exposure therapy
Facing feared stimuli
Exposure therapy is a psychological treatment in which patients systematically confront feared objects, situations, or memories in a controlled setting.
The approach works by gradually reducing anxiety through repeated, safe encounters with what triggers it: Her therapist used exposure therapy to help her overcome her fear of dogs.
The technique is commonly used for phobias, PTSD, and anxiety disorders.
- desensitizationReduced response over time
- habituationDiminished reaction over time
- floodingOverwhelming water accumulation
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
panic attack · virtual · in vivo · real world · extinction · phobias · anticipatory anxiety · self-efficacy · hierarchy · baby steps · facing · face your fears · trauma recovery · coping · anxiety disorders · emotional regulation · nervous · heights
- Anxietyanxiety, nervousness, panic, worry, generalized anxiety
- mental healthpsychiatry, mental illness, psychiatrist, psychiatrists, psychologist
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- therapiesphysiotherapy, cryotherapy, PT, hydrotherapy, immunotherapy
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exposure therapyavoidance
Deliberate keeping away
avoidance behavior · reassurance seeking · escape · flight response · withdrawal
exposure therapyoverprotection
Excessive safeguarding of another
shielding · coddling · suppression · thought suppression · sedation
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