User:Lennybacca/counter-conditioning

Counter-conditioning is a process found in behavioral psychology similar to classical conditioning however instead of conditioning a response to a stimulus, this process extinguishes a response to a stimulus by pairing it with a new response. This new response is often incompatible with the original response.undefined

Systematic desensitization
A therapeutic process called systematic desensitization is a process that uses counter-conditioning to treat many kinds of phobias. In these situations someone suffering from a specific phobia will be placed in a controlled environment. In this environment they will be exposed to the stimulus that causes them anxiety, and taught to pair it with a response such as relaxation (produced by progressive muscle relaxation). This pairing will lead to the patient feeling relaxed around the stimulus that used to cause anxiety.undefined

Aversion therapy
Aversion therapy is another therapeutic process that uses counter-conditioning. Aversive conditioning is used for the opposite purpose as systematic desensitization. In Aversive conditioning a pleasurable response is paired with an unpleasant response. One of the main reasons for the use of aversive conditioning is to help people quit smoking. In the case of smoking the pleasure, or release of stress, is the response that is to be paired with something unpleasant such as feelings of nausea(usually induced by drugs). This will lead to a feeling of nausea whenever the patient smokes, instead of the pleasure of relief of stress. undefined

Origins
In 1924, Mary Cover Jones, a student of American behaviorist John B. Watson was the first recorded behavioral therapist to use systematic desensitization. In this therapy a boy with a fear of rabbits was exposed to a rabbit in a cage, at the same time the boy was given his favorite food. Gradually the boy became more comfortable with the rabbit as the rabbit was moved closer and closer, until the boy was able to pet and play with the rabbit without any anxiety. undefined In the 1950s South African psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe used counter-conditioning in a process he called "reciprocal inhibition". In this procedure Wolpe would have patients recall traumatic memories, while at the same time providing new non-threatening stimuli. undefined

Counter-conditioning in popular culture
In the 1962 novella A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, as well as the 1998 movie of the same name by Stanley Kubrik, the main character Alex is subjected to a form of aversion therapy. In the book/movie it is referred to as The Ludovico technique undefined

Ethical Concerns
Although the portrayal of aversion therapy found in A Clockwork Orange is very exaggerated it does bring up some questions about the ethics of aversion therapy. Aversion therapy was at one point used as a "treatment" in conversion therapy(a therapy attempting to change ones sexual orientation). Douglas C. Haldeman writes: "The most notorious behavioral approaches were aversive treatments, including the application of electric shock to the hands and/or genitals, or nausea-inducing drugs, which would be administered simultaneously with the presentation of homoerotic stimuli." undefined With the changing attitude towards gays and lesbians the ethical applications of such therapy is now called into question.