flooding Flashcards
what is flooding?
-flooding is a method for overcoming phobias based on Pavlov’s classical conditioning.
-faster yet less efficient and more traumatic method of ridding fears when compared with systematic desensitisation. -rapid exposure to the CA rather than more spaced presentations, the assumption is that this approach will facilitate the extinction
-perhaps because the person will become too physically exhausted for the CR to occur,
-perhaps because the response prevention helps break down avoidance responses which do not have the time or opportunity to occur.
what is the rationale behind flooding?
a. the patients anxiety is maintained at such a high level that eventually some processes of exhaustion or stimulus satiation takes place.
b. if a patient is prevented from making their normal escape/avoidance response, extinction will occur.
what does flooding involve?
involved forced prolonged exposure to the actual stimulus that provided the original trauma.
explain implosion therapy?
-Thomas Stampfl pioneered a technique called ‘implosion therapy’ to treat phobias.
-He found that when phobic patients were bombarded with descriptions of the situations that they feared for six to nine hours they lost their fear,
-research was expanded upon and refined by Zev Wanderer who used biofeedback machines to moitor patients listening to their feared situations.
-By concentrating on the sentences that sparked the most intense reaction, wanderer reduced the time for the first flooding session from nine hours to about two hours.
-Patients then returned for further sessions usually half an hour long.
-to increase the effectiveness he gave out loop recordings for patients to listen to as homework.
how does the therapist help during implosion/exposure therapy?
offers very little help, helps them with relaxation techniques, e.g, progress muscle relaxation
why is implosion therapy thought to work?
-As the adrenaline and fear response has a time limit, theoretically a person will eventually have to calm down and realise that their phobia is unwarranted
-The adrenal response is short lived and soon the person calms due to lack of adrenaline
what is an example of implosion therapy?
Joseph Wolpe (1973) carried out an experiment which demonstrated flooding. he took a girl who was scared of cars and drove her around for hours, initially the girl was hysterical but eventually she calmed and realised the situation she was in was safe, from then on she felt a sense of ears with cars.
how is flooding done today?
using VR called exposure therapy
