P - The behavioural approach to treating phobias Flashcards
What are the 2 behavioural approaches to treating phobias?
Systematic desensitization and flooding.
What process do both SD and flooding involve?
Counterconditioning.
What is counterconditioning in terms of phobias?
Whereby a fear response to an object or situation is replaced with a relaxation response.
What is counterconditioning a form of?
Classical conditioning.
What is counterconditioning achieved by/through?
Through a slow process of gradual exposure or one single intense exposure.
When is phobia treatment (counterconditioning) complete?
When the patient can relax in the presence of their most feared stimulus.
What is flooding used to treat?
Phobias (and other anxiety disorders).
What is flooding?
A form of behavioural therapy used to treat phobias and other anxiety disorders. A client is exposed to (or imagines) an extreme form of the threatening situation under relaxed conditions until the anxiety reaction is distinguished.
How many sessions does it takes to expose the phobia in flooding?
One long session.
When does a session of flooding stop?
When the patient’s anxiety has disappeared.
In what ways can the flooding procedure be conducted?
In vivo techniques (actual exposure) or in virtual reality.
Why does flooding work to treat phobias?
Rationale - a person’s fear response (and the release of adrenaline underlying this) has a time limit. As adrenaline levels naturally decrease, a new stimulus-response link can be learned - the feared stimulus is now associated with a non-anxious response.
What is systematic desensitisation (SD)?
A form of behavioural therapy used to treat phobias and other anxiety disorders. A client is gradually exposed to (or imagines) the threatening situation under relaxed conditions until the anxiety reaction is extinguished.
When does systematic desensitisation stop?
When the anxiety reaction to the phobia is extinguished.
What is a reason why phobias may persist?
Phobics avoid the phobic stimulus and therefore there is no opportunity to learn that their feared stimulus is not so fearful after all.
Who developed systematic desensitisation?
Joseph Wolpe (1958).
What is reciprocal inhibition?
The idea that you cannot feel afraid and relaxed at the same time, meaning that one emotion prevents the other.
What is the stress plateau?
Stress increases then plateaus before decreasing as it has a physiological limit.
Does stress have a limit?
Yes - refer to the stress plateau because of the physiological limit.
What is the first thing a therapist does in SD and flooding?
Teaches the patient relaxation techniques and about the stress plateau.
How can relaxation be achieved in SD?
By the patient focussing on their breathing and taking slow, deep breaths and being mindful of ‘here and now’ as well as focusing on a particular object or visualising a peaceful scene. Progressive muscle relaxation is also used.
What key feature does SD use?
A desensitisation hierarchy.
What are the stages of systematic desensitisation?
1 - agree a hierarchy.
2 - teach relaxation techniques.
3- gradual exposure to feared stimulus using hierarchy.
How many sessions of SD do patients normally have?
Normally 12.
What are the first couple of SD sessions like?
They are educational teaching patients about the stress plateau etc.
What are the stages of flooding?
1 - relaxation of the patient.
2 - patient exposed to fear and accomplishes it completely in one long session.
What are the different exposure techniques used in SD?
Often a number of different exposure techniques are involved - in vivo, in vitro and also modelling, where the patient watches someone else who is coping well with the feared stimulus (Comer, 2002).
