Behavioural Treatments For Phobias (Psychopathology) Flashcards
(12 cards)
What are the treatments for phobias
Systematic Desensitisation and flooding
What is systematic desensitisation
Uses the principles of classical conditioning to gradually reduce a fear response in the patient
Works by pairing the phonic stimulus with a relaxation response - counterconditioning - allows for a new relaxed response
What are the three stages of systematic desensitisation
Heirarchy, relaxation techniques, exposure
What is hierarchy
Hierarchy - therapist and patient create a hierarchy of most to least fearful stimuli
What is relaxation techniques
Relaxation Techniques - relaxation techniques are taught to the patient to make feel relaxed in the presence of the phobic stimuli
- progressive muscle relaxation - relaxing one muscle at a time
Reciprocal inhabitation = cannot be relaxed and fearful at the same time
What is exposure
The patient is gradually exposed to each stimuli while they are in a relaxed state
-Do it in the order of the hierarchy until they stay in a relaxed state at the most fearful stimuli
-done in several sessions
What are the strengths of systematic desensitisation
1) Research support - Gilroy et al studied 42 patients who did spider phobia treatment with systematic desensitisation - found that when compared to the group they experienced less fear at 3 months 33 months - shows that this is a long term treatment
2) Inclusive - it can be used to treat oriole with learning disabilties. This process is gradual whereas flooding is instant experience of anxiety which makes them feel distressed - can be used by more people
What are the weaknesses of systematic desensitisation
1) Time consuming - happens over several sessions - not a quick process so people may not be able to free up enough time to do it - could have to take time off work = Economic consequences - if people feel it is taking too long to work this could ruin their commitment
How does flooding involve conditioning
A person is unable to avoid (negatively reinforce) their phobia and through continuous exposure, anxiety levels decrease as they learn their phobic stimulus is harmless
How is extinction linked to flooding
A learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus (dog) is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus (being bitten)
The conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response - fear
What are the strengths of flooding
Research support - Kaplan and Tolin found that 65% of patients with a specific phobia and given a single session of flooding showed no symptoms of specific phobia 4 years later - shows that flooding can be effective long term - reliable + valid
Less time consuming - done in several hours compared to other methods that take several sessions - better for people who do not have as much free time - needs less commitment
What are the weaknesses of flooding
Less ethical - even though patients give their consent for flooding, it is highly traumatic as it involves forcing the sufferer to experience high levels of anxiety
