Psychology Chapter on Exposure Therapy and OCD

A type of psychotherapy where individuals are repeatedly exposed to their fears in a safe environment without the actual threat occurring. This helps to extinguish the fear response by creating a new association between the feared stimuli and safety.

A model that explains how exposure therapy works by suggesting that the original fear association isn't erased, but a new, inhibitory association is learned. This means the feared stimulus now predicts safety, not danger.

The part of the brain involved in processing fear and emotions. During fear conditioning, the amygdala becomes highly active. However, during extinction learning, the medial PFC helps suppress the amygdala's activity, reducing fear.

The tendency for the fear response to reappear after a period of time even after successful exposure therapy. This happens because the original fear association is not completely erased and can return under certain conditions.

Relapse of fear after exposure therapy can happen if the context surrounding the feared situation is changed. If exposure therapy is only conducted in limited contexts, the fear response may return when encountering the feared stimulus in a different environment.

Second-line treatment for OCD, often used when SSRIs have not been effective. These drugs can affect the brain's chemical balance and help reduce symptoms of OCD.

A specific type of neurosurgery used as a last resort for OCD when other treatments fail. This procedure involves disrupting a specific area of the brain associated with OCD symptoms.

The return of conditioned fear after extinguishing it, especially when unpaired aversive events occur between extinction and retest. This means that anxiety can re-emerge if the feared stimulus is encountered in a stressful situation, even if unrelated to the initial fear.

The lessening of a conditioned response to a stimulus due to repeated exposure to the stimulus without the associated aversive outcome.

The process of learning to inhibit or suppress a response, often in the context of fear reduction. It involves understanding that the feared stimulus is not dangerous and creating a new association between the stimulus and safety.

A type of learning that involves a decrease in response to a repeated stimulus, specifically in the intensity of the response.

Individuals with anxiety disorders often have difficulties with inhibitory learning, which can contribute to poor outcomes in exposure therapy and the development of excessive fear and anxiety in the first place. These deficits may arise from problems in inhibitory neural processing during extinction.

An approach to exposure therapy that focuses on maximizing the violation of expectations about the occurrence or intensity of aversive events. This involves carefully designing exposures to create surprising results, leading to quicker and more robust fear reduction.

An individual's ability to modify their expectations about the frequency or intensity of aversive events based on new experiences. When expectations are violated, it can lead to learning and changes in behavior.

Exposure therapy focusing on violating expectations of negative outcomes, rather than simply reducing fear.

In this approach, exposure trials continue until the patient's expectation of a negative event drops below 5%.

A process where the patient actively reflects on what they've learned after each exposure trial, solidifying the new information.

This is a key component of extinction learning. Attention is drawn to the absence of expected negative outcomes, creating a new association.

Exposure therapy techniques should be tailored to the specific learnings needed, not just a general reduction in fear.

Cognitive interventions that convince the patient that nothing bad will happen during exposure may prevent the desired learning.

Gradual exposure involves gradually violating expectations through longer trials of exposure, even if fear doesn't immediately decline.

A type of exposure therapy where multiple feared stimuli predicting the same unpleasant event are extinguished separately before being combined during the exposure session. This approach aims to strengthen the extinction learning process.

Involves occasionally pairing the feared stimulus (CS) with the unpleasant event (US) during extinction training. This strategy helps to prevent the expectation of safety and strengthens the extinction process.

Safety behaviors (actions taken to avoid the feared event) can hinder the effectiveness of exposure therapy. Removing these behaviors allows the fear response to naturally subside, promoting real-life coping skills.

A technique that involves varying the feared stimuli or the context during exposure sessions, making it more likely that the extinction learning will generalize to different situations.

A general strategy used in exposure therapy to strengthen the extinction learning process by incorporating exposure to feared bodily sensations in the context of in-vivo exposures (real-life situations).

This refers to the fact that the new learning (extinction) takes place after the exposure episode has ended, suggesting that the brain needs time to process and consolidate the experience.

A cognitive model that explains how people experience intrusive thoughts and how they might overestimate their responsibility for potential harm caused by those thoughts. It suggests that intrusive thoughts can trigger feelings of responsibility and anxiety, especially when the person believes they might have contributed to the likelihood of the event happening.

A type of TAF involving the belief that thinking about a negative event can increase the likelihood of it happening. For example, someone might worry that thinking about a car accident could make it more likely to occur.

A type of TAF involving the belief that thinking about a harmful event makes you morally responsible for the event, even if you didn't directly cause it. For example, someone might feel guilty for thinking about hurting a loved one, even though they wouldn't actually harm them.

A cognitive process involving interpreting intrusive thoughts in a catastrophic way, often leading to anxiety and distress. It involves perceiving thoughts as more significant and dangerous than they actually are. It is a key feature of OCD.

A type of psychological distress characterized by intrusive thoughts, obsessions, compulsions, and anxiety.

A type of therapy that helps individuals to identify, challenge, and change unhelpful thoughts and beliefs.

A type of TAF where an individual believes negative thoughts can directly influence the actions of others.

A type of TAF where an individual believes that positive thoughts can influence the likelihood of positive events.

A type of TAF where an individual believes that thoughts can directly impact their own actions.

A type of TAF where the individual believes that thinking about an event can directly influence the outcome, regardless of any actions they might take.

The belief that engaging in a specific behavior, such as worrying, can prevent a negative outcome.