Wiederhold, Brenda K

Professor Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold, Ph.D., MBA, BCB, BCN is President of the Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC), with offices in Sorrento Valley, La Jolla and Coronado, California; Qingdao, China; and Brussels, Belgium.  Professor Wiederhold is registered as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with the California Board of Psychology and the Belgian Commission des Psychologues. Her doctorate is in Clinical Health Psychology, and she is Board Certified in both Biofeedback and Neurofeedback.  She is Chief Executive Officer of the Interactive Media Institute, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the application of advanced technologies for patient care; a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD; Medical Staff at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla and Co-chair Pain and Palliative Care Committee; a Visiting Professor at the Catholic University in Milan and an Advisory Board Member for the International Child Art Foundation in Washington, DC.

Founder of the international CyberPsychology, CyberTherapy, & Social Networking Conference (CYPSY), now celebrating its 24th year, she also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the MedLine-indexed CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking Journal (CYBER) published by Mary Ann Liebert Publishers in New York.  She has over 300 scientific publications and is currently completing her 18th book. Recognized as an international leader in the treatment of stress-related disorders, burnout, pain and anxiety (panic, posttraumatic stress disorder and phobias) with Virtual Reality exposure, biofeedback and cognitive-behavioral therapy, in 1996 she conducted the first randomised controlled clinical trial using VR and biosensors to treat fear of flying.  In 2006 she conducted the first randomised controlled clinical trial using VR to treat Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffering from PTSD.  She has conducted over 10,000 VR therapy sessions and given invited lectures and training programs in 29 countries throughout Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East.

Professor Wiederhold works to inform and educate policymakers, funding agencies, world leaders, the scientific community and general public about the transformative impact technology can have on healthcare.  A U.S. citizen, Dr. Wiederhold has lived and worked in Asia, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium.