Question

​Ali has a spider phobia. To overcome this phobia, his therapist has him develop a list of least-to-most feared situations involving spiders. Ali engaged in the least-feared situation, looking at spider pictures in a book. Then he moved to looking at a spider from across a room, touching a spider, and finally getting a tarantula as a pet. This method is known as ____, which incorporates ____.

Answer 1

Answer:

The method is known as systematic desensitization therapy, and incorporates in vivo exposure.

Explanation:

The systematic desensitization therapy it's a behavior therapy that was first applied by Dr. Joseph Wolpe, a South African psychiatrist as a way to deal with people's phobias.

The first step is learning relaxation and breathing techniques, which may include meditation.

Then a fear hierarchy is created as stated in your question. The patient goes on a scale from least feared scenarios, such as thinking about the feared object/animal, to the most feared scenarios, such as physical contact.

In Vivo exposure, means that the patient will be directly exposed to the object of his/her phobia. It is the opposite of In Vitro exposure, in which the patient will only imagine the phobic stimulus, and there is no direct contact or exposure.