treating Phobias Flashcards
what are the two treatments for phobias?
flooding and systemic desensitisation
What is the process of flooding?
exposes an individual to the most anxiety inducing stimulus immediately with no gradual build up.
works through extinction as it prevents avoidance behaviour
What is the process of systemic desensitisation?
designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principles of classical conditioning-if the sufferer can relax in-front of the phobic stimulus they will be cured-counter conditioning
What are ethical concerns with flooding?
not unethical per se but but it is unpleasant and so clients need to give full informed consent to this traumatic procedure and that they are fully prepared before the session-client normally gets a choice between systemic desensitisation and flooding
What are the three main processes involved in systemic desensitisation?
relaxation: relaxation techniques are taught to the patient, focussing on breathing, being mindful on the here and now, relaxing one muscle at a time
hierarchy: the patient is then asked to list the most to least fear inducing interactions with the stimuli
gradual exposure: therapist then works their way up the list of fear inducing scenarios one stage at a time. at each stage the client practices relation so the situation becomes more familiar and their anxiety reduces
What is a strength of flooding?
P-A strength of flooding is that is is an effective method of treatment for phobias.
E-for example, Kaplan and Tolin found that 65% of patients with a specific phobia who were given a single session of flooding showed no symptoms of specific phobia 4 years later.
C-this shows that flooding is an effective method of treating phobias
CC-However, this study also showcases that flooding can’t be used to cure all phobias. More complex phobias like social phobias may be hard to cure using flooding as they rely on more cognitive aspects. therefore we must be cautious when using flooding as a general treatment for all phobias.
What is a strength of systemic desensitisation?
P-a strength of systemic desensitisation is its effectiveness
E-for example, Gilroy et al followed up 42 patients who had been treated for arachnophobia in three 45 minutes sessions of systemic desensitisation. arachnophobia was assessed on several measures including the ‘spider questionnaire’ and by assessing response to a spider. A control group was treated by relaxation without exposure. At both three and 33 months after the treatments the systemic desensitisation group were less fearful than the relaxation group.
C-This shows that then gradual exposure element of systemic desensitisation is crucial to the effectiveness of treating phobias as the control group showed more fear when just given relaxation
CC-However, Ohman et al suggests that SD may not be as effective in treating phobias that have an underlying evolutionary survival component than phobias that have been acquired through personal experience. This suggests that SD can only be used effectively in tackling some phobias.
What is a limitation of the behaviourist approach to treating phobias?
P-A limitation of the behaviourist approach to treating phobias is that it the treatment of Phobias might have more to do with the expectation of getting better than the treatment itself.
E-For example, Klein et al compared SD with supportive psychotherapy for patients with either social or specific phobias. They found no difference in effectiveness, suggesting that the ‘active ingredient’ in SD or flooding may simply be the generation of hopeful expectancies that the phobia can be overcome
C-this demonstrates that cognitive factors are more important than the behavioural approach generally acknowledges
