SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS: PSYCHO-EDUCATION / NOT ENCOURAGING AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOURS

Question 1

PSYCHO-EDUCATION

• Often one of the first steps = CBT
• CBT with the individual and their family / or friends = Social intervention
• CBT with only the individual = Psychological intervention

Answer 1

• The education about mental illness (the nature of the illness, the treatment and management strategies)
• Offered to both the individual suffering from the phobia and well as their family and friends
• Psycho-education = delivered individually or in a group
• GOAL: To empower the individual to understand their illness
• GOAL: How to develop strategies to cope with it and recover from it

Question 2

PSYCHO-EDUCATION: CHALLENING UNREALISTIC OR ANXIOUS THOUGHTS
* Fortune-telling
* Overgeneralisation
* Catastrophising
= What is the probability of that actually happening?
= Is there any evidence to support this thought?
= Is there a more realistic way of looking at the situation?

Answer 2

• Specific phobia sufferers = overestimate the dangers involved in a particular object, activity or situation
• Family and those supporting the individual can play an important role = Assisting the suffers to challenge these thoughts

Question 3

PSYCHO-EDUCATION: NOT ENCOURAGING AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOURS
* Negative reinforcement
= The absence of fear (avoiding the fear-provoking situation) becomes a reward
= Reinforces the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated again in the future
* The sufferer’s family
= Should not critique or encourage avoidance behaviours
= Should provide or suggest more adaptive alternatives in a safe and supportive environment

Answer 3

• Avoidance behaviours = behaviours that attempt to prevent exposure to the fear-provoking object, activity or situation
• A strategy to cope with the specific phobia = avoidance behaviour
• Avoidance behaviour = maladaptive
• Avoidance behaviours = doe snot attempt to remove the fear response to the phobic stimulus But it does assist in maintaining the disorder