Treatment

• What did Brosnan and Thorpe (2006) find?


  Reduction of anxiety was three times greater in a treatment group of 30 computer anxious participants than the non-treated 59 participants
• Why is Brosnan and Thorpe’s (2006) research significant?


  Positive practical applications of overcoming technophobia, allowing for participation in the technological workforce
• Why is systematic desensitisation not a practical method of overcoming phobias?

  Occurs in three gradual stages; due to longevity of the treatment, participants are likely to drop out
• Why is it significant that systematic desensitisation is not a practical method of overcoming phobias?

  Time-consuming therapy is problematic for a cash tract NHS, who have limited funding and so cannot meet extensive demands of this therapy
• What did Wolpe (1969) find?


  Client hospitalised due to high levels of anxiety induced during flooding
• Why is it problematic that flooding may induce trauma?

  Method of therapy not applicable to an overall population - unlike systematic desensitisation where the patient is in control
• What is a limitation of both flooding and systematic desensitisation?

  Behavioural therapies cannot aid in the treatment of more complex phobias, like social phobias (agoraphobia); relating more to an internal cognitive aspect that behavioural therapies do not target
• Discuss behavioural treatments for phobias (16 marker)

  AO1: Systematic desensitisation

  AO3 (+): Brosnan and Thorpe (2006)

  AO3 (-): Gradual nature

  AO1: Flooding

  AO3 (-): Wolpe (1969)

  AO3 (-): Complex phobias