Effective Treatments for Phobias: Systematic Desensitization and Flooding

Effective Treatments for Phobias: Systematic Desensitization and Flooding

Learning Objective

Understand the effectiveness and debate surrounding systematic desensitization and flooding as treatments for phobias.

What do you already know about treatments for phobias?

Systematic Desensitization: Effectiveness

McGrath et al. found about 75% success rates, indicating its effectiveness for phobia treatment.

Systematic Desensitization: Components Debate

Debate exists on whether all components of SD are necessary for its effectiveness.

Positive Expectancies in Treatment

Positive expectancies are suggested to be the most important aspect of SD treatment.

Flooding as an Effective Treatment

Research by Choy showed that flooding was more effective and efficient in treating phobias.

Individual Differences and Flooding

Individual differences must be considered in flooding treatment due to potential trauma and reinforcement of phobias.

Ethical Considerations

Flooding is considered unethical for children under the age of 8 due to potential trauma and reinforcement of phobias.

Appropriateness and Effectiveness

SD and flooding are both appropriate and effective treatments for phobias, requiring less effort for the patient than other psychotherapies.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.