Which technique involves exposing the client gradually to anxiety-provoking stimuli while teaching relaxation?

Which technique involves exposing the client gradually to anxiety-provoking stimuli while teaching relaxation?

• A. Systematic Desensitization
• B. Flooding
• C. Aversion Therapy
• D. Biofeedback

Answer: (A)

Systematic desensitization trains the client to remain relaxed while moving step by step toward increasingly anxiety-provoking stimuli. The process builds a hierarchy of feared situations and pairs each step with relaxation techniques, so the anxiety response is gradually replaced by a calm physiological state. With repeated, controlled exposure at each level, the fear diminishes because the relaxation response becomes associated with the stimuli, a process known as reciprocal inhibition and extinction. This contrasts with methods that expose the person to intense fear all at once without gradual steps (flooding), or that use punishment to deter behavior (aversion therapy), or that focus on measuring and shaping physiological responses without exposure to fear cues (biofeedback).

Systematic desensitization trains the client to remain relaxed while moving step by step toward increasingly anxiety-provoking stimuli. The process builds a hierarchy of feared situations and pairs each step with relaxation techniques, so the anxiety response is gradually replaced by a calm physiological state. With repeated, controlled exposure at each level, the fear diminishes because the relaxation response becomes associated with the stimuli, a process known as reciprocal inhibition and extinction. This contrasts with methods that expose the person to intense fear all at once without gradual steps (flooding), or that use punishment to deter behavior (aversion therapy), or that focus on measuring and shaping physiological responses without exposure to fear cues (biofeedback).