Treatment of phobias (LT)

Question 1

FLOODING

Strength

Answer 1

I - There is evidence to support the use of flooding to treat phobias.
J - For example, Kaplan and Tolin (2011) reported that 65% of patients with specific phobia given a single session of flooding showed no symptoms of specific phobia 4 years later. 
E - This suggests that rapid exposure to a fearful situation or stimulus via flooding can prove effective as a treatment.

Question 2

FLOODING

Weakness

Answer 2

I - This therapy however is not very effective in treating social phobias.
J - For example, most social phobias actually have a cognitive aspect, the patient is not simply afraid or anxious of the social situation, but also has accompanying unpleasant thoughts or feelings.
E - Therefore, this treatment could not be the only treatment for some phobias, as it only tackles behavioural responses, not the cognitive aspects.

Question 3

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION

Strength

Answer 3

I - There is supportive evidence for the effectiveness of systematic desensitisation as a treatment of specific phobias.
J - Gilroy (2003) gave 42 patients three 45-minute sessions of SD. Patients were assessed on the severity of their arachnophobia via a Spider Questionnaire & observed response to a spider. Gilroy allocated patients to one of two conditions: control group who were treated with relaxation without exposure and the experimental group who were treated with systematic desensitization. The researchers found at both 3 months and 33 month follow up the SD group were less fearful than relaxation group.
E - Therefore, this evidence adds validity to the use of systematic desensitisation as an effective long-term treatment for phobias.

Question 4

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIATION

Weakness

Answer 4

I - This therapy has limitations however, it is not able to fully treat all phobias.
J - For example it is less effective in treating someone with generalised anxiety disorder who has worries about imprecise situations, as it is much harder to create a structured hierarchy of fear for imprecise situations.
E - Therefore, this treatment is not the most appropriate way to treat a minority of patients and only works if the situation/object feared can be clearly identified.