Systematic desensitization is a technique used to overcome phobias through gradual exposure to the object of fear. It involves developing relaxation exercises and creating a hierarchy of fears, with the patient gradually exposed to increasingly intense experiences until they can remain calm and relaxed.
Systematic desensitization is a technique that is used to help people deal with and eventually overcome phobias. It can be performed by a psychologist or psychotherapist or by a patient who is willing to invest energy in carrying out systematic desensitization at home. The goal of treatment is to allow the patient to experience situations that would normally cause anxiety, fear and stress without tension.
This technique is based on the principle of operant conditioning, which involves a slow process of getting someone used to something, until they get used to it. Operant conditioning is used a lot in psychotherapy, and also in animal training, because it can be used to make permanent behavioral changes. Patients with phobias who undergo systematic desensitization should be able to interact with the objects of their fear without tension after conditioning has occurred, and in some cases, the phobia may vanish altogether.
Phobias are formed as a method of self-protection of the mind, and the formation process usually involves reinforcement, as the patient’s avoidance of the object of fear causes a reduction in stress, causing the patient’s brain to remember to avoid the object of the phobia. In systematic desensitization, the patient is exposed to the object of the phobia in small doses that gradually increase in intensity over time, teaching the brain that fear of the object is unnecessary.
The first step in the technique involves the development of relaxation exercises. Learning to relax is important, as when someone is in a deep state of relaxation, it is harder to experience fear and anxiety. The therapist usually works with the patient in the office and the patient practices the exercises at home until he or she can relax easily.
Then, the patient and the doctor discuss the phobia and come up with a hierarchy of fears. For example, someone who has a fear of airplanes might experience relatively low levels of stress when exposed to a cartoon drawing of an airplane, with very high levels of fear and stress when actually sitting in an airplane preparing to take off.
During a series of sessions, the therapist encourages the patient to relax and then exposes him to a series of increasingly intense experiences. In the example above, the therapist might start with a drawing of an airplane, then produce a photograph, then show the patient a model airplane, and so on. At each stage, the stimulus will be repeated until the patient can see it calmly, before the next stimulus is introduced. At the end of systematic desensitization, the patient should be able to remain calm and relaxed, even when he is in the most potentially frightening or stressful situation.
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