Virtual Reality for Enhancing Self-Compassion and Reducing Burnout Among Mental Health Care Professionals: Protocol for a Pilot Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND Mental health care professionals working in high-demand clinical environments are frequently exposed to patient suffering and trauma, placing them at increased risk for burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Compassion-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CF-CBT) has shown promise in reducing psychological distress and enhancing self-compassion; however, traditional delivery methods may be limited by time, accessibility, and resource constraints. Virtual reality (VR) may provide an immersive and accessible approach for delivering compassion-focused interventions. OBJECTIVE The primary objective is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a self-administered VR-enhanced CF-CBT (VR-CF-CBT) intervention for mental health care professionals. Secondary exploratory objectives are to estimate changes in self-compassion, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress (STS), as well as between-group differences that can inform the design of a future definitive trial. METHODS A 2-arm randomized controlled pilot trial will be conducted among mental health care professionals. Participants will be randomized to either a VR-CF-CBT intervention or an active comparison condition consisting of self-guided CF-CBT delivered via digital booklets. Participants will complete 8 brief sessions (approximately 10 minutes each) over a 4- to 6-week period. Exploratory clinical outcomes will include changes in self-compassion, burnout, and STS measured using validated self-report instruments. Primary feasibility and acceptability outcomes will include recruitment, retention, intervention adherence, session completion, participant satisfaction, and scores on the Acceptability of Intervention Measure, Intervention Appropriateness Measure, and Feasibility of Intervention Measure. RESULTS The study was funded in April 2026. As of October 2026, 38 participants had provided consent and enrolled. Recruitment for a second wave of participants is ongoing, and data collection is in progress. Enrollment and data collection are expected to continue through 2026, with data analysis and dissemination of findings anticipated by spring 2027. CONCLUSIONS This pilot study will provide information on the feasibility and acceptability of delivering CF-CBT through immersive VR to mental health care professionals. Findings will help identify whether modifications are needed before a larger trial and provide preliminary estimates to inform the design of future efficacy testing. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07666867; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07666867 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/105754