Aversion therapy- Behaviorist therapy Flashcards
(21 cards)
Aim of aversion therapy
- cause individuals to develop an intense dislike or feelings of disgust towards a particular stimulus
What phobias can it be used to treat?
- drug and alcohol abuse
- deviant sexual behavior
- compulsive nail biting
- gambling
- smoking
What can it be used to treat?
a variety of phobias
How does it work?
The client is continuously presented with an aversive stimulus at the same time that they’re engaging in the undesirable behavior
4 key steps to the therapy:
1- medical examination
2- educate patient on how it works
3- obtain valid consent
4- completed when the process of classical conditioning has been successful
What is the process of teaching a patient to associate their addictions with dislike or unpleasant named as?
counter-conditioning
when it Antabuse used?
to treat those with alcoholism
How does antabuse work?
Impacts the way in which alcohol is broken down
How does antabuse impact the way in which alcohol is broken down?
- stops the enzyme ‘acetaldenhyde dehydrogenase’ so that it can no longer break down alcohol and cause a build up of acetalydehyde in the body
What does antabuse cause
unpleasant symptoms such as sweating, headaches, heart palpitations and vomiting if client intakes alcohol
How long does it take for the symptoms of antabuse to work?
20 minutes
How long does the effects of antabuse last?
a number of hours
2 positives of this therapy
- smith et al. (1997)
- covert sensitisation
2 weaknesses of this therapy
- ethical issues
- can’t be used on all conditions
smith et al. 1997- positive
- used antabuse on 249 patients who had an alcohol addiction
- found that they had a higher abstinence rates after one year than those who had undertaken counselling alone
ethical issues- negative
- up until 2006, it was used in the US and the UK to treat homosexuals
- causes stress, humiliation, pain and anxiety
- punishment has too much control over the patient, brainwashing them into the treatment
covert sensation- positive
- verbally encourages individuals to imagine scenarios which get progressively worse
- more ethical (don’t actually experience the negative consequences)
- shows that it doesn’t have to include drugs
- more available to people
How isn’t it appropriate for all conditions?- Weakness
- only found to be effective for a number of different phobias
- can’t be generalized to all conditions
- Once the aversive stimulus has stopped, many people will easily start engaging in the unwanted behavior again
What assumption is it linked to?
- conditioning assumption
How does it involve principles of opeant conditioning?
- it includes the negative reinforcement of the aversive stimuli
What is the name of the enzyme which breaks down alcohol?
acetaldehyde dehydrogenase
