User:Mldavis318/Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy used to reduce pathological fear in anxiety-related disorders. Exposure therapy involves exposing the target patient to the anxiety source or its context without the intention to cause any danger, with hopes of reducing the fear reactions the individual experiences. Exposure therapy works to reduce fear by changing an individuals' fear response through disconfirmation of their erroneous perceptions, beliefs and thoughts, while also helping them to learn how to tolerate uncertainty so that emotional processing of the various fears, traumas, etc can occur. Additionally, targeting the individuals' cognitions, emotions, and behaviors related to their disorder is an important aspect of effective exposure therapy. In exposure therapy, an exposure hierarchy can be developed to help individuals confront their source of anxiety by systematically desensitizing them. Exposure therapy can be divided into three main subtypes: in-vivo exposure, imaginal exposure, and interoceptive exposure. Theoretically, exposure therapy is supported by emotional processing theory, the cognitive-behavior model ,Wolpe's systematic desensitization , and the simple conditioning model. Additionally, exposure therapy works with the fear extinction paradigm to change harm expectancy. Extinction is a form of inhibition which suppresses a fear response, resulting in a change in the conditioned response so that a conditioned stimulus no longer induces fear. Numerous studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in the treatment of anxiety-related disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder ,PTSD , and specific phobias. In addition to its effectiveness in treating anxiety-related disorders, exposure therapy is effective for improving an individuals' general functioning and in helping individuals to make important cognitive changes.