The Behavioural Approach To Treating Phobias Flashcards
What is the behavioural approach to treating phobias
Involve counter conditioning in which fear response is replaced with a relaxation response. This conditioning is either achieved through slow process of gradual exposure or one single intense exposure
Outline what systematic desensitisation
Process of gradually introducing an individual to an object/event they feel uncomfortable with, an organised method
What is a desensitisation hierarchy
Starting from bottom the patient and therapist work through the situations and can be presented with the phobic stimulus for real(in vivo) or can be imagined (in vitro) with each one causing more anxiety than the other. Bottom usually thinking about it, then talking about it then imagine of it then touching it eg
Outline the steps involved in systematic desensitisation
-patient first taught how to relax their muscles completely
-then therapist and patient work together to construct a desensitisation hierarchy which is a series of imagined scenes with each one causing more anxiety than the other
-patient GRADUALLY works their way through the scenes(either in vitro-visualising events whilst engaging in the relaxation response or in vivo-actually experiencing the events)
-only once the patient has completed one step in the hierarchy are they ready to move onto the next
-patient exposed to fear whilst engaging in relaxations techniques and eventually overcomes fear once completed hierarchy
Expand on advantage that systematic desensitisation has real world application
-appropriate for children and people with severe learning difficulties
-also appropriate for a wide variety of anxiety disorders such as phobias and shyness
-this is a strength because it has wide application to the population and as a result the treatment is worthwhile
Expand on advantage that systematic desensitisation has research support
-Lang and Lazovik provided systematic desensitisation treatment to half a group of people who all had phobias of snakes and found they all showed a reduction in symptoms compared to the other half who did not receive the treatment, this difference was still evident six months later
-suggests systematic desensitisation is an effective and long-term way of treating phobias
Expand on weakness that systematic desensitisation has practical issues
-it is time consuming for patients to gradually complete their desensitisation hierarchy and an expensive form of treatment
-this leads many patients to drop out before their course is complete
-this again may prevent patients from completing the course and overcoming their fear
What is flooding
Immediately exposing phobic patients to their feared stimulus without option of avoidance to quickly extinguish their fear
What is extinction
When a conditioned stimulus eventually stops eliciting its conditioned response
What does in vivo and in vitro mean in relation to flooding
In vivo is in real life while in vitro is virtual reality
Process of flooding
-patient initially learns relaxation techniques
-use extinction of fear which is when CS is presented without the unconditioned stimulus(eg being bitten) so eventually no longer produces the conditioned response (fear)
-may expose patient to their fear either in vivo/in vitro
-immediately exposed to feared stimulus without option for avoidance
-anxiety levels increase but eventually reach a point and start to decrease once patient realises their phobic stimulus will not harm them and achieve relaxation so will have overcome their phobia
Expand on advantage that flooding has research support
-Wolpe forced a patient with a fear of cars into the back of a car and drove her around continuously for four hours, her fear reached hysterical heights but then her anxiety began to reduce and by the end of the journey her phobia had disappeared—-> flooding is effective in reducing symptoms of phobias
H: research support has come from case studies which lack generalisability as only one individual was studied who is unique, results may not apply to wider population due to individual differences
Expand on advantage that flooding has real world application
Practical benefits as it is time and cost effective when compared to CBT which means most people will complete their treatment and overcome their fear eg Ost et al found anxiety reduced in 90% of patients after just one session
Expand on limitation that flooding has negative side effects
-not appropriate for children/those with learning difficulties
-can be a highly traumatic procedure and if it is not administered in the correct way can have a detrimental effect
-means treatment is not useful for a wide range of people
