Table of Contents
How is systematic desensitization an example of exposure therapy?
Systematic desensitization is a form of exposure therapy developed by Joseph Wolpe in 1958. Based on reciprocal inhibition, it posits that an individual cannot be relaxed and anxious simultaneously. A hierarchy of the patient’s fears is developed. Systematic desensitization is exposure therapy to help you face your main stressors without experiencing an intense mental and physical reaction. This is done by progressively exposing you to your fears in a safe setting. The therapy can be helpful for people with phobias and other anxiety disorders. ‌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 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. There are three critical components to systematic desensitisation: 1) Fear hierarchy; 2) Relaxation training; 3) Reciprocal inhibition. In vivo exposure: Directly facing a feared object, situation or activity in real life. For example, someone with a fear of snakes might be instructed to handle a snake, or someone with social anxiety might be instructed to give a speech in front of an audience.
How do you explain systematic desensitization?
Another approach to exposure therapy is systematic desensitization. This is a process of gradually exposing you to fear-provoking situations from least scary to most scary. Once you’re equipped to calm yourself when under stress, you and your therapist can build a hierarchy of experiences related to your phobias. 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. Systematic desensitization is a type of exposure therapy based on the principle of classical conditioning. It was developed by Wolpe during the 1950s. This therapy aims to remove the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually using counter-conditioning. 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. 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.
When was systematic desensitization used?
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. Exposure therapy is largely based on the principles of Pavlovian conditioning. Joseph Wolpe began disseminating systematic desensitization as a treatment for phobias and other types of anxiety in the 1960s, alongside the emergence of behaviorism. Systematic desensitization therapy is a behavioral therapy intervention used to treat anxiety, phobias, OCD, and PTSD. An example of real-life in vivo desensitization could be with someone who is afraid of dogs. They would take steps to gradually expose themselves to a lot of dogs through in vivo desensitization.
What are two components of systematic desensitization?
The three main components of the therapy are relaxation techniques & reciprocal inhibition, hierarchy of fears & graduated exposure, and in vivo & in vitro. Step 3: Working up through the fear scale through exposure. The process of exposure can be done in two ways: ‌In vitro – the patient imagines being exposed to the object of fear in the mind’s eye. ‌In vivo – the patient is actually exposed to the fear. There are three critical components to systematic desensitisation: 1) Fear hierarchy; 2) Relaxation training; 3) Reciprocal inhibition. 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. Treatment using systematic desensitization tends to take longer than in vivo exposure, and appears to be more effective at changing subjective anxiety than at reducing avoidance. Thus, it is not recommended as the first line of treatment if a client is willing to try in vivo or an alternate form of exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is an essential component of evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) treatments for phobia, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and social anxiety disorder.
What are the main components of systematic desensitization?
There are three critical components to systematic desensitisation: 1) Fear hierarchy; 2) Relaxation training; 3) Reciprocal inhibition. Studies have shown that neither relaxation nor hierarchies are necessary, and that the important factor is just exposure to the feared object or situation. Systematic desensitization is based on the idea that abnormal behavior is learned. 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. 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. Desensitization is the opposite; our amygdala learns that something is not dangerous, through experience. Take our spider example: if this guy continues to approach the spider, it teaches the amygdala that the spider is not as dangerous as he once thought. 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.