Exposure Therapy

Question 1

Implosion vs in vivo therapy

Answer 1

Implosion differs from flooding in a couple of important ways. Whereas flooding is often done in vivo (real life), implosion is always done in imagery. In flooding, the cues that are presented have a obvious association with the feared or avoided situation. In implosion, while those cues are employed, other so called “hypothesized cues” are also presented that might draw upon a wide range of factors that may influence the emergence of anxiety. An implosion therapist may present cues derived from psychodynamic or other realms.