Table of Contents
What is graded exposure therapy?
Graded exposure: The psychologist helps the client construct an exposure fear hierarchy, in which feared objects, activities or situations are ranked according to difficulty. They begin with mildly or moderately difficult exposures, then progress to harder ones. Graded Exposure is an evidence based treatment used to tackle avoidance of feared situations, activities or objects due to anxiety. It works through a process called habituation, a gradual reduction in the physical sensations of anxiety. Graded exposure is a technique commonly used in cognitive behaviour therapy for children who experience heightened distress and anxiety to certain situations or objects. There are 4 major theories that attempt to explain the psychological mechanisms of exposure therapy: habituation, extinction, emotional processing, and self-efficacy (Table 2). Habituation theory purports that after repeated presentations of a stimulus, the response to that stimulus will decrease. CBT is an umbrella term that refers to a large category of both cognitive and behavioral therapies. Exposure Therapy is behavioral therapy and therefore falls under the larger term of Behavioral Therapy. Exposure with Response Prevention is a specific type of Exposure Therapy that was designed to treat OCD.
What is an example of graded exposure therapy?
A person who has a massive, debilitating fear of spiders, or arachnophobia, for instance, might start by talking about spiders with the therapist at first. Then, the therapist might show them pictures of spiders, at first for only brief moments, then for longer and longer periods. A person who has a massive, debilitating fear of spiders, or arachnophobia, for instance, might start by talking about spiders with the therapist at first. Then, the therapist might show them pictures of spiders, at first for only brief moments, then for longer and longer periods. Psychotherapy. Talking with a mental health professional can help you manage your specific phobia. Exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are the most effective treatments. Exposure therapy focuses on changing your response to the object or situation that you fear. Graded exposure: The psychologist helps the client construct an exposure fear hierarchy, in which feared objects, activities or situations are ranked according to difficulty. They begin with mildly or moderately difficult exposures, then progress to harder ones.
How does exposure therapy work?
In exposure therapy, a person is exposed to a situation, event, or object that triggers anxiety, fear, or panic for them. Over a period of time, controlled exposure to a trigger by a trusted person in a safe space can lessen the anxiety or panic. Exposure therapies and techniques help people gradually face their fears so they no longer need to avoid or worry about them. Such treatments help with phobias, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more. Graded exposure is one of the central strategies used in cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety. It is an evidence-based approach. It involves very slowly (at the child’s pace) exposing the child to their fears, in a planned and calculated way. Graded exposure helps people overcome anxiety, using the four principles – graded, focused, prolonged, and repeated. Systemic desensitization involves three main steps. First, you’ll learn muscle relaxation techniques. Then, you’ll create a list of your fears, ranking them in terms of intensity. Finally, you’ll begin exposing yourself to what you fear.
What are the three types of exposure therapy?
During exposure therapy, a therapist guides you through the process of confronting whatever causes you anxiety. There are three techniques one might experience in exposure therapy: in vivo, imaginal and flooding. Graded exposure therapy helps you face your fears in a gradual way. It can be used for any sort of anxiety but is often used to break the pain cycle by tackling fear based avoidance which so often accompanies chronic pain. South African Psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe developed systematic desensitization in 1958. This is a type of exposure therapy in which people are first taught relaxation methods and then systematically exposed in increasing frequency or intensity to situations or things that they fear or that cause anxiety. Exposure Categories are: occupational, public, and medical. Exposure Situations are: planned, existing, and emergency.
What is the difference between systematic desensitization and graded exposure?
Systematic desensitization: gradual exposure combined with relaxation exercises. Flooding: rapid exposure to the most feared and difficult situations. Graded exposure: ranking fear exposures according to difficulty, and starting with the easiest ones then working your way up. Systematic desensitization is a slow process, taking on average 6-8 sessions. Although, research suggests that the longer the technique takes the more effective it is. The progressive structure of systematic desensitization allows the patient to control the steps he/she must make until fear is overcome. A fear-inducing situation activates a small group of neurons in the amygdala. Exposure therapy silences these fear neurons, causing them to be less active. As a result of this reduced activity, fear responses are alleviated. In fact, it could backfire and make the patient even more frightened of that thing. This is particularly true of exposure therapy, which can backfire badly, but even the tape recordings or constant flow of images involved in flooding can be too much for some patients. Graduated exposure is composed of the latter two components of systematic desensitization; it is composed of the hierarchy construction and the desensitization to the stimulus but does not include a relaxation component (Schmidt et al. 2013).
Is graded exposure part of CBT?
Graded exposure as part of CBT has shown to be a helpful part of treatment for a range of anxiety problems, including specific phobias, panic disorder and social anxiety disorder. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) It can be used to develop practical ways of dealing with your phobia. One part of the CBT treatment process that’s often used to treat simple phobias involves gradual exposure to your fear, so you feel less anxious about it. But in general, it is possible to perform exposure therapy yourself. If you truly believe you can handle exposure therapy, it is one of the most powerful ways to reduce anxiety. If you’ve researched treatments for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) you’ve likely come across ERP, or exposure and response prevention. Widely recognized as the best form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for OCD treatment, ERP is practiced by most therapists who treat OCD.