Posted by Dinah on December 22, 2005, at 10:06:17
In reply to Re: I suppose I should also clarify » Dinah, posted by alexandra_k on December 22, 2005, at 0:56:06
I can't believe forcing someone to be with a phobic object until their body is too tired to produce a flight response would cause them in the future to have neutral associations with that object. Maybe in the future it would put them in a posture of resigned defeat instead of a flight position.
I don't think I'd ever endorse that approach.
Mother got me over an intense fear of dogs by sitting quietly with a very saintly and patient puppy on a leash while I approached and then ran screaming around the house then approached again etc. But I was always free to scream and run. And the cute and sweet puppy itself provided a sufficient positive reinforcer. Because I didn't really want to be afraid of her. I wanted to play with her the way I saw my cousins play with their puppy.
poster:Dinah
thread:590579
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20051216/msgs/591235.html