Behaviourist - Therapy: Systematic Desensitisation

Question 1

SD

Answer 1

• Step by step making you less sensitive to a phobia by gradually introducing patient to a feared stimulus
• Developed by Joseph Wolpe

Question 2

Counterconditioning

Answer 2

• Process begins with learning/teaching relaxation techniques
• Counter-conditioning: process of producing a new stimulus-response link by replacing fear with relaxation response.

Question 3

Hierarchy

Answer 3

• Therapist and patient construct a desensitisation hierarchy
• Re-learning the stimulus response by using hierarchy
• working through a series of gradual steps that are determined ar the beginning of the therapy
• from least fearful stimuli to most fearful

Question 4

Research Support - strength

Answer 4

> McGrath (1990) - successful for a wide range of anxiety disorders, 75% responded to treatment
Lang and Lazovik (1963), helped students with snake phobias, used hierarchy - fear rating fell.

Question 5

Not appropriate for all phobias - weaknesses

Answer 5

• Seligman argues - animals and humans are genetically programmed to learn an association between potentialy life-threatening stimuli and fear = more likely to fear animals of biological significance, snakes, heights, strangers (dangerous in evolutionary past)
• wouldn’t work with every phobia, not effective for more generalised fears

Question 6

Different froms of SD

Answer 6

• ** In vivo** desensitisation - learning to relax in presence of objects or images that would cause anxiety -directly experience the feared stimuli
• This was used in early days of SD
• ** In vitro** - has to visualise the feared stimuli, imagine the presence of it.
• Research Menzies and Clark - actual contact with feared stimuus is most successful (In Vivo)

Question 7

Valid consent - strength

Answer 7

• Client is of sound mind to provide fully informed consent
• not used with depression and schizophrenia were patients can’t provide valid consent
• Healthy to understand
• attend at own free will
• able to choose to withdraw at any point

Question 8

flooding - strength

Answer 8

• not a therapy where the client is forced into an inescapable situation with their phobia
• Less psychological harm
• work through hierarchy at own pace
• attend sessions at own free will
• progresses at a comfortable rate

Question 9

Psychological harm - weaknesses

Answer 9

• can cause trauma
• client can be in distress
• could cause phobia of the therapist/therapy

Question 10

Main Components

Answer 10

• Counterconditioning
• Desensitisation Hierarchy
• Different forms of SD

Question 11

Symptom substitution - weakness

Answer 11

• may not work because it only reomves symptoms and the cause still remains
• symptoms could resurface, possibly in another form
• resolve the problem by eliminating or suppressing symptoms