Systematic desensitisation is a technique used to treat phobias or irrational fears. Arrange the steps followed in this technique to treat the disorder:
(A) The therapist together with the client prepares a hierarchy of fear-provoking situations.
(B) Client is interviewed to elicit fear-provoking situations.
(C) The therapist relaxes the client and asks the client to think of the least fear-provoking situation.
(D) The client is asked to stop thinking of the fearful situation if the slightest tension is felt.
(E) Over the sessions, the client is able to imagine more severe fear-provoking situations while maintaining relaxation.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (B), (A), (C), (D), (E)
Systematic desensitisation, introduced by Wolpe, treats phobias or irrational fears step by step.
(B) Client is interviewed to elicit fear-provoking situations. — first. The therapist first finds out what the client fears.
(A) The therapist together with the client prepares a hierarchy of fear-provoking situations. — second. The situations are ranked, with the least anxiety-provoking at the bottom.
(C) The therapist relaxes the client and asks the client to think of the least fear-provoking situation. — third. Exposure in thought begins from the bottom of the hierarchy, in a relaxed state.
(D) The client is asked to stop thinking of the fearful situation if the slightest tension is felt. — fourth. Relaxation must stay ahead of anxiety at every step.
(E) Over the sessions, the client is able to imagine more severe fear-provoking situations while maintaining relaxation. — last. The client climbs the hierarchy and gets systematically desensitised to the fear. The principle of reciprocal inhibition works here: of two opposing states present together, the weaker (mild anxiety) is inhibited by the stronger (relaxation).
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.…” |