Effectiveness

• P- One strength to using systematic desensitisation (SD) as a treatment to phobias is that it has evidence of being effective.
• E- McGrath et al (1990) found that 75% of patients with phobias were successfully treated using SD. This was particularly true when  using in vivo techniques in which the patient came into direct contact with the feared stimulus rather than simply imagining (in vitro).
• E- This suggests that using SD has been effective for helping people with phobias overcome/reduce their anxiety when present with the phobia stimuli. 
• L- This is a strength because it has research evidence in the real-world to back up its overall effectiveness which therefore increases its overall credibility as a therapy to treat abnormal behaviour.