Behavioural approach to treating phobias

Question 1

What are the two behavioural methods used in the treatment of phobias?

Answer 1

• systematic desensitisation
• flooding

Question 2

What is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 2

• a behaviour therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning
• phobic stimulus is paired with relaxation instead of anxiety- counter conditioning

Question 3

What is the first process of SD and explain it?

Answer 3

1) anxiety hierarchy - client & therapist put this together in which objects/stressful events are placed from least to most frightening
E.g. photo of dog=least
proximity to dog=most

Question 4

What is the second process of SD and explain it?

Answer 4

2) Relaxation - client is taught relaxation techniques e.g. breathing exercises, meditation or drugs etc
- fear and relaxation can’t co-exist, so one emotion prevents the other -this is called reciprocal inhibition

Question 5

What is the last process of SD and explain it?

Answer 5

3) Exposure- client is exposed to phobic stimulus in relaxed state over several sessions
- starts at the bottom of hierarchy and gradually makes way up each time they are relaxed in a level of the hierarchy

Question 6

What is flooding?

Answer 6

• A behavioural therapy in which a person with a phobia is exposed to extreme from of phobic stimulus immediately without a gradual build up
• important client gives informed consent >unpleasant

Question 7

Why does flooding stop phobic responses qucikly?

Answer 7

• client has no option of avoidance so they quickly learn that the phobic stimulus is harmless - this process known as extinction
• extinction occurs when CS (e.g. dog) is encountered without UCS (e.g. being bitten)
  result= CS no longer produces CR (fear)

Question 8

What is a strength of SD as a treatment for phobias?

Answer 8

• evidence for its effectiveness
• Gilroy et al followed up 42 people who had SD for spider phobia
• At both 3 & 33 months the SD group were less fearful than control group treated by relaxation without exposure
• others researchers have also concluded that SD is effective for specific, social & agoraphobias
• increased reliability

Question 9

What is another strength of SD in terms of appropriateness?

Answer 9

• can be used to treat people with learning disabilities
• alternatives to SD are not suitable
• people with learning disabilities often struggle with cognitive therapies that require complex rational thought
• flooding also too traumatic for them
• flooding = most appropriate treatment for those with LD who have phobias

Question 10

What is a strength of flooding?

Answer 10

• highly cost and clinically effective
• flooding can work in as little as one session opposed to ten sessions for SD to achieve the same results
• NHS can treat more people at the same costs
• increases value of flooding as treatment

Question 11

What is a limitation of flooding?

Answer 11

• highly unpleasant experience
• confronting ones phobic stimulus in extreme form provokes tremendous anxiety
• researchers found that p’s & therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD
• raises ethical issues for psychologists of knowingly causing stress to their clients
• Moreover, traumatic nature of flooding =higher drop out rates than SD