flooding - AO1

• Flooding

  A behavioural therapy in which a person with a phobia is exposed to an extreme form of a phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus. This takes place across a small number of long therapy sessions.
• Flooding sessions are often longer than SD sessions
• Flooding stops phobic responses very quickly. This may be because, without the option of avoidance behaviour, the client quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless.
• Extinction

  A learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus (e.g. a dog) is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus (e.g. being bitten). The result is that the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response (fear).
• In some cases the client may achieve relaxation in the presence of the phobic stimulus because they become exhausted by their own fear response
• Ethical safeguards - flooding

  • unpleasant experience
  • must give fully informed consent