psychopathology - phobia treatments Flashcards
what is systematic desensitisation?
a behavioural therapy which gradually reduces phobic anxiety through classical conditioning principles.
what is counterconditioning?
a part of systematic desensitisation where the fear response is replaced with new feelings of calm or relaxation techniques
what is reciprocal-inhibition?
a technique in which a desired behavioral response is gradually introduced to a stimulus that causes an undesired response
what does in vivo mean?
the client is actually exposed to the phobic stimulus
what is in vitro?
the client imagines exposure to the phobic stimulus
what is the anxiety hierarchy and what is it a part of?
a list going from the least fearful scenario to the most fearful scenario which is the first element of systematic desensitisation
what is relaxation?
where the therapist teaches the patient to relax deeply which can be done through breathing exercises, mental imagery or meditation and is the second element of systematic desensitisation
what is exposure?
the third element of systematic desensitisation which refers to the patient being exposed to each level in turn and must reach relaxation with that stage and work their way up until they do not fear the phobic stimulus anymore.
what is flooding?
flooding refers to immediate exposure to a very frightening situation. Each session is around 2-3 hours long and in some cases only one session is needed.
what is extinction?
where the phobic has no avoidance behaviour during the session meaning they quickly learn that the phobic stimulus is harmless.
what is one ethical issue with flooding?
patients will have to give fully informed consent before going to the session as it is an unpleasant experience and so that they have time to prepare.
one strength of the behavioural approach to treating phobias?
Research supports the effectiveness of systematic desensitisation. Lisa Gilroy et al (2003) followed up 42 people who had SD for a spider phobia in three 45 min sessions and found that at both three and 33 months; the SD group were less fearful then the control group
another strength of the behavioural approach to treating phobias?
flooding is just as effective and quicker than alternatives such as cognitive therapies (Ourgin 2011). This is because it is cheaper and quicker as the phobic is exposed to the stimulus immediately. Therefore, symptoms ease faster.
one weakness of the behavioural approach to treating phobias?
One weakness is that It is less effective for some types of phobias. For example, phobias such as spiders and dogs are useful for flooding as they are simple. However, social phobias such as agoraphobia, social anxiety are much more complex, potentially due to unpleasant thoughts meaning that CBT would be more beneficial for them.
another weakness of the behavioural approach to treating phobias?
Another weakness of the behavioural approach to treating phobias is the therapies. This is because they only mask symptoms rather than tackling the underlying causes of them. Jaqueline Persons (1986) reported a case where a woman with a phobia of deaths who was treated using flooding. Her fear declined but her fear of being criticised got worse.
