What is an example of implosive therapy?

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noun Psychiatry.

a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.

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Also called implosive therapy.

Words nearby implosion therapy

implied warranty, implode, implore, imploringly, implosion, implosion therapy, implosive, impluvium, imply, impolder, impolicy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use implosion therapy in a sentence

  • Though tissues are present and tears are not uncommon, the Dinner Parties are distinctly not grief counseling or group therapy.

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  • The campaign included a push for the World Health Organization to condemn gay-conversion therapy.

  • Collaborating with him on a film was the best kind of therapy I could have asked for.

  • And for those seeking a quick fix: Studies show that light therapy can spur a mood lift in just several days.

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  • In them we have every phase of modern therapy that has the strong element of suggestion in it.

Implosion therapy, also called flooding, seeks to help the client by directly exposing him to the source of his fear. This form of behavior therapy works with the principle that fear is time limited.

For instance, an individual who has arachnophobia (fear of spiders) will be locked in a room with harmless spiders. After being in a state of extreme anxiety, the client will then feel exhausted and he will stop trying to escape the situation. With the decrease of the anxiety level, the client will be left with no choice but to confront his fears. Ideally, the treatment goal is achieved when the panic dies down and there is a realization that being with the feared object is completely harmless. This technique is rarely used as it may backfire and intensify the phobia

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What is an example of implosive therapy?

What is an example of implosive therapy?

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Implosive Therapy is a form of desensitization, which means that it involves repeated exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli. These stimuli are usually presented in the form of visual imagery guided by the therapist’s vivid descriptions. A continuous series of such images lasting fifty minutes or more is presented, with the imagery becoming more and more frightening and more catastrophic. The subject is encouraged to feel as much anxiety and fear as possible. (10 pp.)

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Implosive therapy (or implosion therapy; Stampfl & Levis, 1968) is a form of exposure therapy similar to the imaginal form of flooding, with which it can be confused.

Although there are similarities, the terms implosive therapy and flooding cannot be used interchangeably. Both implosive therapy and flooding expose the client to anxiety arousing stimuli for prolonged durations. Flooding deals with the actual stimulus or its image, while in implosion therapy anxiety is aroused by only imagining the simuli (without direct contact). Further, implosive therapy involves imagined scenes that are often exaggerated by a therapist and often relate to the client's most feared fantasy. Finally, the anxiety that is provoked during implosive therapy is often addressed using psychodynamic approaches, in the sense that ultimately the client is afraid of death, humiliation, estrangement, or injury. Although there was great concern expressed about this technique when it was introduced, subsequent research on imaginal exposure, which operates on the same principle of extinction has shown that the technique can be employed safely for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. 

In flooding you might be asked to picture spider, perhaps at various distances so the you become desensitized to the image. On the other hand, in implosive therapy, you might be asked to imagine the spider entering your mouth as you sleep if that was an anticipated underlying aspect of your fear. The theory states that people who are said to be afraid of flying are actually afraid of crashing. One advantage of the technique is the use of imagination for purposes of exposure to stimuli that would be impossible or unethical to expose the client to in reality, such as past traumatic accidents, sexual or physical abuse, or possible future catastrophic events.

One of the only studies of the hypothesized fears aspect (Prochaska, 1971) showed a trend toward superiority of the implosive technique, but lacked the statistical power to find a significant difference. Later, Donald J. Levis, one of the originators of the theory, further modified the technique so that it was essentailly client guided rather than directed by the therapist. Associations to past traumatic events were thought to be central, and this was often traced to historical trauma, for which imaginal exposure has been shown to be a superior technique (Foa et al., 2013).  Arguably, the most recent research on prolonged exposure has validated the later model of Implosive Therapy, although there are some elements that remain to be empirically validated. At this point in time, research on the method has stalled, except for a couple of case studies demonstrating the potential usefulness of the newer form of the therapy for psychosis (Saper, Blank & Chapman, 1995) and Panic Disorder and combined with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder with maladaptive personality features (Saper & Brasfield, 1998). Evidence for the effectiveness of prolonged exposure for trauma continues to mount, sugesting that an arguably stripped down version of the therapy has shown itself to be effective. Further research on this technique might yet yield evidence of its efficacy, especially in view of the case studies suggesting possible usefulness for more complex clinical presentations.

Foa E.B., McLean C.P., Capaldi S., Rosenfield D. (2013). Prolonged Exposure vs Supportive Counseling for Sexual Abuse–Related PTSD in Adolescent Girls: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 310(24), 2650–2657. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.282829

Prochaska, J. O. (1971). Symptom and dynamic cues in the implosive treatment of test anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 77(2), 133–142.

Saper Z., Blank M.K., Chapman L. (1995). Implosive therapy as an adjunctive treatment in a psychotic disorder: a case report. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1995;26(2):157‐160. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(95)00008-n

Saper, Z. & Brasfield, C. (1998). Two-phase treatment of Panic Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder with associated personality features resulting from childhood abuse: Case study. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 29. 171-8. 10.1016/S0005-7916(98)00008-1.

Stampfl, T. & Levis, D. J. (1968). Implosive Therapy-A behavioural therapy? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 6(1). 31-36. 

What is implosive therapy?

Implosive Therapy is a form of desensitization, which means that it involves repeated exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli. These stimuli are usually presented in the form of visual imagery guided by the therapist's vivid descriptions.

What is implosive therapy AP Psychology?

Implosive therapy (IT) developed by Stampfl (London, 1964; Stampfl, 1966) is a behavioral therapy technique which involves massive exposure of patients to extremely aversive or repulsive stimuli in imaginal form.

What is an example of exposure therapy?

In vivo exposure: Directly facing a feared object, situation or activity in real life. For example, someone with a fear of snakes might be instructed to handle a snake, or someone with social anxiety might be instructed to give a speech in front of an audience.

What are the three types of exposure therapy?

There are three techniques one might experience in exposure therapy: in vivo, imaginal and flooding.