Phobias: treatments based on learning theories Flashcards
What is systematic desensitisation?
A bahvaioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response, such as anxiety, to a stimulus. SD involves drawing up a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations related to a phobic stimulus, teaching a client to relax and the exposing them to phobic situations. The client works their way through the hierarchy whilst maintaining relaxation.
What is the anxiety hierarchy and who is it constructed by?
Constructed by client and therapist and is a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety is arranged in order from least frightening to most frightening
What type of relaxation activities are there?
- Breathing exercises
- Using mental imagery
- Using drugs such as Valium
When is exposure used?
When client is in a relaxed state.
It takes several sessions and start at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy.
When the client can stay relaxed in the presence of the lower levels of phobic stimulus they move up the hierarchy
What is flooding?
A behavioural therapy in which a phobic client is exposed to an extreme form of phobic stimulus in order to reduce the anxiety triggered by that stimulus. This takes place across a small number of long therapy sessions.
Why is flooding seen as unethical?
As it is an unpleasant experience so it is important that clients give fully informed consent to this traumatic experience
How does exposure work?
It takes place across several sessions starting at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy. When the client can stay relaxed in the presence of the lower levels of the phobic stimulus, they move up the hierarchy.
Treatment is successful when the client can stay relaxed in situations high on the anxiety herarchy.
How does Gilroy show SD to be an effective treatment of specific phobias?
She compared clinets receiving SD for spider phobia with a control group. Both 3 months and 33 months after the treatment of SD group were less fearful than the control group.
What is a weakness of SD?
Although SD is acceptable to most clients it may not be effective in all cases.
For example, clients with multiple phobias or other symptoms linked to a history of trauma may benefit from different therapies that allow them to explore their experiences or alter thought patterns as well as changing behavioural symptoms. SD really only tackles behavioural symptoms.
What is strength of flooding?
It is quicker and as effective as alternatives.
Studies comparing flooding to cognitive therapies have found that flooding is highly effective and quicker than alternatives. This quick effect means that clients are free from their symptoms as soon as possible and this makes the treatment cheaper
Why might flooding not be effective for social phobias?
This may be because social phobias have cognitive aspects. For example, a person with a social phobia does not simply experience an anxiety response but thinks unpleasant thought about the social situation
