treating phobias (behavioural)

• What is systematic desensitisation?


  a behaviour therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through principle of classical conditioning.

  
  

  Uses counter-conditioning to replace maladaptive response of fear w a healthier one of relaxation.
• What is the first thing the therapist & client do in SD?

  - put together an anxiety hierarchy

  - list of situations related to phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety arranged from least to most frightening
• What is the second thing the therapist & client do in SD?

  Therapist teaches patient relaxation exercises or mental imagery techniques, e.g picturing yourself lying on a beach
• What is the final step of SD?

  Patient is gradually exposed to phobic stimulus in a relaxed state. This takes place over several sessions starting at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy & building up. The patient can only move to the next stage once they r relaxed in the presence of the phobic stimulus.
• Why does SD work?

  Because it is impossible to be afraid & relaxed at the same time - reciprocal inhibition. Eventually a new association is made between relaxation & phobic object
• What is Flooding?


  - immediate exposure to a frightening situation

  - flooding sessions are longer than SD sessions, may last a couple of hours
• Why does flooding work?

  Without option of avoidance behaviour patient quickly learns that phobic stimulus is harmless - this is known as extinction.
• What is one strength of flooding?

  - cost-effective

  - clinically effective & not as expensive

  - can work in 1 session while SD can take up to 10 to achieve the same result

  - more people can b treated at the same cost w flooding
• What is one strength of systematic desensitisation?

  - evidence for its effectiveness in specific phobias

  - Gilroy et al. followed up 42 patients who had been treated for arachnophobia w/ 3, 45 minute sessions of SD

  - at both 3 & 33 months the SD group was less fearful than the control group

  - SD is useful treatment for phobias
• What is one limitation for flooding?

  - traumatic & highly unpleasant

  - Schumacher et al. found pps & therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful

  - Furthermore, there r higher attrition rates than SD

  - Psychologists may avoid using treatment opting for SD instead which is more relaxing