Behaviourist approach to treating phobias Flashcards
What is Flooding?
Ppt immersed with the stimulus of their phobia in ONE LONG SESSION until the anxiety ceases to exist
-e.g the patient must sit with a spider until they become, and remain calm
What is Systematic Desensitization (SD)
Counterconditioning
- the patient is taught through classical conditioning to associate the phobia with relaxation rather than fear
-They are gradually introduced to the fear
What are the 5 steps in SD
1- patient taught how to completely relax their muscles
(relaxed state is incompatible with anxiety)
2-Therapist and patient together construct a desensitization hierarchy
(series of scenes and events of gradually increasing anxiety)
3- Patient gradually works their way through the dsensitization hierarchy
(visualising each one whilst remaining in relaxed state)
4- Once a patient has done a step whilst remaining relaxed they can move on to the next step
5-The patient then masters the actual event which caused them the phobia in the first place
AO3 +
Flooding
Cost effective
Flooding is quicker
-therefore more cost effective for patients and health service providers
AO3 -
Flooding
Can be traumatic
This is an issue with the ethics of flooding
-patients experience high levels of anxiety
-could cause PTSD
-many ppts may leave early due to high stress levels, meaning the therapy will not be completed
(phobia not treated)
AO3 +
Systematic Desensitization
Effectiveness
75% of patients were successfully treated with SD
-high success rates (similar to that of flooding but without the risk of trauma)
AO3 -
Systematic Desensitization
Not effective against all phobias
SD is not effective against evolutionary phobias
-these phobias are there because they have a survival component
-such as fear of heights , or the fear of lions
Therefore SDs usefulness is limited because it is only effective against some phobias
