... up the ladder of fears. This technique is known as systematic desensitisation because it involves gradually desensitising the person to the feared stimulus. This technique does not use classical conditioning alone. The therapist will encourage and congratulate the patient for being able to cope with each stimulus. The therapist may also model appropriate behaviour, and therefore encouraging and reassuring the patient. Systematic desensitisation aims to extinguish the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditioned stimulus gradually, step by step. This method of treatment is thought to work because it seems impossible for two opposite emotions (like fear and relaxation) to exist together at the same time. Another example which is based on classical conditioning is aversion therapy. This aims to remove undesirable responses to certain stimuli by associating them with other aversive (unpleasant) stimuli, in the hope that the undesirable responses will be avoided in ...

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