SD Flashcards
It is effective
strength of SD for the treatment of phobias is that research shows that it is effective in the treatment of specific phobias. Gilroy et al (2003) followed up 42 patients who had been treated for spider phobia in three 45-minute sessions of SD. A control group was treated by relaxation without exposure to spiders. At both 3 and 33 months after the treatment the SD group were less fearful than the relaxation group. Additionally, McGrath et al (1990) reported that 75% of clients with phobias responded to SD. According to Choy et al (2007) the key to success lies with the actual contact with the feared stimulus, so in vivo exposure is more successful than ones using pictures or imagining the feared stimulus (in vitro). These pieces of research provide reliable evidence which demonstrate that SD is a useful technique in the treatment of specific phobias
Relaxation may not be necessary (effectiveness)
A weakness of SD as a treatment for phobias is that it may be that the success is more to do with exposure to the feared situation than relaxation. It might also be that the expectation of being able to cope with the feared stimulus is most
important. For example, Klein et al (1983) compared SD with supportive psychotherapy (a therapy that combines psychodynamic and cognitive therapies) for patients with specific or social phobias. They found no difference in the effectiveness, suggesting that the ‘active ingredient’ in systematic desensitisation may simply be the generation of hopeful expectancies that the phobia can be overcome. This suggests the exact reason why systematic desensitization is effective remains unclear
Symptom substitution (appropriateness)
Another limitation of systematic desensitization as a treatment for
phobias is that the psychodynamic model claims that SD (and the other behavioural therapies in general e.g. flooding) focuses only on symptoms and ignores the causes of abnormal
behaviour. Psychoanalysts claim that the symptoms are merely the tip of the iceberg - the outward expression of deeper underlying emotional problems. Psychoanalysts believe that whenever symptoms are treated without any attempt to work out the deeper underlying
problems, the problem will only show itself in another way, through different symptoms. This is known as symptom substitution. Behaviourists however reject this criticism and claim that we need not look beyond the behavioural symptoms as the symptoms are the disorder.
