SYSTEMATIC

DESENSITIZATION

-Submitted by
Aashima Arora
Roll No.:33828
Behavior Therapy
Behavior therapy is a broad term referring to clinical
psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviorism.
Those who practice behavior therapy tend to look at specific
learned behaviors and how the environment influences those
behaviors. Those who practice behavior therapy are called
behaviorists or behavior analysts . They tend to look for
treatment outcomes that are objectively measurable .
Behavior therapy does not involve one specific method but it has
a wide range of techniques that can be used to treat a person's
psychological problems and tends to establish clear and precise
goals , such as :-
1) Modifying Maladaptive Behavior (Behavior Modification)
2) Strengthening Desired Behavior
3) Helping Clients learning effective decision making
 Behavior Therapy focuses :-

• On Overt observable behavioral processes,

• On the view of psychopathology primarily in behavior
terms ,
• On here and now which means information about
past experience or inner conflicts are considered
important only as it relates to current treatment
issues. The focus is on understanding and treating
current problems relating to behavior and cognitions ,
• Maladaptive behavior .
• A major assumption of Behavior Therapy is that Abnormal
Behavior is acquired in the same way as the Normal Behavior
that is by ‘LEARNING’ .
• A variety of behavioral techniques have therefore been
developed to help patients ‘Unlearn’ maladaptive behavior by
one means or another .
Behavior Modification
Behavior modification is a means of changing
behavior through various techniques used to
replace undesirable behaviors with desirable
ones. Behavior modification techniques have
been used to treat both adults and children for
various problems, such as enuresis
(bedwetting), separation and general anxiety,
various phobias, obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD), aggression etc.
Some Techniques used in Behavior Therapy
For Behavior Modification are :-
• Relaxation training, • Self Efficacy,
• Systematic desensitization, • Token Economy,
• Virtual-Reality exposure, • Modeling,
• Exposure and response • Cognitive Behavior
prevention techniques, Modification,
• Social skills training, • Self Management and Self
• Behavioral rehearsal Control .
and homework,
• Punishment,
• Aversion therapy,
• Assertive Training ,
  Systematic desensitization

• Systematic desensitization also known

as Graduated Exposure Therapy (as it is a
gradual , slow and controlled way in which client is
confronted with fear producing stimulus in
therapeutic manner) , is a one of the technique used
in Behavior Therapy developed by South African
psychiatrist, Joseph Wolpe .
• It is used in the field of clinical psychology to help
many people effectively overcome phobias and
other anxiety disorders that are based on classical
conditioning .
• When used by the behavior analysts, it is based
on radical behaviorism as it incorporates counter-
conditioning principles, such as meditation (a
private behavior/covert conditioning) and breathing
(which is a public behavior/overt conditioning). From
the cognitive psychology perspective, however,
cognitions and feelings trigger motor actions . It has
also been used to treat a variety of other maladaptive
behaviors including excessive fears about issues such
as death , injury and sex .
• It aimed at a teaching a person , while in the presence
(real or imagined) of anxiety – producing stimulus , to
relax or behave in some other way that is inconsistent
with anxiety. Wolpe worked out in a way to train a
client to remain calm and relaxed in situation that
formerly produced .
Steps used to implement this
technique :-
1) Teach deep Relaxation : Systematic Desensitization utilizes
the principle of counter-conditioning by introducing response to
replace the previously conditioned response . It is based on the
assumption that a person cannot be anxious and relaxed at the same
time. Client is therefore taught to experience a state of deep
relaxation when the therapist describes a relaxing scene . The first
step of systematic desensitization is learning to relax. If an individual
is afraid of something, e.g. spiders, he needs to learn to relax when he
faces the object of his fear. A common relaxation technique is deep
breathing or chest breathing.
2) Develop a hierarchy : The therapist and client develop a
hierarchy of situations that elicit fear response . The situation that
elicits the lowest level of anxiety is the first item in hierarchy , and
one that elicits highest level of anxiety is last . The therapist helps the
client enter into a state of deep relaxation . The therapist then asks
the client to imagine the first item in hierarchy. By introducing a
 relaxation response to a situation that previously elicited a fear
response , the therapist helps the client become desensitized by
counter-conditioning process .
3) Address the fear in vivo : This step involves desensitizing
the client to in-vivo or real life situations associated with the
fear. For example , if the client has a snake phobia , an item on
the hierarchy may be to imagine looking at a snake . During the
in-vivo experience , the client will be asked to look at a real
snake.
4) Follow up and evaluate : The final step is to evaluate the
client’s success in dealing with the fear responses in a variety of
situations over an extended period of time .

 Specific phobias are one class of mental disorder often

treated via systematic desensitization . When persons
experience such phobias (for example fears of heights, dogs,
snakes, closed spaces, etc.), they tend to avoid the feared stimuli;
 this avoidance, in turn, can temporarily reduce anxiety but is not
necessarily an adaptive way of coping with it. Thus ,the goal of
systematic desensitization is to overcome avoidance by gradually
exposing patients to the phobic stimulus, until that stimulus can be
tolerated . Wolpe found that systematic desensitization was
successful 90% of the time when treating phobias .

 Test Anxiety : Between 25 -40 % of students experience test

anxiety . Children can suffer from low self-esteem and stress induced
symptoms as a result of test anxiety . The principles of systematic
desensitization can be used by children to help reduce their test anxiety.
Children can practice the muscle relaxation techniques by tensing and
relaxing different muscle groups. With older children and college
students, an explanation of desensitization can help to increase the
effectiveness of the process. After these students learn the relaxation
techniques, they can create an anxiety inducing hierarchy. For test
anxiety these items could include not understanding directions,
finishing on time or marking the answers properly. Teachers, school
counselors or school psychologists could instruct children on the
methods of systematic desensitization.
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