Table of Contents
What are the advantages of systematic desensitization?
Systematic desensitization for anxiety can help break the cycle of worry by teaching relaxation strategies and exposing a person to the situation that they fear. This is done gradually so that a patient can slowly learn to cope with their fear. This process helps to break down the conditioned fear response slowly. The three systematic desensitization steps include identifying a fear, relaxation techniques, and completing a hierarchy of fears. Conclusion. Systematic desensitization therapy is a scientifically proven treatment method to successfully treat phobias and other anxiety disorders. Studies show the effectiveness of both real and VR exposure therapies. The patient needs to realise the issue and willingly seek help. Thus, the goal of systematic desensitization is to overcome avoidance by gradually exposing patients to the phobic stimulus, until that stimulus can be tolerated. One strength of systematic desensitisation comes from research evidence which demonstrates the effectiveness of this treatment for phobias. McGrath et al. (1990) found that 75% of patients with phobias were successfully treated using systematic desensitisation, when using in vivo techniques (see below). Exposure therapy can be a powerful tool to help with anxiety and fear-based mental conditions by working to decrease both avoidances of the fear and any symptoms associated with facing it. Research shows that it can be an effective treatment for conditions like PTSD and others.
What are the disadvantages of systematic desensitization?
The disadvantage of systematic desensitization is that it is slow, and that it is often necessary to eventually implement some form of real-life exposure in order to fully reduce the fears. The main goal of Systematic Desensitization is teaching the patient how they can force relaxation and calm down when their body normally reacts from fear or worry. It is a therapeutic intervention that will eliminate anxiety or situations that inflict fear within the patient. Systematic desensitization was developed by South African psychologist Joseph Wolpe. In the 1950s Wolpe discovered that the cats of Wits University could overcome their fears through gradual and systematic exposure. Limitations of Exposure Therapy Some professionals believe that exposure therapy may make symptoms worse, especially when dealing with PTSD. Additionally, exposure therapy is difficult work that causes people to feel and confront things that they have worked hard to avoid.
What are the applications of systematic desensitization?
‌Systematic desensitization therapy is a type of behavioral therapy used to treat anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias, and a fear of things like snakes or spiders. Systematic desensitization is highly effective where the problem is a learned anxiety of specific objects/situations, e.g. phobias (McGrath et al., 1990). However, systematic desensitization is not effective in treating serious mental disorders like depression and schizophrenia. Example of systematic desensitization Your therapist might ask you to talk about birds in detail. As you feel more at ease with the topic, they may ask you to look at photos of birds while you focus on breathing deeply or practicing another relaxation technique. 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. The most common treatment that includes exposure is called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). A key element of CBT is talking about thoughts, fears, and feelings. I often find that simply talking through thoughts about a topic exposes people to their fears.
What are the characteristics of systematic desensitization?
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. A therapist may stimulate their fears through imagination or create a scenario in real life for the person to face. Systematic desensitization is a similar approach, but it uses muscle relaxation alongside exposure to reduce physical responses of anxiety. Desensitization may be one of the most dangerous consequences of violence exposure because it is believed to lead to violence perpetration and additional violence exposure as youth begin to experience emotional numbing, view violence as normative, and lose inhibitions about using violent behavior (Garbarino et al., … 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.
What are the three components of systematic desensitization?
Systematic desensitisation uses reverse counter-conditioning to unlearn the maladaptive response to a situation or object, by eliciting another response (relaxation). There are three critical components to systematic desensitisation: 1) Fear hierarchy; 2) Relaxation training; 3) Reciprocal inhibition. Systematic desensitization therapy is a behavioral therapy intervention used to treat anxiety, phobias, OCD, and PTSD. In systematic desensitization (SD), relaxation training is followed by gradual (usually imaginary) exposure to the feared stimuli starting with the least feared stimulus. In contrast, flooding involves immediate exposure to the stimulus. Exposure therapy has been described as the most effective way to treat fear. Systematic desensitisation is much more ethical than flooding, because the participants are only exposed gradually to the thing that they fear and they only move on to greater exposure when they feel ready. With flooding, the patient is exposed to the object they fear all at once, in a very intense way.