Treatment of phobias
- Created by: 11pyoung
- Created on: 21-04-17 13:16
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- Treatment of phobias
- Phobias are acquired through the process of learning. to threat the problem a person needs to simply 'unlearn' the phobic response through 'deconditioning'
- Two different treatment styles
- Exposure treatment
- Based on classical conditioning
- Modelling
- Based on SLT
- Exposure treatment
- Two different treatment styles
- Exposure treatment
- Systematic desensitisation
- Exposure treatment based on the idea that you cannot be anxious and fearful at the same time as being relaxed
- If a phobic person learns to relax when faced with an object that they are phobic of their responses of fear becomes unlearned
- Done in a systematic way whereby the person gradually faces the object of their phobia in a controlled way via a hierarchy of exposure
- Desensitisation is brought about by applying newly learned relaxation techniques to situations where they face the object of their phobia
- Done gradually at the person's own pace
- If a phobic person learns to relax when faced with an object that they are phobic of their responses of fear becomes unlearned
- 4 processes that have to take place in systematic desensitisation, between the therapist and the phobic person
- Functional analysis
- First
- The therapist and client identify what causes or triggers the clients anxiety/fear
- An anxiety hierarchy is produced with the client whereby they express the least fearful thing they are able to cope with at the bottom and the most fearful at the top
- Second
- Hierarchy levels can either be in vivo (real object) or in vitro (imagined object)
- Relaxation training
- Third
- The client is taught relaxation techniques that they will use to replace their fear response
- Gradual exposure
- Last
- The client is gradually exposed to the object of their phobia starting with the lowest point on the anxiety hierarchy.
- During each exposure on the hierarchy the client is encouraged to relax thereby replacing their usual fear response
- Functional analysis
- Evaluation
- Positive
- Systematic desensitisation has been found to be an effective treatment for phobias
- A study found that 75% of clients responded to the treatment
- Treatment is appropriate for a number of reasons
- Requires less time and effort than other theories
- Can be delivered by computer simulations in some cases
- No ethical issues as the treatment is taken at the clients pace
- There are no excessive levels of anxiety caused
- Once learned the relaxation techniques can be used in other areas
- Systematic desensitisation has been found to be an effective treatment for phobias
- Negative
- It is only appropriate where specific phobias are identified rather than general anxiety disorders
- Less effective at dealing with phobias that have an underlying survival component
- It can still be time consuming and because it requires 1-to-1 treatment it can be expensive too
- Positive
- Exposure treatment based on the idea that you cannot be anxious and fearful at the same time as being relaxed
- Systematic desensitisation
- Modelling
- Based on SLT and its aim is to treat phobias through vicarious reinforcement
- The principle behind this treat is hat , because the phobia is learned through vicarious reinforcement in the past, it can be in-learned in the same way
- Repeatedly seeing the client's models respond to the phobic object in a positive way will eventually result in the client learning this new response to the object
- Evaluation
- Involves the use of role models and therefore, most effective on children
- Untitled
- Flooding
- Phobic person physically placed in a situation with their feared object/ situation for a prolonged period of time
- No means to remove themselves rom the situation
- Through continued exposure to the phobic object, the client will see it as less fear-producing
- The feared stimulus must be presented quickly on a continuous cycle and when escape is impossible
- Key to flooding is rapid exposure to the feared object and situation rather than more spaced presentations
- The person becomes too tired for the conditioned stimulus to occur
- Presents avoidance responses from developing
- The person becomes too tired for the conditioned stimulus to occur
- Evaluation
- Faster than other therapies as it not taken at a gentle pace
- Can be as effective as systematic desensitisation
- Therapy runs the risk of increasing the conditioned response to the feared object/ situation rather than extinguishing it
- It is questionable whether flooding is an ethical treatment for people with phobias
- Consent needed
- Causing psychological harm
- Phobic person physically placed in a situation with their feared object/ situation for a prolonged period of time
- Phobias are acquired through the process of learning. to threat the problem a person needs to simply 'unlearn' the phobic response through 'deconditioning'
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