Abnormal psychology

  Exposure therapy is an extremely effective therapy for a number of anxiety disorders. Specific phobias and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be effectively treated with variants of systematic desensitization (for OCD the treatment is called Exposure and Response Prevention). Respond to the questions below. Choose either specific phobia or OCD (for information on treating OCD you'll need to read ahead to the second part of Chapter 4) and answer the questions below. Create an imaginary client you are going to treat for either OCD or specific phobia. Describe their symptoms. Be as specific as possible. Pretend you're going to treat the client you described above. Create a fear hierarchy (look in your textbook for a description of this treatment technique). Try to come up with a 5 step progression that you would work through with your client. The first step would be the least feared association with the anxiety provoking stimulus (typically just thinking about the stimulus) and the last step will be the most feared association with the anxiety provoking stimulus (like a person with a snake phobia having a snake slither on their lap). In your hierarchy are you using en vivo desensitization covert desensitization, or both? In your hierarchy are you using modeling or having the client experience the stimulus? What role would relaxation training play in your treatment?