Strength - good explanatory power and application to therapy
The two process model improves Watson and Raynersclassical conditioning theory
An important implication for therapists as it showed that people need to be exposed to their phobia to overcome it
once they’re prevented from using avoidant behaviour, the phobia declines
Weakness - Cognitive and biological aspects of phobias
cognitive and biological elements of phobias aren’t addressed
Doesn't explain cognitive distortions which worsen phobias
Doesnt explain intense panic
Weakness - alternative explanation for avoidant phobias
Not all avoidant behaviour is for anxiety reduction, phobias like agoraphobia have evidence to suggest that avoidant is more motivated by positive feelings of safety
reduces reliability of two-step model as it suggests its purely to avoid anxiety
However, agoraphobia is classed as an anxiety disorder so people suffering from it may want to avoid social interaction all together
