Systematic Desensitization Definition Psychology Example

Desensitization is a process which reduces responsiveness to a certain stimulus by being repeatedly exposed to it.

Systematic desensitization definition psychology example. Systematic desensitization is a behavioral technique whereby a person is gradually exposed to an anxiety producing object event or place while being engaged in some type of relaxation at the. Desensitization or systematic desensitization is a behavioral therapy that helps people overcome irrational fears through gradual exposure to the fear stimuli. It was developed by wolpe during the 1950s. Desensitization does not take into account the underlying causes of the fears it treats.

Systematic desensitization definition examples arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. According to systematic desensitization a learned response e g. Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioral therapy used in the field of psychology to help effectively overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders. Acrophobia is the fear of heights trypophobia is the fear of patterns of small holes.

This was developed by mary cover jones a pioneer in behavior therapy to help individuals who are suffering from phobia s and anxiety. It is a form of the behaviour therapy and it reduces the anxiety that it is associated with a certain stimulus by using the counter conditioning method. Phobias like claustrophobia or agoraphobia may keep us inside and away from fun activities. It s a thing these phobias can be simply a nuisance or they can have a serious impact on our lives.

The premise is to reduce a person s anxiety responses through counterconditioning a person who learned to be afraid of something is associating fear with that object or behavior and the way to eliminate this is to teach the person to replace the feelings of anxiety with. Systematic desensitization is an evidence based therapy approach that combines relaxation techniques with gradual exposure to help you slowly overcome a phobia. Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioral therapy based on the principle of classical conditioning. Psychology definition of systematic desensitization.

For example if a person is afraid of spiders and whenever he sees a spider he feels anxious. Fear of spiders can be unlearned through classical conditioning and a new response e g. This therapy aims to remove the fear response of a phobia and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually using counter conditioning.