Effectiveness

• Evaluation - Effectiveness

  1. Research support
  2. Not appropriate for all phobias
  3. Research support for biological preparedness
  4. Symptom substitution
• Effectiveness - Research support

  • Has been proven to be successful when the problem is a learned one
  • Capafons et al (1998) = found that clients with a fear of flying showed less signs of fear - they reported lower fear levels whilst in a flight simulator following a 12-25 week treatment (used vitro + invitro)
• Effectiveness - not appropriate for all phobias

  • Not effective for more generalised fears
  • Martin Seligman (1970) argued that animals + humans are genetically programmed to rapidly learn an association between potentially life threatening stimuli fear
• Effectiveness - Research support for biological preparedness

  • Seligman's concept has been supported by research studies
  • Bregman (1934) failed to condition a fear response in infants aged 8 to 16 months by pairing a loud bell with wooden blocks
• Effectiveness - Symptom substitution

  • Behavioural therapies may not work with certain phobias becuase the symptoms are only tip of the iceberg
  • If you remove the symptoms the cause still remains + the symptoms resurface