Systematic Desensitisation

• The aim of these therapies is to break the associations between the fear inducing object/ thoughts and the fear response (CS & CR).
• The most common treatment for phobias is systematic desensitisation, which is based on the idea that 2 competing emotions cannot exist concurrently (reciprocal inhibition).
• In systematic desensitisation, the first stage involves constructing an anxiety hierarchy in order of increasing anxiety.
• The second stage of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) involves training the patient in relaxation techniques.
• The third stage of systematic desensitisation involves exposure, where the patient is asked to imagine or sometimes actually put themselves in phobias situations, starting at the bottom of the hierarchy.
• During the exposure stage of systematic desensitisation, the patient is told to use the relaxation techniques and once relaxed, they move up their hierarchy a step at a time.