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A Comparative Study of Aversion Relief and Systematic Desensitization in the Treatment of Phobias

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

L. Solyom ,
G. F. D. Heseltine ,
D. J. McClure ,
B. Ledwidge  and
F. Kenny
L. Solyom
Affiliation:
McGill University, Allan Memorial Institute, Montreal, Canada
G. F. D. Heseltine
Affiliation:
McGill University, Allan Memorial Institute, Montreal, Canada
D. J. McClure
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
B. Ledwidge
Affiliation:
Allan Memorial Institute, now at Riverview Hospital, Essondale, B.C., Canada
F. Kenny
Affiliation:
Allan Memorial Institute, Montreal, Canada
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Extract

Systematic desensitization is unquestionably the most popular of the behaviour therapies. To circumvent several difficulties specific to this technique we devized a new treatment paradigm—the reciprocal inhibition of anxiety by aversion relief (Solyom and Miller, 1967), from which 31 of 40 phobic patients (80 per cent) benefited (Solyom, Kenny and Ledwidge, 1969). The present paper reports on a systematic comparison of the two treatment techniques in terms of: (1) the rate and degree of improvement; (2) the specificity versus the generality of improvement; (3) prognostic indicators favouring one treatment over the other.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 119 , Issue 550 , September 1971 , pp. 299 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1971 

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References

Gelder, M. G., Marks, I. M., and Wolff, H. H. (1967). ‘Desensitization and psychotherapy in the treatment of phobic states: A controlled inquiry.’ British Journal of Psychiatry, 114, 53–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Solyom, L., Kenny, F., and Ledwidge, B. (1969). ‘Evaluation of a new treatment paradigm for phobias.’ Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 14, 3–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolpe, J. (1958). Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Wolpe, J. and Lang, P. J. (1964). ‘A fear survey schedule for use in behaviour therapy.’ Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2, 27–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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