Abstract
Specific phobias are characterized by fears of specific objects, situations, or activities. The syndrome includes three components: an anticipatory anxiety, the central fear as such, and the avoidance behavior by which the individual minimizes anxiety.
The treatment of choice for specific phobias is exposure. Exposure treatments may be divided into two groups, depending on whether exposure to the phobic object is in vivo or imaginal.
In vivo exposure involves the patient in real-life contact with the phobic stimulus. Imaginal exposure confront the phobic stimulus through the therapist's descriptions and the patient's imagination.
The method of exposure can be graded or ungraded. Graded exposure uses a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking events, varying from least to most stressful.
Ungraded exposure (flooding) begins with confrontation of the patient with the most stressful items in the hierarchy.