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BTSC 3 August 2025
Applied Psychology
Easy

Which is a cognitive behaviour technique where individuals gradually expose

themselves to feared situations or objects?

Appeared in: BTSC 3 August 2025

Explanation

  • Systematic desensitisation is a specific type of behavioral therapy designed to help people overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders.
  • The core principle is gradual exposure to the feared stimulus, which is systematically paired with relaxation techniques.
  • This process is also known as counter-conditioning, as it aims to replace the anxiety response with a relaxation response.
  • The therapy involves three main stages: learning relaxation skills, creating a fear hierarchy (a ranked list of feared situations), and working through that hierarchy from least to most feared while maintaining relaxation.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

  • Option A: Contingency management is incorrect because it focuses on modifying behavior through reinforcement (rewards) and punishment, not through exposure to feared stimuli.
  • Option B: Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a cognitive approach that targets irrational thoughts and beliefs, rather than using behavioral exposure to specific objects or situations.
  • Option C: Aversion therapy aims to create a negative association with a stimulus or behavior by pairing it with an unpleasant experience. This is the opposite of systematic desensitisation, which pairs the feared stimulus with a positive or neutral state (relaxation).

Related Visual

Visual explanation — Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
  • Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Behavioral Therapy Techniques for Anxiety as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
  • Nurses frequently encounter patients with phobias (e.g., needle phobia, claustrophobia in MRI scanners). Understanding systematic desensitisation helps in providing empathetic and effective supportive care.
  • A nurse can apply basic principles of this technique, such as teaching a patient deep breathing exercises (relaxation) before a feared procedure like an injection (exposure), to reduce anxiety and improve cooperation.
  • What if? If a patient's problem was not a phobia but a harmful, repetitive behavior like nail-biting or hair-pulling, a different technique called Habit Reversal Training would be more appropriate than systematic desensitisation.
How to Approach the Question
  • First, break down the question to identify its core components: it asks for a technique that involves 'gradual exposure' to 'feared situations'.
  • The keyword 'gradual' is crucial. It implies a step-by-step process, not an all-at-once confrontation.
  • Evaluate each option against this core concept.
  • Contingency management involves rewards/punishments, not exposure.
  • Rational emotive behavior therapy involves changing thoughts, not direct exposure to objects.
  • Aversion therapy involves creating a negative feeling, which is contrary to the goal of reducing fear.
Concept Tested & Keywords
  • Concept Tested: Behavioral Therapy Techniques for Anxiety
  • Stem keywords: cognitive behaviour technique, gradually expose, feared situations, objects
  • Lead-in keywords: Which is
  • Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QXzxURpUr1UrI-kxJQWWLx

Reference Book

E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 2422-2424

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 9187-9189, 12688-12690

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