Question 1

What are the most common ethical ruptures and issues that arise in Exposure Therapy?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

Ethical ruptures are actually quite uncommon when the therapy is delivered by a trained clinician. The most common issue that may arise is a mismatch between the client’s readiness for change with the need to evoke distress in the client in order for new learning to occur.

Question 2

Is a client dropping out of therapy a sign that harm might have occurred to that client?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

Clients drop out of therapy largely for reasons that are unrelated to harm per se. For example, clients may drop out due to personal and transportation difficulties, time demands, or financial limitations. Of course, conducing too challenging of an exposure too early on in treatment may also contribute to drop out.

Question 3

Has enough research been done in the psych profession as a whole about the potential harms of a range of psychological interventions?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

Emerging data does indicate that several psychological treatments may produce harm for many individuals. There have been efforts to more formally identify potentially harmful therapies and the implications of such therapies for clinical science and practice.

Question 4

Are drop-out rates high for exposure therapies compared to other interventions?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

The research literature suggests that there are no significant differences in dropout rates among exposure therapy and other therapies.

Question 5

Why is exposure so effective for the treatment of anxiety?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

Exposure therapy is highly effective for the treatment of anxiety disorders in part because it allows for an opportunity to create and strengthen nonthreat associations in memory as well as an opportunity to effectively retrieve those nonthreat associations in the long term.

Question 6

How well does disgust respond to exposure?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

The available research suggests that disgust does indeed respond to exposure although it responds at a slower rate than fear.

Question 7

Is there a trend away from exposure in treatment for PTSD and trauma?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

Not to my knowledge. In fact, exposure is one thing that the most effective psychological treatments for PTSD have in common.

Question 8

What are the risks in the use of exposure and what can therapists do to minimise these?

Bunmi O. Olatunji · Accepted Answer

One issue that may arise is conducting too challenging of an exposure too early on in treatment. This can be avoided by establishing a good working relationship with the client where readiness and expectations are clearly assessed. Out-of-office exposures can also increase the risk of a breach in confidentiality. However, this can be mitigated with careful planning before beginning the exposures.

Ask World-Leading Experts

Ask Bunmi O. Olatunji about ethical issues in exposure-based treatments

SHARE TOPIC

Meet the expert answering questions

Discover other topics you may be interested in