Systematic Desensitisation
- Created by: Demi Yates
- Created on: 20-09-14 18:22
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- Systematic Desensitisation
- Intro
- Phobias are learned through negative experiences.
- Wolpe (1958) said we maintain our phobias due to negative reinforcement. We avoid the things that we are scared of instead of overcoming them.
- Aims
- The aim is to extinguish a phobia by eradicating an undesirable behaviour (fear) and replace it with a desirable one (relaxation).
- Types
- In-Vitro: the client only imagines the exposure to the thing they fear, they're not actually exposed.
- In-Vivo: the client is actually exposed to the thing that they have a phobia of.
- Process
- Relaxation techniques are taught. Hierarchy of fear is created by client and therapist. Work through it step by step at clients own pace.
- The process can be called counter conditioning as a new response became associated with the previously feared stimulus.
- Research
- Lang and Lazovik (1963): The fear of snakes in college students was tested over an 11 session period. SD was effective for the majority and 6 months later the phobia was still reduced.
- McGrath (1990): They determined that SD was successful for a wide range of anxiety disorders. 75% of patients with phobias respond to treatment.
- Intro
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