Kavita has an irrational fear of going to the unfamiliar places. She avoids going to enjoyable picnics and excursions due to this fear. She wants to pursue psychology for which she has to move to a metropolitan city. She is worried about her fear of new places. Finally after thinking over the present situation and her goal of pursuing psychology, she decides to take help of a psychologist who uses behavioristic approach to treat her.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Systematic desensitisation
Option (1) Transference — Incorrect. Transference belongs to psychoanalytic therapy: as unconscious forces come up, the client starts identifying the therapist with authority figures of the past, such as a punitive father or a negligent mother. It is used with interpretation to resolve inner conflicts, not to remove a learnt fear.
Option (2) Systematic desensitisation — Correct. It is a technique introduced by Wolpe for treating phobias or irrational fears. The therapist and the client prepare a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations, from the least to the most frightening; the client is relaxed and imagines them one by one, moving up only while staying relaxed, until she is systematically desensitised to the fear. For Kavita the hierarchy would run from a slightly unfamiliar place to a new city.
Option (3) Logo therapy — Incorrect. Victor Frankl’s logotherapy, ‘treatment for the soul’, is an existential therapy. It helps a person find meaning and responsibility in life, which is not Kavita’s problem.
Option (4) Bio-medical therapy — Incorrect. In bio-medical therapy, medicines are prescribed by psychiatrists to treat psychological disorders, for example anti-psychotic drugs for schizophrenia. Kavita’s psychologist uses a behavioural approach, which works through learning, not drugs.
NCERT (2025-26): “Behavioural Techniques … Systematic desensitisation is a technique introduced by Wolpe for treating phobias or irrational fears. The client is interviewed to elicit fear provoking situations and together with the client, the therapist prepares a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking stimuli with the least anxiety-provoking stimuli at the bottom of the hierarchy. The therapist relaxes the client and asks the client to think about the least anxiety-provoking situation. Box 5.2 gives details of relaxation procedures. The client is asked to stop thinking of the fearful situation if the slightest tension is felt. Over sessions, the client is able to imagine more severe fear-provoking situations while maintaining the relaxation. The client gets systematically desensitised to the fear.…” |