behaviourist approach to treating phobias

• systematic desensitization


  1) counter conditioning is used so that the person learns to associate the phobic stimulus with relaxation rather than fear

  2)phobic person makes 'fear hierarchy" showing what they fear least and most

  3)then taught relaxation techniques like deep breathing

  4) patient then imagines the anxiety-provoking situations starting with the least stressful

  5)repeated until feared event is only linked with relaxation

  6)whole process is repeated for each stage of the fear hierarchy
• flooding


  patient is overwhelmed quickly with large amounts of the stimulus until anxiety subsides. Patient realises nothing bad happend and their fear is no more.
• weaknesses

  -SD and flooding's effects may be limited to the controlled environment of a therapists office and may not translate to real-world experiences

  -ethical issues surrounding flooding as it causes the patient alof of anxiety

  -behavioural therapy only treats the symptoms of the disease, not the cause

  -time consuming
• strenghts


  - zinbarg et al (1992) found SD to be very effective

  -behavioural therapies are relatively fast and less effort than psychotherapies therefore they are usefull with patients with learning difficulties

  -SD can also be self-administered as effectively and more cheaply than therapist-guided treatment