Exposure therapy
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy is a type of therapy that helps people to overcome things, activities, or situations that cause fear or anxiety. It’s used by therapists to treat conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) and phobias.
People have a tendency to avoid things and situations they’re afraid of. Idea behind exposure therapy is exposing people to stimuli that cause distress in a safe environment helps them decrease avoidance and overcome their fear.
For example, a person with social anxiety may avoid going to crowded areas or parties. During exposure therapy, a therapist would expose the person to these types of social settings to help them become comfortable in them.
It’s thought that there are four primary ways that exposure therapy may help:
Emotional Processing:
Exposure therapy helps you create realistic beliefs about a feared stimulus.
Extinction:
Exposure therapy can help you unlearn negative associations with a feared object or situation.
Habituation:
Repeated exposure to a feared stimulus over time helps decrease your reaction.
Self-Efficacy:
Exposure therapy helps show you that you’re able to overcome your fear and manage your anxiety.
What conditions can exposure therapy help treat?
Exposure therapy is used to treat anxiety disorders, including the following:
- generalized anxiety disorder
- obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- phobias
- panic disorder
- post-traumatic stress disorder
- social anxiety disorder
How does exposure therapy work?
The techniques a therapist uses during exposure therapy depend on the condition being targeted.
Here’s what you may experience.
Once the cause of your fear or anxiety has been identified, your therapist or psychologist will start the process by exposing you to the feared stimulus.
Often, they use a graded approach, where they start by exposing you to a mildly feared stimulus or a mild version of your stimulus.
Over time, your therapist will expose you to more feared stimuli in a safe environment.
The number of sessions and length of time your treatment will take depends on your progress.
For example, if you’re afraid of mice, the therapist might start by showing you pictures of mice during your first session. In the next session, they might bring a live mouse in a cage. In a third session, they might have you hold a mouse.