Dynamic hierarchies: a control system paradigm for exposure therapy | the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist | Cambridge Core (original) (raw)

Abstract

Exposure therapy is a widely used and well-evidenced treatment for a variety of avoidance behaviours. This paper offers a modest proposal for an improvement in how it is carried out (‘dynamic hierarchies’). The theoretical and practical context is set out, including some thoughts on the role of appraisals and cognitive dissonance, and some advantages of the method are suggested.

References

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Eberle, TM, Rehm, LP, McBurney, DH (1975). Fear decrement to anxiety hierarchy items – effects of stimulus intensity. Behaviour Research and Therapy 13, 255–261.Google Scholar

Ellis, A (1962). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. New York: Lyle Stuart.Google Scholar

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Festinger, L (1957). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row Peterson.Google Scholar

Festinger, L, Carlsmith, JM (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 58, 203–210.Google Scholar

Galovski, TE, Resick, PA (2008). Cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder secondary to a motor vehicle accident: a single-subject report. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. Published online: 21 July 2008. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2007.11.005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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Marken, RS (1999). PERCOLATe: perceptual control analysis of tasks International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 50, 481–487.Google Scholar

Marks, IM (1981). Cure and Care of Neuroses: Theory and Practice of Behavioral Psychotherapy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar

McGlynn, FD (1971). Individual versus standardized hierarchies in the systematic desensitization of snake-avoidance, Behaviour Research and Therapy 9, 1–5.Google Scholar

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Parkinson, B (1997). Untangling the appraisal-emotion connection. Personality and Social Psychology Review 1, 62.Google Scholar

Rachman, S, Lopatka, C (1988). Return of fear: underlearning and overlearning. Behaviour Research and Therapy 26, 99–104.Google Scholar

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Richard, D, Lauterbach, D (eds) (2006). Handbook of Exposure Therapies. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar

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Saxby, PJ (1973). Phobic responses and cognitive dissonance arousal. Behavior Therapy 4, 230–234.Google Scholar

Tryon, WW, Misurell, JR (2008). Dissonance induction and reduction: a possible principle and connectionist mechanism for why therapies are effective. Clinical Psychology Review 28, 1297–1309.Google Scholar

Vodde, TW, Gilner, FH (1971). The effects of exposure to fear stimuli on fear reduction. Behaviour Research and Therapy 9, 169–175.Google Scholar

Watson, JP, Gaind, R, Marks, IM (1972). Physiological Habituation To Continuous Phobic Stimulation Behaviour Research and Therapy 10, 269–278.Google Scholar

Williams, JMG, Watson, FN, MacLeod, C, Mathews, A (1997). Cognitive Psychology and Emotional Disorders, 2nd edn. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar

Wolpe, J, Rachman, S (1960). Psychoanalytic ‘evidence’: a critique based on Freud's case of Little Hans. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 131, 135–148.Google Scholar

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