The behavioural approach to treating phobias Flashcards
(13 cards)
What are exposure therapies?
therapies built on the behavioural theory that states classical conditioning is how phobias are acquired
-Classical conditioning can also be used to get rid of that association through counter conditioning
What is counter conditioning?
Where a new response to the phobic stimulus is learnt
What is extinction?
a learning response thats extinguished when the conditioned stimulus no longer leads to the conditioned response
What are the 2 exposure therapies?
Systematic desensitisation (SD)
Flooding
What is systematic desensitisation?
a behavioural therapy designed to reduce anxiety towards the phobic stimulus gradually through classical conditioning
What are the 3 processes of SD
(In order)
- Anxiety hierarchy: client and therapist list situations related to phobic stimulus that provoke the least anxiety to the most
- Relaxation: uses principle of reciprocal inhibition. The patients taught to relax (breathing, mindfulness or drugs)
3.Exposure: Patients exposed to phobic stimulus going up the anxiety hierarchy whilst in a relaxed state
What is the biological concept of SD?
That your physically unable to feel relaxed and fear at the same time so exposure to the phobias when in a relaxed state means the ppt unlearns the feeling of being scared around phobic stimulus as they physically can’t
Give a strength of SD
SD can be used fore many people with learning difficulties who may struggle with cognitive therapies that require complex thought. It’s also not distressing as flooding
Give a limitation of SD
Its expensive. Ppt requires many sessions and is a person centered therapy so the professional must pay for exposure to the phobic stimuli
(If it was a hippo, expensive to go be exposed to a hippo)
What is flooding?
A behavioural therapy based on classical conditioning designed to reducer anxiety to phobic stimuli through immediate exposure
-Informed consent is vital- ppt may faint due to body not having resources to deal with the fear
What’s the concept of flooding- how does it work?
-A person cannot maintain that height of fear as their body gets too tired. It no longer has the resources and therefore the ppt is unable to feel fear anymore due to tiredness so
Give a strength to flooding
Its cheaper (good for NHS) and faster
Give a limitation to flooding
Symptom substitution- lack of emphasis on cognitive thought so underlying causes may bot be tackled (not getting to route problem) leading to a phobia of something else
