Behavioural approach to treating phobias Flashcards
What is systematic desensitisation?
A behavioural therapy designed to reduce unwanted response, such as anxiety.
It involves drawing up a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations related to a person’s phobic stimulus, teaching a person to relax, and then exposing them to the phobic stimulus.
The person works their way through the hierarchy whilst maintaining relaxation.
What are the three processes involved in SD?
- The anxiety hierarchy- Put together by client and therapist and is a list of the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety from least to most frightening.
- relaxation- The therapists teaches the client to relax as deeply as possible. Breathing exercises, imaginary techniques.
- Exposure- The client is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state. This takes place across several sessions. They start to move up the hierarchy when they are relaxed in each situation.
Strengths of systematic desensitisation
Lisa Gilroy followed up on 42 people who had SD for a spider phobia in three sessions.
At both three and 33 months, the SD group were less fearful than a control group treated by relaxation without exposure .
This means that SD is helpful for people with phobias.
It can be used to help people with earning disabilities. Some people requiring treatment for phobias also have learning difficulties. Flooding is too traumatic for them so SD is the best approach.
What is flooding?
A behavioural therapy in which a person with a phobia is exposed to an extreme phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus.
It involves immediate exposure to a very frightening situation.
Flooding is a very unpleasant experience so it is important that clients give fully informed consent to this traumatic procedure and that they are fully prepared before hand.
Strength of flooding
It is highly-cost effective.
Flooding can work in as little as one session as opposed to 10 in SD to achieve the same result.
This means that more people can be treated at the same cost with flooding than with SD or other therapies.
Limitations of flooding
It is a highly unpleasant experience.
Schumacher found that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD.
Attrition rates are higher because it is so stressful.
