Arche XR

09/27/2025

Arche XR’s Dr. Thomson receives NIH funding to evaluate Elevate VR for preventing youth violence.

With the NIH grant, Nicholas Thomson will evaluate if his Elevate VR program could be a cost-effective method of saving lives.

07/03/2025

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicholas-thomson-ph-d-b2102327b_iste2025-archexr-tmobile-activity-7346614747787616257-pv8E?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAEQrLIkB3SFmM7IqujwfzKoSz7eDmjlwq3U

What if mental health support could reach every student, no matter where they are? At ISTE 2025, we officially launched a groundbreaking partnership between Arche XR and T-Mobile, combining immersive mental health programs with nationwide connectivity. I had the privilege of presenting Reality Shift...

06/28/2025

Dr. Thomson featured in Scientific American

New strategies help to reduce callous and unemotional traits in children, guiding them toward productive lives

04/16/2019

Out Now! New book on psychopaths!

“Understanding Psychopathy is an essential, accessible new guide on psychopathy and its development. Through the lens of the biopsychosocial model, Thomson explores a wide range of factors contributing to the development of psychopathy, from the genetic to the environmental, supported by the latest research into the disorder.

Thomson examines psychopathy from all angles, analysing social, psychological and biological factors, in addition to the history and assessment of psychopathy, and links to violent crime. Theory and research are supported throughout with fascinating case studies. These case studies provide accessible and relevant examples for readers who are new to the field, and to those more familiar with psychopathy and its implications.

Understanding Psychopathy is a brilliant resource for psychology students, researchers and practitioners in the criminal justice system alike, with grounding in forensic psychology, clinical psychology and criminology.

The author is donating his royalties in full to Project EMPOWER, UK, a multidisciplinary initiative dedicated to enhancing prevention and intervention services to individuals and their families who experience intimate partner violence, sexual violence, domestic violence, or human trafficking.”

Understanding Psychopathy is an essential, accessible new guide on psychopathy and its development. Through the lens of the biopsychosocial model, Thomson explores a wide range of factors contributing to the development of psychopathy, from the genetic…

04/08/2017

Domestic Violence Shelters’ Efforts to Prevent Teen Dating Violence: This research note reports data from a national survey of 213 domestic violence shelters regarding their teen dating violence (TDV) prevention efforts. More than half of the shelters reported that they provide TDV programing to at least 1/2 of the high schools in their communities; about 1/3 of shelters provide TDV programming to parents. Approximately 85% of shelters reported that they use or adapt a TDV curriculum. Shelters use information booths and Internet-based activities most often to increase public awareness, and they work through coalitions to advocate for TDV prevention efforts. This study is a first step toward documenting shelters’ TDV prevention work.

This research note reports data from a national survey of 213 domestic violence shelters regarding their teen dating violence (TDV) prevention efforts. More than half of the shelters reported that they provide TDV programing to at least 1/2 of the high schools in their communities; about 1/3 of shel...

04/07/2017

Neuroendocrine factors distinguish juvenile psychopathy variants

04/06/2017

Neuroendocrine factors distinguish juvenile psychopathy variants:

04/05/2017

Cognitive behaviour therapy for social anxiety in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review:
Four single case studies met the review inclusion criteria; data were synthesised narratively. Participants (three adults and one child) were diagnosed with ASD and SA. There were commonalities in interventions and techniques used: participants were encouraged to identify and challenge negative thoughts, enter anxiety-provoking social situations, and develop new ways of coping. Unlike CBT for SA in non-ASD individuals, treatment also included social skills interventions. Outcomes were assessed using self- or informant-reports. Improvements in SA, depressive symptoms, social skills, and activity levels were noted. Generalisability of results is hampered, however, by the small number of studies and participants and lack of randomised controlled trial conditions employed.

04/04/2017

Attitudes of the autism community to early autism research:
Investigation into the earliest signs of autism in infants has become a significant sub-field of autism research. This work invokes specific ethical concerns such as use of ‘at-risk’ language, communicating study findings to parents and the future perspective of enrolled infants when they reach adulthood. This study aimed to ground this research field in an understanding of the perspectives of members of the autism community. Following focus groups to identify topics, an online survey was distributed to autistic adults, parents of children with autism and practitioners in health and education settings across 11 European countries. Survey respondents (n = 2317) were positively disposed towards early autism research, and there was significant overlap in their priorities for the field and preferred language to describe infant research participants. However, there were also differences including overall less favourable endorsement of early autism research by autistic adults relative to other groups and a dislike of the phrase ‘at-risk’ to describe infant participants, in all groups except healthcare practitioners. The findings overall indicate that the autism community in Europe is supportive of early autism research. Researchers should endeavour to maintain this by continuing to take community perspectives into account.

Investigation into the earliest signs of autism in infants has become a significant sub-field of autism research. This work invokes specific ethical concerns such as use of ‘at-risk’ language, communicating study findings to parents and the future perspective of enrolled infants when they reach adul...

03/21/2017

Hallucinations are classically associated with psychotic disorders. Recent research, however, has highlighted that hallucinations frequently occur outside of the context of psychosis. Despite this, to our knowledge, there has been no epidemiological research to compare the prevalence of hallucinations across common mental disorders with the prevalence in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Using data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (n = 7403), we investigated the prevalence of hallucinations in individuals with a range of mental disorders and BPD. Hallucinations were prevalent in all disorders (range 11–24%). Hallucinations were no more prevalent in individuals with BPD (13.7%) than in individuals with a (non-psychotic) mental disorder (12.6%) (χ2 = 0.03, P = 0.92).

Hallucinations are classically associated with psychotic disorders. Recent research, however, has highlighted that hallucinations frequently occur outside of the context of psychosis. Despite this, to our knowledge, there has been no epidemiological research to compare the prevalence of hallucinatio...

03/15/2017

I can't wait! Neural reward signals in impulsive individuals exaggerate the difference between immediate and future rewards

Waiting for rewards is difficult, and highly impulsive individuals with low self‐control have an especially hard time with it. Here, we investigated whether neural responses to rewards in a delayed gratification...

03/14/2017

Callous‐unemotional, impulsive‐irresponsible, and grandiose‐manipulative traits: Distinct associations with heart rate, skin conductance, and startle responses

The present study aimed to examine whether callous‐unemotional, grandiose‐manipulative, and impulsive‐irresponsible dimensions of psychopathy are differentially related to various affective and physiological...