Exposure and Behavoiral Therapies - 1180 Words

Final Essay Exposure and Behavioral Therapies December 12, 2006 In psychotherapy there are many different ways that a therapist can decide how to treat a client. In my paper I will discuss how Exposure Therapy and Behavioral Therapy work together with a client. I will focus on the nature of the problem, the process of change, theory in practice, multicultural considerations, and the types of clients and clinical problems. The Nature of the Problem: In both Exposure and Behavioral Therapy the main focus is on anxiety. These anxieties area conditioned response (Prochaska Norcross, 2005, p.238 264). In Exposure Therapy and Behavioral Therapy the client avoids situation where there will be confrontation or fear where it could be†¦show more content†¦Multicultural Considerations: Cultural differences may see exposure therapy as worse than the disorder (Prochaska Norcross, 2005, p.252). Therapist should show empathy with clients instead of using terrifying visualization scenes for the client to deal with. In Exposure therapy the therapist s empathy is used as a more freighting scene. Trauma victims in search of sensitivity, support, and empowerment are provided more, higher decibel pain. When there is no empathic and caring relationship between clinician and client, psychotherapy, is not worth doing (Prochaska Norcross, 2005, p. 252). In these therapies the therapist focuses on the behavior o r feared stimulus, rather than deal with feels as much. Feelings of anxiety will be talked about while the client is going through the process of visualization, and at the end of the visualization to rate where their anxiety is. Strengths include a collaborative relationship between therapist and client in working toward mutually agreed-upon goals, continual assessment to determine if the techniques are suited to clients unique situation, assisting clients in learning practical skills, an educational focus, and stress on self-management strategies (Corey. 2005, p.485). With the client and therapist on the same page about how to work through the anxiety they can determine together would be more productive and helpful for the client. The therapist also needs to help the client with consequences