Therapies - Systematic Desensitisation Flashcards
What assumption / approach is systematic desensitisation from
The behavioural approach
When and who developed SD
Wolpe in 1958
What is SD often used to treat
The treatment of phobias
What is a phobia
An overwhelming debilitating fear of an object place situation feeling or animal
How does in vivo treatment work
The client is actually exposed to the phobic stimuli
How does in vitro treatment work
The client imagines exposure to the phobic stimuli
What is the anxiety hierarchy
Where the client ranks scenes that scare them the least to the most
What assumption of the behaviourist approach does SD link too
Tabula rasa - all behaviours are learnt
And behaviour is learnt through conditioning classical and operant
Explain the concept of SD
If we learn reposons / behaviour from conditioning we can also unlearn them and replace the fear with relaxation
What are the 4 phases of SD
- Relaxation techniques
- Create an environment anxiety hierarchy
- Work through the hierarchy
- Graduated expose to the rest of the phobias
Give an example of SD
Rothbaum and al (2000) used in vitro reality to help people who were afraid of flying after the treatment 93% of people were willing to do a test flight
Why do some people not agree with SD / think it works
Phobias may develop from an underlying fear and be a projection of that fear. Freud recorded a boy who had a fear of horses but actually was afraid / anxious of his father. The phobia was cured when he accepted feeling about his father
Give an example of a anxiety hierarchy
Least
Photo of dog
Dog separated by window
Dog in room on leash
Dog loose in room
Dog in a park running around
Most
