Framework for Psychological Wellbeing and Leadership Development
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM.....
Tony is a psychologist with postgraduate qualifications in clinical and organisational psychology. His clinical practice is integrative, drawing on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), schema therapy, psychoanalytic theory, and existential philosophy. As a consultant and researcher, Tony has contributed to projects such as examining the role of trust within human-robot teams with the Australian Department of Defence, immersive technologies in workforce training, and leadership development focused on innovation. His work connects individual psychological intervention with systems-level organisational change, with particular attention to how emerging technologies can improve clinical care, professional practice, and organisational effectiveness. A consistent thread across Tony’s work is an interest in the thoughtful integration of technology into psychological practice. He founded Nenya Health & Psychology to bring these domains together and is currently undertaking doctoral research into the use of immersive technologies across a range of psychological interventions.
