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Empathy, or the capacity to comprehend and empathize with another person’s feelings, is a crucial element of any change process. At Project Socrates, we are aware of the importance of empathy, particularly in the management of challenging conditions like obesity. To promote greater empathy for oneself and others, we use immersive virtual reality (IVR). Because …

The role of empathy in Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) for the treatment of obesity Read More »

The global rise in obesity rates has been officially recognized as a pandemic, commonly referred to the “globesity pandemic.” This label stems from the significant and alarming increase in obesity prevalence reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), which indicates it has been nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016 in most countries, including those classified …

Exploring the Multifaceted Relationship Between Food, Emotions, and Obesity Read More »

You get up in the morning and, as you prepare to leave home, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. Pausing to check if your clothes and hair look fine, an uncomfortable, but familiar feeling begins to grow inside. “What is this unwelcome extra mass on my belly and hips? “That wasn’t there …

Different versions of me Read More »

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to computer processes that display human-like intelligence, such as thinking, learning, perceiving, and decision-making. This is a broad term that encompasses various applications. In fact, AI is already a part of our everyday lives, often without our awareness. For instance, AI algorithms are used to scan our medical information, predict disease …

Artificial Intelligence in Psychotherapy Research – WORK IN PROGRESS Read More »

How Scientists Are Using Technology to Help Improve Mental and Physical Health ? The way our brain thinks about our body is an important topic in the field of cognitive neuroscience [1]. Many of us believe that our physical appearance is fixed and unchangeable. However, scientific experiments have shown that we can feel like we …

Virtual Reality and Your Body Read More »

Attention to weight from a gender perspective has substantially increased in the last forty-five years after the publication of Susie Orbach’s book Fat is a Feminist Issue (1978). Since then, numerous studies have shown differences in the degree of stigmatization and discrimination suffered by obese people based on gender (Sobal, 2001; Fikkan and Rothblum, 2011; …

Obesity from a gender perspective: does it all come down to gender? Read More »

‘’The government wants to reduce the number of fast-food restaurants in the city center’’. This was one of the news headlines in the Netherlands on the 18th of March last year. A very experienced liberal would say that this is the downfall of politics in the Netherlands. But what if Mr. van Ooijen, the Secretary …

Obesity and Virtual Reality: can we tackle obesity by inducing body embodiment? Read More »

A few weeks ago, I was presenting at a conference in a symposium and oriented to doctors and clinical staff whose work is related to people living with obesity. It was remarkable to note how most clinicians introduced their respective talk with something along the lines of: “We have to deal with frustration and relapses …

Frustration and motivation Read More »

Students in the Research Master of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience with a specialization in Psychopathology (RM PP) at Maastricht University (UM) the Netherlands, were invited as members of a fictional advisory committee of the Dutch Health Council consisting of experts in overweight, obesity and eating disorders. Over the course of four weeks and using various …

Could obesity prevention increase the risk of eating disorders? A student’s view Read More »