Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is a type of behavioural intervention that was developed to help individuals confront their problematic fears in order to overcome anxiety and distress. When we are scared or fearful of something, we tend to avoid it. Although this avoidance can reduce feelings of anxiety in the short-term, when left unaddressed it can actually make our fears become worse. Therefore, the aim of exposure therapy is to create a safe environment in which individuals are ‘exposed’ to their fears which can help reduce anxiety, decrease avoidance, and improve quality of life. 

In exposure therapy, individuals are also taught many coping and relaxation strategies, as exposure to fears without having the necessary coping strategies can be re-traumatizing or harmful. Therefore, exposure therapy is always conducted by an appropriately trained professional. 

There are several variations of exposure therapy including:

• In Vivo Exposure - Directly facing a feared object or situation in real life (e.g. holding a snake or making a speech) 
• Imaginal Exposure - Vividly imagining the feared object or situation (e.g. recalling and describing a stressful experience) 
• Virtual Reality Exposure - In some cases, virtual reality technology can be used when in vivo exposure is not practical (e.g. simulating a flight) 
• Interoceptive Exposure - Deliberately bringing on physical sensation that are harmless, yet feared (e.g. running in place to increase heart rate) 

Exposure Therapy can also be administered in different ways including: 

• Graded Exposure - Your therapist helps you create what is called an exposure hierarchy, in which fears are ranked according to difficulty. That way clients can begin with mild or moderate exposures before progressing on to more difficult ones. 
• Flooding - Using an exposure hierarchy, exposure is begun with the most difficult task. 
• Systematic Desensitization - In some cases, exposure is combined with relaxation techniques in order to associate the feared object or situation with relaxation. 
• Prolonged Exposure (PE) - Found to be effective with trauma-related concerns, this technique is similar to flooding but also includes psychoeducation and cognitive processing of the experience. 
• Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) - ERP works to weaken the link between obsessions and compulsions by provoking an obsession and then asking the individual to not engage in the accompanying compulsion. This technique is especially helpful for individuals struggling with OCD type concerns.