Who we are

Built with clinicians.
Backed by research.

Built by those who suffer, for those who suffer.

Founder

Liam Harte

Founder & CEO

Like over 10 million people in the UK, I know what it's like to live with a phobia.

I also know that the treatment proven to work, exposure therapy, rarely reaches people in the form it was designed for. It's the clinical gold standard, yet the real-world situations it depends on - heights, flights, animals - can rarely be recreated in a clinic.

I founded Rephobia to close that gap - building a tool that is clinician-controlled, evidence-led, and held to a medical-device standard. We enable therapists to deliver graded exposure inside their own consulting room, at a pace each client can tolerate, with no real-world risk.

We are deliberately small; a talented virtual reality development team, a research partnership with Queen's University Belfast and a tremendously well-experienced advisory bench with the clinical, regulatory and research depth this work requires.

liam@rephobia.com LinkedIn

For people with a phobia

How it works, and how you remain in control.

Rephobia supports established exposure therapy practice. Four principles shape the experience:

You set the pace.

You and your therapist construct a graded hierarchy together. You progress only when ready.

Your therapist leads each session.

Rephobia is operated by your therapist in the room. They see what you see and direct each step.

You can stop at any moment.

Pause, lift the headset, or return to a calmer scene whenever you choose.

Safe by design.

Exposure occurs in a controlled simulation, allowing confidence to develop without real-world risk.

Advisory & research partners

Clinicians and researchers you can verify.

No opaque boards. Just named experts, publicly accountable, guiding our clinical and regulatory direction.

Prof Paul Best

Clinical advisor & prospective Chief Investigator

Full Professor at Queen's University Belfast and BABCP-accredited CBT therapist. Will lead the planned clinical trial of Rephobia.

LinkedIn Publications

Dr Peter Donnelly

Regulatory advisor

Regulatory consultant (RPRC under EU MDR). Advises on Rephobia's development as a Class I Software as a Medical Device.

For clinicians

Evidence to date - transparently presented.

Evidence for Rephobia

n = 44

p = .033

QUB pilot - interactive VR vs 360° video

A within-subjects crossover study at Queen's University Belfast (height anxiety) found Rephobia's interactive VR elicited a significantly larger psychophysiological response than matched 360° video. This is mechanism and feasibility evidence - not proof of clinical outcome. A full RCT is in planning with Prof Best as prospective Chief Investigator.

This finding shapes how Rephobia is built: the browser-based 360 experience is the easiest way to feel graded exposure today, and the interactive VR platform - the version this pilot measured - is what early-access clinics get next.

View pilot summary on QUB Pure

Evidence for the modality

VR exposure therapy literature

Clinician-guided VR exposure therapy for specific phobias has been studied for over three decades and is supported by multiple meta-analyses (Carl et al., 2019; Wechsler et al., 2019).

We cite this as support for the modality - not as evidence for Rephobia's specific product.

Browse the meta-analyses

Safety, regulation & data

Built to a governance standard, not a marketing standard.

Class I SaMD pathway under EU MDR.
UK GDPR compliant. Session data resides with the clinic.
Used exclusively under clinician supervision.

Regulatory status

Rephobia is being developed as a Class I Software as a Medical Device under the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR). Device classification reflects how we build for safety and quality - it is not, on its own, evidence that the product works.

Data handling

UK GDPR compliant. Session data resides with the treating clinic - not with Rephobia. Data is never sold or shared for marketing. See our Privacy Policy.

Intended use

A clinician-operated tool that supports graded exposure within therapy. Not a stand-alone treatment, not a substitute for clinical care, and not a crisis service.

Recognition