Behavioural Treatments For Phobias (Psychopathology) Flashcards
What are the treatments for phobias
Systematic Desensitisation and flooding
What is systematic desensitisation
Uses the principles of classical conditioning to gradually reduce a fear response in the patient
Works by pairing the phonic stimulus with a relaxation response - counterconditioning - allows for a new relaxed response
What are the three stages of systematic desensitisation
Heirarchy, relaxation techniques, exposure
What is hierarchy
Hierarchy - therapist and patient create a hierarchy of most to least fearful stimuli
What is relaxation techniques
Relaxation Techniques - relaxation techniques are taught to the patient to make feel relaxed in the presence of the phobic stimuli
- progressive muscle relaxation - relaxing one muscle at a time
Reciprocal inhabitation = cannot be relaxed and fearful at the same time
What is exposure
The patient is gradually exposed to each stimuli while they are in a relaxed state
-Do it in the order of the hierarchy until they stay in a relaxed state at the most fearful stimuli
-done in several sessions
What are the strengths of systematic desensitisation
1) Research support - Gilroy et al studied 42 patients who did spider phobia treatment with systematic desensitisation - found that when compared to the group they experienced less fear at 3 months 33 months - shows that this is a long term treatment
2) Inclusive - it can be used to treat oriole with learning disabilties. This process is gradual whereas flooding is instant experience of anxiety which makes them feel distressed - can be used by more people
What are the weaknesses of systematic desensitisation
1) Time consuming - happens over several sessions - not a quick process so people may not be able to free up enough time to do it - could have to take time off work = Economic consequences - if people feel it is taking too long to work this could ruin their commitment
How does flooding involve conditioning
A person is unable to avoid (negatively reinforce) their phobia and through continuous exposure, anxiety levels decrease as they learn their phobic stimulus is harmless
How is extinction linked to flooding
A learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus (dog) is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus (being bitten)
The conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response - fear
What are the strengths of flooding
Research support - Kaplan and Tolin found that 65% of patients with a specific phobia and given a single session of flooding showed no symptoms of specific phobia 4 years later - shows that flooding can be effective long term - reliable + valid
Less time consuming - done in several hours compared to other methods that take several sessions - better for people who do not have as much free time - needs less commitment
What are the weaknesses of flooding
Less ethical - even though patients give their consent for flooding, it is highly traumatic as it involves forcing the sufferer to experience high levels of anxiety
