behavioural approach to treating phobias

Question 1

who created desensitisation

Answer 1

wolpe

Question 2

counterconditioning

Answer 2

• patients are taught a new association that counters the original association through classical conditioning
• also called ‘reciprocal inhibition’ because the relaxation response inhibits the anxiety response

Question 3

relaxation

Answer 3

• the therapist teaches relaxation techniques to the patient
• some of those techniques are breathing techniques, being mindful of the here and now, progressive muscle relaxation

Question 4

densensitisation hierarchy

Answer 4

• the patient created a list from low exposure to high exposure and they work there way up the list
• they practice relaxation on each step and cannot go to the next step until they are relaxed

Question 5

evaluation 1 - McGrath et al.

Answer 5

• 75% respond to SD, success appears to be more likely when patient has contact with the stimulus so in person techniques are more successful
• often involves multiple exposure techniques: in person, virtual reality and modelling where they watch someone else cope well with the feared stimulus
• demonstrates the effectiveness of SD

Question 6

evaluation 2 - Öhman et al.

Answer 6

• SD may not be effective in treating evolutionary fears (fear of the dark, heights etc.) because they are less likely to be learned through conditioning
• suggests SD can only be used effectively for some phobias

Question 7

flooding

Answer 7

• person is immersed in the experience in one long session, continues until anxiety has gone
• can be conducted in person or through virtual reality
• rationale: a person’s fear response has a time limit, the stimulus is now associated with a non-anxious response

Question 8

evaluation 1 - Choy et al. and Craske et al.

Answer 8

• flooding is quick and effective for those who stick with it, Ch- both SD and flooding are effective but flooding was more effective at treating phobias
• however C- both are equally effective at treating phobias
• showing that it is effective, it’s just one of several options

Question 9

evaluation 2 - individual differences

Answer 9

• can be a traumatic procedure
• patients are made aware of thi but may quit during hte treatment, reducing the effectiveness of the treatment
• individual differences in the response to flooding limit how effective the treatment can be

Question 10

general evaluation 1 - Strengths of the therapy

Answer 10

• generally faster, cheaper and require less effort from the patient than other treatment, e.g. CBT requires patients to think about their mental problems which can be difficult for some patients, especially those who lack insight into motivations and emotions(e.g. children)
• behavioural therapies don’t require this to it can be useful for those people
• it can also be self-administered which has been proven to be successful for social phobias
• supports the use of behavioural therapies over other therapies

Question 11

general evaluation 2 - Klein et al.

Answer 11

• relaxation may not be needed, the success could be to do with the exposure rather than the relaxation or the expectation of being able to cope is the most important
• K- compared SD with supportive psychotherapy for patients with specific or social phobias, found no difference in effectiveness
• suggests that it may be the expectation that the phobia will be overcome, suggests that cognitive factors are more important

Question 12

general evaluation 3 - symptom substitution

Answer 12

• doesn’t treat the cause, just the symptoms, they could resurface in another form
• e.g. Little Hans, fear of horses, cause was envy of his father, the phobia wouldn’t be cured until he accepted his feelings about his father
• supports the importance of the causes, not just the symptoms