Behavioural approach to treating phobias Flashcards
(6 cards)
What is Systematic desensitisation?
- a behavioural therapy to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through counter-conditioning (classical conditioning)
What are the 3 stages of systematic desensitisation
- anxiety hierarchy: hierarchy ranking interactions with phobic stimulus from low anxiety inducing to high
- relaxation: therapist will teach patient relaxation techniques as it is impossible to be relaxed and be afraid at the same time so it cancels out- reciprocal inhibition
3.Client is finally exposed to their phobic stimulus starting from the bottom of the hierarchy- only move up hierarchy when they have completed the other stage
What is flooding?
-Immediate exposure to their phobic stimulus to prevent avoidance behaviour from being negatively reinforced
-Exposure to phobic stimulus without the fear means the patient learns it is harmless- Extinction
What are in place during flooding?
-Ethical safeguards: safeguards for informed consent and right to withdraw at any time
What is the Evaluation for systematic desensitisation
S:Effective: Lisa Gilroy (2003) followed 42 people who had SD for arachnophobia for 3 45-min sessions.At both 3 and 33 months the SD group were less fearful than control group who were not exposed to phobia.Theresa Wechsler et al. (2019) concluded SD was effective for specific and social phobia as well as agoraphobia
S:Suitable with those with learning disabilities. Some people with learning disabilities struggle with cognitive therapies that require complex thought but SD offers an alternative. Also flooding may be too distressing for them. This means SD is an applicable and appropriate treatment method for everyone
L:Expensive and disruptive: many sessions and are long - can be expensive to pay for and this may
What is the Evaluation for flooding?
S:cost effective: Has clinical effectiveness so is very good at tackling problems quickly. very few sessions compared to SD which is helpful for NHS - could fix problem in 1 session compared to 10 which means resources are not wasted. This means that more people can be treated with flooding at the same cost of others.
L:-Traumatic: provokes tremendous anxiety.
Sarah Schumacher et al. (2015) found that both therapists and clients rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD as it provokes unpleasant feelings. This Raises ethical issues as they are inflicting negative emotions on clients,=. Also leads to higher attrition (drop out rates) in flooding than SD so will not be effective. This means therapists should avoid this treatment.
