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Behaviourists believe that anxiety disorders are learned. How might it be possible to unlearn them?. Behavioural treatments for anxiety. Treatment aims to extinguish the association between the anxiety provoking situation and the patient’s responses to it
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Behaviourists believe that anxiety disorders are learned. How might it be possible to unlearn them?
Behavioural treatments for anxiety • Treatment aims to extinguish the association between the anxiety provoking situation and the patient’s responses to it • Phobia – flooding & systematic desensitisation • OCD – exposure with response prevention (ERP)
Flooding • What does the patient have a phobia of? • How does the therapist treat the phobia? • How long does it take? • How does it work
Flooding • Video of flooding on YouTube: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMZ5o2uruXY
Flooding • Prolonged, high-level exposure to phobic stimulus Association is broken Exposure starts Anxiety level Time
Construct a hierarchy of fearful situations Teach the client how to relax Systematic desensitisation Graduated exposure to phobic stimulus
Systematic desensitisation • In pairs… • Pick a particular phobia to treat • Identify six phobic situations • Arrange them in order of severity
Treatment for OCD • Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) • The patient is exposed to the situation that triggers obsessive anxiety • They are prevented from carrying out their compulsion • Can be gradual (like SD) or sudden/intense (like flooding)
How would you rather have your anxiety treated – systematic desensitisation or flooding? Why?
Evaluating a treatment • Remember TEARS! • Time – how long to complete? • Effectiveness – how likely to work? • Acceptability – is it OK with the patient? • Relapse – will the problem come back? • Side effects – any unwanted consequences?
Selling behaviourism • Design an advert for the behavioural therapy of your choice: • Systematic desensitization • Flooding • ERP • Your advert should explain, in everyday language, how the treatment works. It should also convince the reader of the merits of the treatment (TEARS). Use your textbook for more information.