http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326085222.htmHalf Of Group Free Of Phobia After A Single Treatment
ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2009) — Fifty-five percent of children who underwent an intensive so-called one-session treatment of three hours were freed from their phobia. The treatment is carried out on a single occasion, is quick and cost-effective, with no side effects. The treatment form is also culture-neutral and does not need to be adapted to the country or the place it is to be used.
“Children who are not cured of their phobias run a great risk of developing other areas of anxiety later on. It’s therefore important to find effective forms of treatment that can reduce this risk. The method we have now tested also functions for other types of phobias,” says Lena Reuterskiöld.
In a one-session treatment the children, together with their therapist, gradually approach what they are afraid of in a controlled and planned manner. The therapist describes and carefully demonstrates before the child is allowed to try. Because the children remain in the anxiety-inducing situation, they can experience how their anxiety and fear abates and how the expected catastrophe in fact does not occur. With the patient remaining in the situation for an extended period, without running away, new learning occurs, producing a development toward a new behavior. This is all done on a voluntary basis, which is also a precondition for successful treatment.
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