Essay learning

• Systematic desensitisation A01

  phobias can be treated by systematic desensitisation 

  1. Functional analysis
  2. Anxiety hierarchy
  3. Relaxation techniques
  4. Gradual exposure
• 1. Functional analysis - which is exploreing the nature of the phobia how it started and the triggers
• 1. Anxiety hierarchy - establishing a hierarchy of the phobia from least to most frightening
• 1. Relaxation techniques - client is taught relaxation techniques such as meditation, mindfulness and breathing exercises to use when being exposed to phobia to calm themselves down
• 1. Gradual exposure - the client is exposed to the fears from the least to most making sure that the client only moves on when they feel completely relaxed in the situation this can ensured using biometrics to monitor their physical response
• Supporting

  Gilroy et al 2003tested SD for treating phobias

  • found it effective when treating specific phobias
  • Compared SD given to clients with phobia of spiders with a control group.
  • Found at 3 months and 33 months the treatment group were less fearful than control group
• Refuting

  However another therapy can be used to treat phobias known as flooding

  • Wolfe 1970 was able to use flooding to help a girl afraid of cars
  • He drove girl around in car for several hours until she was calm 
  • Shows that flooding is effective in diminishing effects of a phobia 
  • Weakness to SD as flooding may be more effective
• Systematic desensitisation in relation to CC A01

  • theory explains how phobia is formed and treated with SD is classical conditioning
  • SD process is due to reciprocal inhibition which works by associating the cause of the fear with relaxation not fear
  • In addition the client is encouraged to think differently about phobia and use behavioural techniques to feel calm
  • This is why SD works as reciprocal inhibition as we cannot feel fear and relaxation at the same time 
  • To ensure the client is remaining clam during the exposure to the anxiety hierarchy biofeedback  such as a heart rate monitor
• Supporting

  • supported by research of theory explaining that a phobia can be formed through classical conditioning from Watson and Rayner. Who conditioned a fear of white rat in litrtle Albert
  • Explain study
  • This is a strenth as it increases the validity that a phobia can be treated using SD through learning a relaxed response instead of a fear response
• Refuting

  • however Watson and Rayners sample was made up of only one boy who suffered from congenital hydrocephalus. As Albert is a unique individual he is not representative of the target population. Therefore we are unable to generalise Watson and Rayners findings that a phobia can be learned by classical conditioning for all people
  • This is a weakness of the treatment of a phobia using classical conditioning as the supporting research due to the sample lacking generalisability
• Real life application 

  • strength of SD is a real life application research from Capafond et al 1998 demonstrated that SD is an effective therapy for phobias
  • He used SD to treat fear of flying
  • Found that 90% of ppt has significant reduction of fear compared with control group who did nt receive the treatment
  • SD can be used to benefit society by treating phobia effectively 
• Refuting

  However capafons et al also found that 10% of ppts in the treatment did not reduce their fear of flying therefore the use of SD to treat phobias might not be valid
• Refuting ideas

  • for example clients which a history of trauma may benefit from additional therapy’s which allow them to explore their experiences and alter the thought patterns as well as change behaviour 
  • There are also psychodynamic explanations of what causes phobias which may explain why peiople do not improve when treated with SD
  • Easiness of SD as it suggests that SD may not be an effective treatment for all people with phobias 
• Conclusion 

  Systematic desensitisation has been improved over the years and is an ethical treatment which is particularly effective for treatment in specific phobias

  There is much research supporting usefulness in real life situation however its usefulness may help limited in all cases and spontaneous recovery of the phobias may be seen

  Clients with multiple phobias or other symptoms linked to childhood trauma or abuse may bemniift from other treatment that allow them to alter their thought pattern as well as their behaviours
• Flooding A01

  Flooding involves exposing phobic clients to their phobic stimulus by immediate exposure to a very frightening situation. The fear must be quickly presented, continuously and in a situation where escape is not possible.

  For example, an arachnophobic person receiving flooding treatment might have a large spider crawl over them for an extended period. Flooding sessions may last 2-3 hours and sometimes only one long session is required to treat the person.
• A03 support

  There is research supporting the principles of flooding.Wolpe (1970) was able to use flooding to help a girl afraid of cars. Wolpe (1970) started to help a girl by driving her around in his car for several hours until she was able to remain composed and calm. This increases the validity of  how effective flooding can be in diminishing the effects of a phobia via helping the subject to form a new association with the phobic stimulus. This research also show how quickly this treatment can work if the fear is presented quickly and continuously. 
• A03 refute

  However there is research that challenges the the effectiveness of flooding.Barrett (1969) Used flooding therapy on college students who had a phobia of snakes.  Resulted in many suffering from insomnia as some participants associated the snakes with closing her eyes after the session as she saw snakes when her eyes were closed.This shows that taking away any escape opportunity when faced with a phobias can cause further associations to be made with the phobic stimulus and reduces the validity of flooding as a treatment to accurately irradiate a phobia.
• flooding A01

  In flooding therapy, there principle is that the body responds to the phobia with a fear response which is ‘fueled’ by glucose but this will eventually be used up and the person will eventually feel calm in the presence of the feared object. Flooding is also based on Learning Theory (CC) idea is that due to constant exposure the client will learn by association (CC) that a calm response is associated with the object they were phobic about. You cannot physically be scared and calm  at the same time. 
• A03 support

  There is supporting research of the theory explaining that a phobia can be formed through Classical Conditioning from Watson and Rayner. They conditioned the fear of a white rat to which he was initially not afraid, in Little Albert by striking a steel bar to create a loud, unpleasant noise whenever Albert reached for the white rat. They used categories to measure the level of fear that Little Albert displayed: trembling lips, crying, crawling away so they were able to make comparisons with pre and post conditioning behaviour.
• A03 refute

  However, Watson and Rayner’s sample was made up of only one boy, who suffered from congenital hydrocephalus. As Albert is a very unique individual, he is not representative of the target population. Therefore we are unable to generalise Watson and Rayners’ findings that a phobia can be learned by classical conditioning to all people.

  This is a weakness of the treatment of a phobia using Classical Conditioning as the supporting research is flawed due to the sample lacking generalisability to the target population
• Real-Life Application Ougrin 2011

  There are many situations were someone’s phobias stop them being able to do activities that will start to effect a persons life satisfaction.So this treatment allows the opportunity reverse the effects of phobias in a timely manner.Ougrin et al found that Flooding is more effective and faster than cognitive therapies. This means flooding treatment is an effective treatment choice in time sensitive situation, e.g. having a phobia of planes but a person must travel abroad for a funeral,to dissociate from a phobia
• Refute

  Doesn’t work for everyone, as it is a very stressful, it may not be suitable for people who are already suffering with mental health disorders lowering real life application, not mention those with cognitive impairments may not be able to rationalise the position that flooding puts them.This will then impair this treatment being useful within society as it will exclude larger amount of the population.

  Or

   Can be spontaneous recovery of the phobia, and the CC theory doesn’t explain when or why this may occur, which is a limitation.
• Conclusion 

  Conclusion: Flooding therapy is quick and effective in treating phobias although it could be criticised for being an unethical treatment and most people would consider this distressing, which may limit it’s usefulness as a treatment. There is much research supporting its usefulness in a real-life setting, however it’s usefulness is limited as it may not be effective in all cases and spontaneous recovery of the phobia may be seen even more than with Systematic desensitisation.