Flooding

• AO1 1 - exposure therapy

  Exposure therapy – being physically placed in the situation with the feared object/situation for a prolonged period of time with no means to remove themselves.​ Through continual exposure to the feared stimulus, the client will eventually see it as less fear-producing​
• AO1 2 - recip in, cc

  Aims to remove the phobic behaviour by reciprocal inhibition​ (not possible to experience 2 conflicting emotions at once). Based on classical conditioning principles​
• AO1 3 - biological

  Principle is biological – someone can only experience an alarm reaction for a certain length of time before it subsides. As this energy is used up, the body will calm down, so the person will learn to associate a calmer response with the phobic object/situation​
• AO1 4 - key to effectiveness


  Key to effectiveness = stimulus presented quickly, continuously and in a situation where escape is not possible. Must have rapid exposure so that extinction of anxiety is facilitated - may be quicker the person is too physically exhausted to produce fear response.​
• :) Quick

   no build up to the phobic stimulus, just immediate exposure, and once exhaustion of the fear has made place for calmness, the phobia is removed. Effective for clients with strong phobias who might bit be successful at maintaining relaxation (so SD isnt suitable). T/f more effective therapy as improves quality of life faster​
• :) Supporting evidence - Wolpe

   took a girl with a phobia of cars and drove her around for hours, and she calmed down. T/f increasing val​
• :( Unethical

   client intentionally put into situations of great distress. Cant be used for patients with underlying medical conditions. T/f not suitable for everyone, so ineffective.​
• :( May be short-lived

   more likely to have spontaneous recovery of fear as the link between the phobic stimulus and the calm feeling is weak as less time has been taken to extinguish the fear. T/f could be ineffective in the long term​