Phobias

Acquiring Phobia A phobia of dogs: CC: OC: SLT:

Maintenance of a Phobia CC: OC: SLT:

Systematic desensitisation This therapy aims to extinguish an undesirable behaviour by replacing it with a more desirable one . fear This called reciprocal inhibition relaxation We cannot feel fear and relaxed at the same time

It is a step by step approach How does it work? The client learns relaxations techniques It is a step by step approach The client works out a hierarchy of fear from the least frightening to the most frightening The client works through the hierarchy learning to use relaxation techniques in the presence of the feared object Fur Paw Mouth Dog

The necessary steps needed. Functional Analysis: a conversation between therapist and client to identify the nature of anxiety and the possible triggers. Develop an anxiety hierarchy: working jointly, the client and the therapist create a hierarchy of fear from least to most. Relaxation Training: client is taught relaxation techniques that suit them best. Gradual exposure: working through the anxiety hierarchy, each phobic object is slowly introduced

Evaluation 75% success rate according to McGrath (1990) Ethical because it is a gradual process that works at the clients pace. There are factors besides cc involved such as OC and cognitive explanations, which questions the reasoning behind it. It is not useful for such mental health issues as psychosis.

Flooding Physically placing the client in the situation with their feared object/situation. The idea is that repeated exposure the client will see it as less-fear-producing. They can only be at ‘alarm’ stage for so long. The person will then learn by association (CC) that a calmer response links the fear. The fear must be quickly presented , continuously and in a situation where escape is not possible.

Implosion A form of flooding that asks the person to imagine the phobic stimulus. Good in treating PTSD

Evaluation Faster therapy to conduct Wolpe (1973) was able to use flooding to help a girl afraid of cars. Based on strong underpinnings (CC) Ethics? Research is mixed Barrett (1969) Used the therapy on college students who had a phobia of snakes. Resulted in many suffering from insomnia. Evidence of spontaneous recovery.