Abstract: A Virtual Reality (VR) therapeutic system for providing psychological therapy to a patient. The system includes at least a head-mounted display unit with a sound generation capability and a VR input device, and one or more computers. The system is configured to present a set of therapeutic scenarios to the patient in the virtual environment including an interaction task. A patient character interacts with a task character in the virtual environment; some of the time there is a coach character. The system determines a mental anxiety state parameter by measuring, in the virtual environment, one or more characteristics of the interaction of the patient character with the task character, monitors performance of the task, and in response to the mental anxiety state parameter and/or performance uses the coach character to provide VR feedback comprising one or both of a verbal prompt and a visual prompt in the virtual environment.