Systematic desensitisation and flooding

• Systematic - in step by step

  Desensitisation - makes less sensitive
• Designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety by replacing the fear association individuals have of their phobic stimuli with relaxation

  >known as counterconditioning -learning a different response to new stimuli

  >its impossible to experience both emotions at same time, relaxation prevents fear (reciprocal inhibition)
• Step 1- Build a hierarchy of anxiety arousing stimuli including degree of fear experienced from 5 to 100
• Step 2- Train client in relaxation techniques
• Step 3- Client works through hierarchy while using relaxation techniques
• Step 4- (used in some cases) client confronts real fear
• Flooding -

  -Involves rapid and immediate exposure to a phobic stimuli in every frightening situation

  -Patient can't make up their usual avoidance response and anxiety peaks at such level that it cant be maintained and eventually anxiety upsides
• Strength of systematic desensitisation-

  -Patients prefer SD to flooding as it is less traumatic

  -No ethical objections to SD as clients have control over treatment
• Strength of systematic desensitisation- Effectiveness

  -Gilroy found that patients who had undergone SD for spider phobias were less fearful than a control group at both 3 months and 33 months after treatment

  -McGrath et al found that 75% of patients were successfully treated using SD
• Strength of systematic desensitisation- Suitability

  -SD is better suited to treat phobias in people with learning difficulties than flooding or cognitive therapies
• Weakness of systematic desensitisation- Evolutionary phobias

  -SD may not be effective in treating phobias that have an evolutionary survival component e.g fear of dark, heights or dangerous animals
• Strength of flooding- Cost effective

  -Flooding is highly effective and quicker than other treatments, making it cheaper
• Weakness of flooding- Traumatic option

  -Flooding is highly unpleasant experience

  -Can be traumatic for patient, and as a result has high attrition rates
• Weakness of flooding - Social phobia

  -Less effective in treating some complex types of phobia such as social phobia

  -May be due to the cognitive element involved
• Weakness of flooding- Spontaneous recovery

  -Risk of spontaneous recovery when extinguished phobia suddenly returns

  -May be because flooding sessions are not very long and the therapy doesnt replace the fear response with a different response, just replaces it with no response
• Weakness of flooding- Underlying causes

  -Flooding doesnt replace the underlying causes of phobias, just simply the symptoms of phobias