Implosive therapy in the treatment of a phobic disorder

Illustrates the techniques of implosive therapy (IT) in the treatment of a 20-yr-old female with an injection phobia. S's MMPI scores were high on 3 scales: Hs 82, Hy 73, and Ma 70. IT treatment consisted primarily of vivid descriptions of scenes related to the S's fears, exposure to actual items (e.g., darts), and homework assignments (e.g., imagining making an appointment for a shot, and swabbing her arm in alcohol, and imagining the shot). The spontaneous recall of experiences following the cue scenes led to the hypothesis "that forced exposure to such cues extinguishes conditioned anxiety thus allowing successive (i.e., older) memories to be recalled." Such memories revealed the S's extended history of hysterical escape-avoidance learning. By Session 23 the S was able to make an appointment and have a blood test without panic or fainting. MMPI scores had decreased: Hs 52, Hy 61, and Ma 63.