Exposure Therapy?

By Aoun Ali Wadho

ICP

Mphil 1 2016

What is Exposure Therapy?

Exposure therapy is a psychological treatment that was developed to help people confront their fears

Exposure therapy has been scientifically demonstrated to be a helpful treatment or treatment component for a range of problems, including.

Panic Disorder

Social Anxiety Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

There are several variations of exposure therapy– In vivo exposure:

– Imaginal exposure

– Virtual reality exposure

– Interoceptive exposure

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

– Walk to an elevator door in the presence of the therapist.

– Watch as the therapist presses the button to open the elevator door3. The client presses the elevator button while the therapist watches.

– Therapist and client walk into the elevator and back out again on the same

– floor.

– The therapist holds the elevator door while the client walks around inside the elevator.

– The therapist and client take the elevator one flight and exit.

– The client and therapist ride up and ride down one flight in the elevator.

– The client and therapist go up two flights together and back again, and so

– forth.

– The client rides up one flight by himself, to be met by the therapist.

– The client rides up two flights, three flights, and so forth by himself.

Example of therapy

Precaution's for therapist

– If at any time the client is tense, the therapist has the client perform relaxation procedures.

– Advancement from one step to the next occurs only when the client is comfortable.

– When the client is able to perform these activities in the presence of the therapist, he is asked to do similar work on his own, riding in elevators daily

– The length of therapy will depend on the severity of the anxiety

Imaginal exposure

Vividly imagining the feared object, situation, or activity. For example, someone with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder might be asked to recall and describe his or her traumatic experience in order to reduce feelings of fear.

Virtual reality exposure

In some cases, virtual reality technology can be used when in vivo exposure is not practical. For example, someone with a fear of flying might take a virtual flight in the psychologist's office, using equipment that provides the sights, sounds, and smells of an airplane.

Interoceptive exposure:

Deliberately bringing on physical sensations that are harmless, yet feared. For example, someone with Panic Disorder might be instructed to run in place in order to make his or her heart speed up, and therefore learn that this sensation is not dangerous.