The behaviourist approach therapy

Question 1

Systematic desensitisation

Answer 1

• commonly used in the treatment of phobias

Question 2

Main components of SD

Answer 2

• client is given training in relaxation techniques
  -therapist and client work together to construct an anxiety hierarchy
• client gradually works their way through hiearchy and utilise their relaxation technique
  -client then moves onto next step in hierarchy while remaining relaxed and the client will move on once mastered

Question 3

What is anxiety hierarchy?

Answer 3

• series of imagine scenes, each one causing a little more anxiety than the rest

Question 4

Effectiveness of SD

Answer 4

• Lang and Lazovik used SD with student who has a snake phobia. Over 11 sessions they worked through a hierarchy.
  -SD was found to be effective for most and improvement was evident
• 75 percent of patients responded to treatment well

Question 5

Effectiveness (2)

Answer 5

• Most effective for treating specific phobias but have been less effective for social phobias
  -if improvement has not happened then it is because the client has not followed through the treatment structures when not in therapy
• not suitable for fears that we have been genetically programmed to have because they threaten our survival e.g snakes , heights, strangers

Question 6

Effectiveness(3)

Answer 6

• argued that SD does not treat the actual cause of the fear since the phobia may develop from an underlying issue e.g little hans

Question 7

Ethical considerations of SD

Answer 7

Using SD with children
- drug therapy may not be appropriate with children because of the potential side effects
-SD may be more appropriate with children because they have less life experiences so unlearning behaviour is easier

Question 8

Ethical considerations (2)

Answer 8

Anxiety is felt during SD
- even though anxiety is felt during the therapy it is at the pace of the client
- client knows when they are ready better than the therapist - client will feel rewarded by moving up the hierarchy
- client has more control
- client can withdraw from therapy

Question 9

Behaviourist assumptions applied in behaviourist therapy

Answer 9

• Blank slate assumption
  
  • we arent born with phobias and are shaped by environment so our environment can be manipulated to unlearn the fear response to stimulus
    -SD allows people to learn a new response to their phobic stimulus (relaxation instead of fear)
• Behaviour learn through conditioninh