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THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO TREATING PHOBIAS - Coggle Diagram
THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO TREATING PHOBIAS
AO1
FLOODING
Immediate exposure to the phobic stimulus
Flooding involves bombarding the phobic patient with the phobic object without a gradual build-up
An arachnophobic receiving flooding treatment may have a large spider crawl over their hand until they can relax fully
Very quick learning through extinction
Without the option of avoidance behaviour, the patient quickly learns that the phobic object is harmless through the exhaustion of their fear response. This is known as extinction
Ethical safeguards
Flooding is not unethical but it is an unpleasant experience so it is important that patients give informed consent. They must be fully prepared and know what to expect
SYSTEMATIC DESENSATISATION
Based on classical conditioning, counterconditioning + reciprocal inhibition
Phobia is learned so that the phobic stimulus (conditioned stimulus,CS) produces fear (conditioned response, CR)
CS is paired with relaxation and this becomes the new CR
The therapy aims to gradually reduce anxiety through counterconditioning
Reciprocal inhibition - it is not possible to be afraid + relaxed at the same time, so one emotion prevents the other
Formation of an anxiety hierarchy
Patient + therapist design an anxiety hierarchy - a list of fearful stimuli arranged in order from least to most frightening
An arachnophobic might identify seeing a picture of a small spider as low on their anxiety hierarchy + holding a tarantula as the final item
Relaxation practised at each level of the hierarchy
Phobic individual is first taught relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and/or meditation
Patient then works through the anxiety hierarchy. At each level the phobic is exposed to the phobic stimulus in a relaxed state
This takes place over several sessions starting at the bottom of the hierarchy. Treatment is successful when the person can stay relaxed in situations high on the hierarchy
AO3
SYSTEMATIC DESENSATISATION
SD TENDS TO BE ACCEPTABLE TO PATIENTS
This is because it does not cause the same degree of trauma as flooding. It ay also be because SD includes some elements that are actually pleasant, such as time talking with a therapist
This is reflected in low refusal rates (number of patients refusing to start treatment) and low attrition rates (number of patients dropping out of treatment) for SD
The alternative of SD is that patients prefer it. Those given the choice of SD or flooding tend to prefer SD
IT IS AN EFFECTIVE FORM OF TREATMENT
At both 3 + 33 months, the SD group were less fearful than a control group treated by relaxation without exposure
This is a strength because it shows that SD is helpful in reducing the anxiety in spider phobia + that the effects of the treatment are long-lasting
Gilroy et al (2003) followed up 42 patients who had SD for spider phobia in three 45-minute sessions
FLOODING
IT IS TRAUMATIC FOR PATIENTS
The problem is not that flooding is unethical (patients do give informed consent) but that patients are often unwilling to see it through to the end
This is a limitation because ultimately it means that the treatment is not effective, and time and money are wasted preparing patients only to have them refuse to start or complete treatment
Perhaps the most serious issue with the use of flooding is the fact that it is a highly traumatic experience