behavioral approach to treating phobias Flashcards
what is flooding
a behaviorual therapy - immediate exposure to phobic stimulus for a period of time.
What does it require from the patient
informed consent
What does flooding aim to do
eliminate the conditioned stimulus i.e. dog without the unconditioned stimulus i.e. being bitten - called extinction
what is systemtic desensitisation
a behavioral therpy used to gradually decrease phobic anxiety through classical conditioning.
what are the 3 steps of SD
Relation - learning relaxtion techn
Hierachy - create situtations related to phobic stimulus from least to most frightening, bottom to top of hierachy.
Exposure - Work way up the hierachy using the relaxation techniques until comfortable
flooding and SD
ao3: not useful
treatment may be effective if you can actually be exposed to the stimulus via flooding/sd.
hOWEVER other phobias such as death and aliens cannot be xposed to the patient because they may not be real / obtainable. this reduces the external validity of this treatment.
Flooding has ethical issues
a very traumatic experience for some patients, WHICH CAUSES distress in indivduals for long periods. This had led to high dropout rates compared to SD. Therefore the treatment may actually worsen the pphobia than when started.
sd
Suitable for everyone
For example people with learning disabilities struggle with CBTs as they require high rational though. Fllooding may be too traumatic LEADING TO SEVERE DISTRESS. Therefore Sd is the most appropiate treatment for people with any difficulties in other treaments
flooding is cost effective
flooding can work in as little as one therapy session, compared to ten sessions from SD. This means this option of treatment is more viable for healthcare systems such as the NHS as its cheaper and requres less resources than other treatments. Therfore patients can be treated at a lost cost and still have their life quality imrpoved.
