Techniques
Exposure therapy is based on the principles of respondent conditioning often termed Pavlovian extinction. The exposure therapist 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 hierarchy), which can be explicit ("static") or implicit ("dynamic" — see Method of Factors), that work towards a final goal representing a "non-phobic" response. The patient then voluntarily moves through the steps, with a means of terminating each step which is under voluntary control.
While therapeutic exposure has a strong evidence base, many clinicians are uncomfortable performing the technique because they do not understand it or are not confident in their own ability to utilize it. This has prevented many who could benefit from this form of therapy from receiving it.
Exposure and flooding differ in that flooding starts at the most extreme item in a fear hierarchy, while exposure does not.
Read more about this topic: Exposure Therapy
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