flooding

Question 1

what is flooding?

Answer 1

• a behavioural therapy in which a person with a phobia is exposed to it without a gradual build-up in a hierarchy in order to reduce anxiety

Question 2

how long are the sessions and how many?

Answer 2

a session is longer than systematic desensitisation

• last up to 2-3 hours
• a small number of sessions

Question 3

flooding is not unethical, therefore …

Answer 3

the client must give fully informed consent to the procedure and that they are fully prepared before the session

Question 4

why does flooding work so fast?

Answer 4

without the option of avoidance behaviour, the client quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless

Question 5

how does flooding work?

Answer 5

• a learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus
• conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response

Question 6

flooding is cost-effective why is that a strength?

Answer 6

• flooding can work in as little as 1 session as opposed to 10 sessions of systematic desensitization
• even allowing flooding sessions to be longer is cost-effective
• more people can be treated at the same cost with flooding than any other therapies

Question 7

flooding is traumatic how is that a limitation?

Answer 7

• unpleasant experience and provokes tremendous anxiety
• Sarah Schumacher at al 2015 = participants and therapists rated flooding as more stressful than systematic desensitization
• ethical issue as therapists knowingly cause stress to their clients
• dropout rates are higher than systematic desensitization
• therapists may avoid using this treatment