Flooding

• Flooding


  Exposing the sufferer to the phobic object or situation for an extended period of time in a safe and controlled environment
• Flooding


  1. Immediate exposure to the phobic stimulus

  2. Bombarding the phobic patient with the phobic object (in-vivo exposure) until the person is calm and does not fear the stimulus, without a gradual build up

  3. Flooding sessions are typically longer than SD sessions, one session often lasting two to three hours

  4. Sometimes only one long session is needed to cure a phobia
• Exhaustion of Phobic Response


  Without the option of avoidance behaviour, the patient quickly learns that the phobic object is harmless through the exhaustion of their fear response
• Extinction


  In classical conditioning terms, the result is that the conditioned stimulus (spider) no longer produces the conditioned response (fear)
• Prevention of avoidance


  Avoidance behaviours maintain the phobia as the phobic cannot learn that the thing they fear is not harmful
• Stopping the phobic patient from making their usual avoidance responses is necessary to prevent reinforcement of the phobia
• Ethical safeguards


  • Flooding is not unethical, but it is an unpleasant experience, so it is important that patients give informed consent
  • Patients must be fully prepared and know what to expect
  • Before exposure the client might be trained in relaxation techniques so that they are best able to control their fearful response