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Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique for reducing fear and anxiety responses, especially phobia, based on the principles of habituation and cognitive dissonance. It is similar to systematic desensitization, though it works more quickly and produces more robust results. It is also very closely related to exposure and response prevention, a method widely used for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Exposure-based therapy may be effective in preventing the progression from acute stress disorder to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a report in the June, 2008 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Techniques

Exposure therapy identifies the cognitions, emotions and physiological arousal that accompany a fear-inducing stimulus, and attempts to break the pattern of escape that strengthens the fear response through measured exposure to progressively stronger stimuli until habituation is reached. The technique involves the creation of a program of steadily escalating steps or challenges (a Method of Factors), which can be explicit or implicit, that work towards a final goal representing a 'non-phobic' behavior. The patient then voluntarily moves through the steps with a means of terminating each step which is under voluntary control.

References

Marks, I. (1979). "Exposure therapy for phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorders.". Hosp Pract 14 (2): 101–8.
Marks, Isaac Meyer (1981). Cure and care of neuroses: theory and practice of behavioral psychotherapy. New York: Wiley.
De Silva, P.; Rachman, S. (1981). "Is exposure a necessary condition for fear-reduction?". Behav Res Ther 19 (3): 227–32.
de Silva P, Rachman S (1983). "Exposure and fear-reduction". Behav Res Ther 21 (2): 151–2.
Cobb J (1983). "Behaviour therapy in phobic and obsessional disorders". Psychiatr Dev 1 (4): 351–65.