Systematic Desensitization

Systematic Desensitization• Decreasing your level of

anxiety or fear very gently and gradually

• First suggested by Joseph Wolpe

• Used in treatment of anxiety disorders, and more specifically, phobias

• A behavior therapy used to unlearn ineffective behavior

• SD is a form of EX that is paired with relaxation.• Specifically, the relaxation response was thought

to be incompatible with the anxiety response elicited by exposure; thus, short exposures were interrupted by relaxation as anxiety increased.

• Over time, this allowed clients to confront anxiety-provoking stimuli without an anxiety response.

• SD has most often been conducted using imaginable exposure.

• However, it has also been conducted using in vivo (i.e., in real life) stimuli, with some indication that this produces greater improvement than imaginal stimuli (Barlow, Leitenberg, Agras, & Wincze, 1969).

• Typically, the first step in SD is to develop an anxiety hierarchy in which anxiety-provoking stimuli are rank-ordered to allow for grad- ual increases in difficulty.

• Relaxation training is taught until clients become proficient in this technique prior to beginning the exposures.

• Upon gaining this proficiency, the exposure sessions begin, each pausing for initiation of relaxation when anxiety begins to mount.

• Following the relaxation, the exposure begins again until the client is able to tolerate all stimuli on the hierarchy without anxiety.