Behaviourist-Treating Phobias

• Systematic desensitisation (SD): is a behavioural therapy which gradually reduces phobic anxiety through cc principles. The aim is to replace the fear response with a new feeling of calm.(counterconditioning). The idea is that it is not possible to feel 2 emotions at once as once prevents the other so calm will replace fear (reciprocal inhibition).
• 3 processes of SD:

  1. Anxiety hierarchy - A list going from least fearful scenario to most
  2. Relaxation - Therapist teaches patient to relax deeply (breathing exercises, meditation or mental imagery)
  3. Exposure - Patient is exposed to each level in turn and must reach relaxation with that stage to progress to the next level until they reach the top and are still calm with that exposure. However, they can go back down a stage if after several attempts thy are not calm with the current stage.
• Flooding involves immediate exposure to a very frightening situation. Th idea is that as the phobic has no avoidance behaviour they quickly learn that the phobic stimulus is harmless (extinction). A learned response is extinguished when (cs - dog) is encountered without the (UCS -being bitten). The CS no longer produces the CR.
• S of SD:

  • Gilroy et al followed up 42 patients who received 3times4 minute sessions of SD for a spider phobia which was assessed on measures including response to a spider and a spider questionnaire, compared to a control group who were treated with relaxation but o exposure, at both 3 months and 33 months later, the SD group were less fearful than the control group, showing effectiveness both short term and long term.
  • Suitable for a diverse range of patients
  • refusal/attrition rates are low - more acceptable
• S of Flooding:

  • Effective and quicker, therefore symptoms ease faster and the treatment is cheaper
• W of SD:

  • Expensive and time consuming
• W of Flooding:

  • Traumatic to the point where some patient's don't see t through to the end - waste of time and money
  • flooding not suitable for people with health conditions or learning difficulties
  • People may show avoidance behaviour by not turning up