aversion therapy

• ASSUMPTION APPLICATION - BLANK SLATE

  any behaviour we develop is learned

  addiction develops through experience rather than a biological cause

  we can unlearn undesirable/ addictive behaviours and relearn more appropriate ones, which is what Aversion Therapy aims to achieve
• ASSUMPTION APPLICATION - LEARN THROUGH CONDITIONING

  addictive behaviour is learnt through classical conditioning

  thing we're addicted to = neutral stimulus which is associated with a positive outcome = unconditioned response

  Aversion Therapy aims to counter-condition the person by creating a negative association with the source of the addiction

  Operant Conditioning plays a role - by avoiding the thing we're addicted to we avoid the unpleasant feeling, so maintaining our abstinence is negatively reinforced
• MAIN COMPONENTS - COUNTER-CONDITIONING

  based on classical conditioning

  client presented with aversive stimulus, which causes a reaction of feeling sick / experiencing pain > repeatedly paired with undesirable behaviour

  client associates undesirable behaviour with a new negative response, they now have an aversion for the behaviour
• MAIN COMPONENTS - COVERT SENSITISATION

  unique form of Aversion Therapy - less commonly used

  client uses imagination rather than being exposed to the aversive stimulus

  often asked to imagine scenarios getting progressively worse
• MAIN COMPONENTS - EXAMPLES OF AVERSIVE STIMULUS

  Antabuse = alcohol addiction

  affects how the body metabolises alcohol

  normally = alcohol is broken down into the compound acetaldehyde then broken down further by an enzyme in the liver called aldehyde dehydrogenase

  Antabuse causes a disulfiram reaction > stops the enzyme from working and causes a build up of acetaldehyde in the blood

  causes a range of unpleasant symptoms within 10 minutes of consuming alcohol and lasts for a few hours

  once an association is made, the person tries to avoid contact with the behaviour and triggers
• MAIN COMPONENTS - EXAMPLES OF AVERSIVE STIMULUS

  Rapid Smoking

  take a puff of a cigarette every 6 minutes until you feel sick

  repeated over several sessions to make the association strong enough to develop a severe aversion

  Electric Shock Therapy - for behavioural addictions

  take part in their usual gambling activity/watch video of themselves or someone else taking part in their usual gambling activity whilst receiving painful electric shocks