Flooding

• What does flooding involve?

  Exposing patients to their phobic stimulus without a gradual buildup. Therefore, it involves immediate exposure to a very frightening situation
• Compare the duration of flooding and systematic desensitisation 


  Flooding sessions usually lasts 2 to 3 hours (takes longer than systematic desensitisation). However it requires less sessions
• Why does flooding stop phobic responses very quickly?

  Without the option of avoidance behaviour, the patient quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless
• What is extinction in classical conditioning?


  A learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditional stimulus. As a result, the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response
• What is important to obtain before using flooding?

  Fully informed consent