Systematic desensitisation is a technique introduced by Wolpe for treating phobias or irrational fears. Arrange the sequence of steps followed by the therapist to treat the client:
A. The therapist relaxes the client and asks the client to think about the least anxiety-provoking situation.
B. 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.
C. The client is asked to stop thinking of the fearful situation if the slightest tension is felt.
D. Over the sessions, the client is able to imagine more severe fear-provoking situations while maintaining the relaxation. The client gets systematically desensitised to the fear.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B, A, C, D
B. 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. — first. Before treatment the therapist needs to know what the client fears and how much, so the hierarchy is made first.
A. The therapist relaxes the client and asks the client to think about the least anxiety-provoking situation. — second. Treatment starts at the bottom of the hierarchy, with the client relaxed.
C. The client is asked to stop thinking of the fearful situation if the slightest tension is felt. — third. Relaxation must stay stronger than the anxiety, so the image is dropped at the first sign of tension.
D. Over the sessions, the client is able to imagine more severe fear-provoking situations while maintaining the relaxation. The client gets systematically desensitised to the fear. — last. Step by step the client climbs the hierarchy. This works by the principle of reciprocal inhibition: when two opposing forces are present together, the weaker one is inhibited.
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. … 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.…” |