This involves exposing people with a phobia to their phobic stimulus; without the gradual build up in an anxiety hierarchy. It involves immediate exposure to a very frightening situation eg. arachnophobia -> tarantula crawling on client for an extended amount of time. Sessions are typically longer and last 2-3 hours. Sometimes only one long session is required to cure a phobia.
How does it work?
Flooding stops phobic responses very quickly: without the option of avoidance, the client learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless. ian classical condition this is called extinction. When a leaned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus. The result is that the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response. In some case, clients may achieve relaxation in the presence of their phobic stimulus because they become exhausted by their own fear response.
Ethical safeguards
Flooding isn’t very ethical; it’s an unpleasant experience so it’s important that clients give full informed consent to this traumatic procedure and that they’re fully prepared for the flooding session. A client will be given a choice between flooding and systematic desensitisation.
