PSYCHOPATHOLOGY - the behavioural approach to treating phobias

Question 1

what is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 1

SD is a type of behavioural therapy that is designed to reduce an unwanted response. Takes place across several sessions.

• involves drawing up a hierarchy of anxiety provoking situations related to a persons phobic stimulus.
• whilst the person experiences each stage of the hierarchy they are taught to relax ( eg breathing techniques)
• this causes reciprocal inhibition as the person cannot feel frightened or relaxed at the same time.
• finally the client is exposed to phobic stimulus when in a relaxed state

SUCCESSFUL WHEN… client can stay relaxed in situations high on the anxiety hierarchy.

Question 2

what is flooding?

Answer 2

• therapy in which a person with a phobia is exposed to an extreme form of a phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus.
• takes place in a small number of long therapy sessions.

-without option of avoidance behaviour, client learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless. (extinction)
- important that clients give informed consent

Question 3

Strengths of SD?

Answer 3

+ effective - eg GIlory et al (2003) people with spider phobia had three 45 min sessions.
Findings - SD group were less fearful than a control group treated by relaxation without exposure. This means that SD is likely to be helpful for people with phobia.

+ can help people with learning disability = alternatives for SD is not suitable for them (eg cognitive therapies because it requires for them to think complex and rationally).
Therefore it SD is the most appropriate for people with learning disabilities.

+ SD in VR can be used to avoid dangerous situations and is cost effective.

Question 4

Limitations of SD?

Answer 4

• there is some evidence that suggests that SD in VR is less effective because it lacks realism.
• time consuming and costly
• only appropriate to those with capacity to learn relaxation techniques and imaginations vivid enough to imagine the feared stimulus.

Question 5

evaluate flooding?

Answer 5

+ cost-effective
Flooding can work in as little as one session as opposed to 10 sessions of SD to reach the same result
This means more people can be treated at the same cost with flooding than with SD

• highly unpleasant experience
  Confronting one’s phobic stimulus in an extreme form provokes tremendous anxiety.
  This raises the ethical issue of psychologists knowingly causing stress to their clients.
  this suggests that therapists may avoid using this treatment.