Behavioural Approach to Treating Phobias

Question 1

Define Systematic desensitisation and flooding

Answer 1

SD- A type of behavioural therapy focused on reducing unwanted responses to a stimulus ie) anxiety. It involves drawing a hierarchy of anxiety prone situations involving the stimulus, teaching the client relaxation methods and then slowly exposing them to each level of the hierarchy.

Flooding- A behavioural therapy where the patient is exposed to extreme situations regarding the phobic stimulus to trigger a reduction in anxiety. Takes place over a small number of long therapy sessions.

Question 2

Explain systematic desensitisation

Answer 2

Uses classical conditioning ie) counter-conditioning to replace anxiety with a relaxed state and since both can’t occur at once reciprocal inhibition occurs.

SD has 3 processes involved:

1) Anxiety hierarchy - created by patient and therapist
2) Relaxation - taught to patient by therapist ie) breathing techniques, imagination techniques or even drugs like Valium
3) Exposure - of patient to stimulus via a number of sessions, progresses upwards in hierarchy till anxiety is completely removed

Question 3

Explain Flooding

Answer 3

Immediate exposure to phobic stimulus, sessions longer than SD, but amount of sessions is shorter.

Teaches extinction via classical conditioning as phobia not avoidable, so patient learns that it’s harmless. Also, can be relaxed if exhausted by own fear response.

Ethical Safeguards needed as may be an unpleasant event to deal with.

Question 4

Evaluate SD

Answer 4

Preferred by patients- over flooding because causes less trauma and lower refusal and attrition rates.

Is effective - Research shows S.D is effective as seen by Gilroy et al’s follow up of 42 patients treated for agoraphobia via S.D and compared w/ control group treated with relaxation and no exposure. S.D was more long lasting, even after 33 months.

It is suitable for a diverse range of patients - Flooding and cognitive therapies aren’t suited to some and others have learning difficulties, so S.D seems most appropriate.

Question 5

Evaluate flooding

Answer 5

Is cost-effective - (Ourgin) Compared to cognitive, is faster, so treatment is cheaper.

Is less effective for some types of phobia- ie) social phobia bc it involves thinking, a cognitive aspect that requires cognitive therapy.

It’s traumatic for patients - It isn’t unethical, but attrition rates are high, so, is a waste of money and preparation at times.

Question 6

What’s the evaluation extra for flooding and Systematic Desensitisation?

Answer 6

Symptom substitution - One phobia can be replaced with another, but a lot of behavioural therapists do not believe this to exist at all.