Challenges to the traditional exposure paradigm: variability in exposure therapy for contamination fears.

Background And Objectives: Traditional models and methods of exposure therapy utilize a fear hierarchy, whereby patients complete sets of exposures in a graduated manner, with the goal of fear habituation within and between sessions. In the current experiment, we examined whether this typical exposure paradigm was necessary to achieve clinical improvement.

Method: Fifty undergraduate participants scoring in the top quartile of a self-report measure of contamination fears were randomly assigned to one of two groups: blocked and constant exposure (BC Group) and random and variable exposure (RV Group).

Does habituation matter? Emotional processing theory and exposure therapy for acrophobia.

Clinically, there is wide subscription to emotional processing theory (EPT; Foa & Kozak, 1986) as a model of therapeutic effectiveness of exposure therapy: EPT purports that exposure is maximal when (1) fear is activated (IFA), (2) fear subsides within sessions (WSH), and (3) fear subsides between sessions (BSH). This study examined these assumptions, using in vivo exposure therapy for 44 students scoring high on acrophobia measures. Results indicated that no EPT variables were consistently predictive of treatment outcome.