MHVR Bytes

What happens when your personal story becomes the reason you change the future of mental health? 🧠✨ In this episode of MHVR Bytes, I sit down with Dr. Jessica Stone and Leslie Baker for a deeply personal and powerful conversation about how lived experience can shape the way we approach healing, connection, and virtual reality. We go beyond theory and research… This is about real moments, real st...

In this episode, Dr. Jessica and I sit down with Fiona Hill, I expected a meaningful conversation… but what we got was a genuine, transparent look into how a therapist with 25 years in community mental health completely reshaped her approach to connection and healing through VR.We dive into:🔹 How personal VR experiences shaped her approach🔹 Why simple VR interactions can lead to major breakthrou...

Welcome back to MHVR Bytes! I’m Dr. Adam Baldowski, joined by my brilliant co-host Dr. Jessica Stone, and today, we’re diving deep with Dr. Richard Lamb, one of the leading voices in immersive education and cognitive research. From virtual classrooms to neuroscience breakthroughs, Dr. Lamb shares how VR and cognitive modeling are changing how we teach, learn, and experience the world. Whether you’...

What happens when you bring VR, gaming, and mental health together? 🎮🧠 In this episode of MHVR Bytes , Me, Dr. Adam Baldowski and Dr. Jessica Stone sit down with Tyler Z. Tooley, LPC, clinical therapist, gamer, and passionate advocate for bringing tech into therapy. From World of Warcraft marathons to helping clients feel safe in virtual spaces, Tyler shares how gaming and VR aren’t just enterta...

Step into the future of therapy with us! In this episode of MHVR Bytes, We sit down with Marie Bonner-Horon, LPC, RPT-S of The Playhouse Collaborative , a licensed professional counselor, registered play therapist supervisor. From using Minecraft and Fortnite to connect with kids, to creating immersive VR beach experiences that help parents finally relax, Marie shows us how digital play and virtua...

🎙 Welcome back to MHVR Bytes! This episode is special, and a little personal. Dr. Jessica Stone and I sat down with James Perez and Dr. Deanne Canieso, two brilliant featured experts from the Mental Health Virtual Reality book, to talk about their chapter on VR and chronic pain. And let me tell you, Deanne’s story floored me. From facing the uncertainty of an autoimmune disease to rediscovering mo...

Is your brain ready for this? 🧠⚡ In this powerful new episode of MHVR Bytes, Me and Dr. Jessica Stone sat down with Marzena Michalewska, a UX/UI designer, creative, and tech innovator who's using VR and biofeedback in ways that completely reframe how we approach healing. We dug into: 🧠 How trauma shows up in the brain and body 🧠 Why VR and embodiment are game-changers for regulation 🧠 The...

In this deeply moving episode of MHVR Bytes, Dr. Adam Baldowski and Dr. Jessica Stone sit down with the incredible Dr. Kimberley Hieftje, Associate Professor at Yale School of Medicine and co-director of XR Pediatrics, to talk about trauma, VR, and the power of storytelling. 🎧 You’ll hear how Kimberley’s personal journey through unimaginable loss inspired Year of the Cicadas, a breathtaking VR na...

✨**Lights, headset, action!**🎭🕶️ What do you get when you mix drama therapy, virtual reality, and a global crew of mental health innovators? This joyful episode of MHVR Bytes! Join your fave co-hosts, I am Dr. Adam Baldowski and my partner, Dr. Jessica Stone as we beam in Monique Hill (from Germany) and Lebogang “Lebo” Mokgatle (from South Africa) for an international conversation full of creati...

🔥 What happens when you throw a clinical psychologist, a chatbot named Nova , and 30 years of VR madness into one podcast episode? Let’s just say... things get wild 🤯 and a little emotional 🤖❤️ We sat down with the legendary Dr. Skip Rizzo for this episode of MHVR Bytes , and we went ALL IN 💥 We talked about PTSD, AI hallucinations, naming your digital assistant (yep, that happened), and why t...

Hey! Welcome to another episode of MHVR Bytes! This episode is a wild ride. Me and Dr. Jessica Stone sat down with the Dr. Howard Gurr, one of the OGs of tech in therapy. He was using the internet for his practice when people still thought AOL was a good idea. Now? He’s helping clients face their fears with virtual reality, and doing it so well they’re done in just a few sessions. We’re talking sp...

Welcome to the show! I’m Adam Baldowski, Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Media Psychologist, joined today by Jessica Stone, mental health expert and author. In this exciting episode, we dive deep into the world of Virtual Reality Therapy with Dr. Elizabeth McMahon — licensed psychologist, author, and pioneer in using VR for mental health treatment. Dr. McMahon explains how VR is transforming...

🎉 Buckle up, friends — today's episode of MHVR Bytes is basically a virtual joyride! 🛼💨 Dr. Adam Baldowski and Dr. Jessica Stone are hanging out with the brilliant, hilarious, and wonderfully sparkly Dr. Rachel Altvater! We’re talking about how a random social media scroll turned into a life-changing career pivot, the fateful moment she met Dr. Stone (it’s giving destiny ✨), and how she be...

"We're in an adjustment phase of what this is... and there are a lot of things we're giving up in exchange." → 💡 Technology is powerful, but it’s not without trade-offs. Join Dr. Adam Baldowski, Dr. Jessica Stone, and guest speaker Triton Ong for this eye-opening podcast episode! 🎧 This conversation dives deep into the evolving nature of community, connection, and identity in t...

In this inaugural episode, hosts Dr. Adam Baldowski and Dr. Jessica Stone introduce MHVR Bytes —a podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of virtual reality and mental health. They share the story of how a global group of mental health and tech professionals came together to explore the role of virtual reality in caring for our mental health. Tune in to hear their vision, what listeners ca...