“Can you be with that feeling?”: Extending Design Strategies for Interoceptive Awareness for the Context of Mental Health

Title of the Paper

“Can you be with that feeling?”: Extending Design Strategies for Interoceptive Awareness for the Context of Mental Health

Paper Information

• Domain: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Design and Mental Health
• Keywords: Interoception, Mental Health, Design Probes, Eating Disorders, Technology-Enhanced Support

Research Background and Problem

• Problem or Challenge:

  • Interoception, the ability to perceive internal bodily signals, is a critical skill, yet many individuals lack awareness or have deficits in this ability, particularly in the context of mental health issues. Deficient interoception has been linked to various mental health problems, such as eating disorders and trauma.
  • While current psychotherapeutic methods (e.g., Intuitive Eating, Somatic Experiencing) and HCI design practices include efforts to cultivate interoceptive awareness, the alignment and differences between these two fields remain unclear.

• Significance:

  • Interoception is a core capability for emotional regulation and mental health maintenance, and its training can effectively improve many psychological issues. Digital interventions can expand the scope of practice and enhance its efficacy.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • The authors aim to integrate techniques and methods from psychotherapy and HCI design to develop technological strategies suitable for mental health contexts.
  • Psychotherapeutic approaches such as Intuitive Eating (IE) and Somatic Experiencing (SE) have proven effective but lack sufficient digital extensions.
  • HCI design has explored interoception-related technologies, such as haptic feedback, biosignal visualization, and body mapping, as part of a shift toward "body-centered" design.

Solution

• Proposed Method or Solution:

  • This study is conducted in two phases:
    1. Phase 1: A literature review and interviews with 22 psychotherapists (with IE and SE backgrounds) to identify design opportunities that support interoceptive awareness.
    2. Phase 2: The design and deployment of four design probes to conduct field studies with 24 young women, validating the feasibility of the identified design opportunities.

• Innovative Contributions:

  • Combines psychotherapy and HCI design techniques to construct an interoceptive awareness training framework based on “Noticing,” “Articulating,” and “Interpreting.”
  • Redefines HCI design strategies within the context of mental health, exploring interdisciplinary applications.

• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies:

  • Phase 1: Investigate intersections between psychotherapeutic practices and HCI design methods, proposing seven design opportunities to support interoceptive awareness.
  • Phase 2: Develop design probes to collect user feedback:
    1. Mini Interoceptive Awareness Practice (Mini IA Practice)
    2. Emotion Visual Metaphor Design (Visual Metaphors)
    3. Reflective Mindful Eating
    4. Audio-Enabled Body Mapping Exercises

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results:

  • Summary of Design Opportunities:

    1. Reintroduce challenges to perception through “defamiliarization” techniques.
    2. Embed technology into daily activities to promote interoceptive awareness (e.g., eating and music).
    3. Provide real-time feedback-based interoceptive interventions.
    4. Support creative perception expression through visual metaphors.
    5. Develop digital or analog body journaling tools for interoceptive awareness.
    6. Use body mapping to identify “safe zones,” aiding in the interpretation of emotions and bodily needs.
    7. Encourage users to confront discomfort and highlight the natural dissipation of sensations to build bodily trust.

  • Validation Results:

    • Feedback on Daily Practices: Participants showed acceptance of daily interoceptive awareness practices, indicating the potential of both structured and real-time feedback tasks.
    • Use of Visual Metaphors: Participants enjoyed expressing emotions through images and suggested metaphor types, such as abstract, natural, and personalized.
    • Impact of Eating Practices: Some participants noticed previously unrecognized discomfort and satisfaction in their eating behaviors through “defamiliarization” eating probes.
    • Integration of Music and Body Mapping: Music significantly enhanced the effectiveness of body mapping, aiding in the expression and interpretation of perceptions.

• Advantages:

  • These probes effectively explored how innovative design methods can be embedded into mental health-related technologies.
  • Provides a practical framework for cross-disciplinary design, expanding the application of existing HCI design techniques in the mental health domain.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:
    • The participant group primarily consisted of non-clinical populations, limiting generalizability to clinical settings.
    • The study did not fully explore the potential influence of cultural differences on bodily and perceptual language.
  • Future Directions:
    • Conduct studies with greater cultural and demographic diversity.
    • Explore immersive technologies (e.g., virtual reality and haptic feedback) in interoceptive awareness.
    • Incorporate co-design approaches to enhance user engagement and practicality.