Systematic Desensitisation
Widely applicable
Type: Strength
Study: McGrath et al. (1990)
- Reported that 75% of patients with phobias responded
- More likely to be successful if patients have contact with the feared stimulus
- Demonstrates wide success
Not appropriate for all themes
Type: Limitation
Study: Ohman et al. (1975)
- Suggests that systematic desensitisation may not be effective in treating phobias that have an underlying evolutionary survival component
- Instead, they are more effective when treating acquired phobias due to personal experiences
- Therefore, systematic desensitisation may not always be a successful treatment
Higher success rates (general behavioural therapies)
Type: Strength
Study: Humphrey (1973)
- (1) Therapies are relatively fast, require less effort from the patient and can be cheaper in comparison to treatments such as CBT
- (2) The therapy can also be self-administered, being highly successful with social phobia
- Therefore, behavioural therapies can be much cheaper for the patient as they do not need to pay for a therapist
Flooding
Individual differences
Type: Limitation
- Flooding may not be suitable for every patient/therapist as it can be highly traumatic
- Although patients are made aware of the procedure, they may still quit during treatment and therefore reducing the overall effectiveness of the therapy for some
Effectiveness
Type: Strength
- Flooding is both an effective and quick treatment in comparison to CBT
- Choy et al. reported it was more effective than systematic desensitisation
- However, Craske et al. (2008) reported that both the treatments were equally effective
- Nevertheless, research supports the effectiveness of flooding in treating phobias