One behavioural treatment for phobias is systematic desensitisation. This involves gradually increasing exposure to the feared stimuli until it no longer inducesanxiety.
Flooding
Another behavioural approach to treating phobias is flooding. Whereas systematic desensitisation increases exposure step-by-step, flooding involves exposing the subject to the most extreme scenarios straight away.
Example - Systematic Desensitisation
An example of successful treatment of phobia using systematic desensitisation is described in Jones (1924). A 2 year old boy – Peter – had a phobia of white rats and similar stimuli. Jones was able to remove Peter’s phobia over several sessions with him by progressively increasing his exposure to a white rabbit and then white rats.
Example - Flooding
An example of successful treatment of phobia using flooding is described in Wolpe (1969). A girl with a phobia of cars was driven around in a car for four hours until she calmed down and her phobia disappeared.
