Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Explanation and Treatment of Phobias - Coggle Diagram
Explanation and Treatment of Phobias
Behavioural Explanation
- Two-process model
Maintenance
Operant conditioning
- Learning via consequences
Positive reinforcement:
Positive reward for a behaviour → Increases repetition of behaviour
Negative reinforcement:
Behaviour avoids punishment→ Increases repetition of behaviour
Punishment:
Negative consequence for a behaviour→ Decreases repetition of behaviour
By avoiding the phobic stimulus the associated fear/anxiety is also avoided
avoidance behaviour
Acquisition
Classical conditioning
- learning through association
Pairing a stimulus with a response, creates an association
1) UCS = UCR
2) NS + UCS = UCR
3) CS = CR
Stimulus generalisation
can occur when this anxiety can become generalised to all similar objects/situations
Behavioural Treatment
Flooding
Similar to systematic desensitisation, but exposure is all at once as opposed to gradually
Relaxation techniques
7/11 breathing
Progressive muscle relaxation
Unavoidable exposure
- Patient is prevented from avoiding the phobic stimulus
Fear is a
time limited
physical response
Initial anxiety response becomes
exhausted
and
EXTINCT
Initial strong bodily arousal caused by hormones (e.g. adrenaline) can only last so long before the body calms down
Prolonged intense exposure
then eventually creates a new association between the feared stimulus and a calm response - the phobia is eliminated
Systematic Desensitisation
Aim - replace anxiety response (fear) with a relaxation response to help remove the phobia
Stages
1) Determine fear hierarchy
2) Patient learns relaxation techniques
3) Patient is exposed to phobic stimuli, gradually step by step -
Graduated Exposure
4) Do not progress from one step to the next until the patient is fully relaxed
5) Exposure to the phobic stimulus on the highest level on the hierarchy
Graduated exposure
can be done 'in vivo' (actually exposed) or 'in vitro' (client imagines)
Counterconditioning
- learning of a different response, phobic stimulus is paired with relaxation instead of anxiety
Reciprocal inhibition
- it is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one emotion prevents the other