Behavioral techniques in the treatment of a writing phobia.

This paper presents the theoretical bases of the counterconditioning techniques of systematic desensitization and the extinction techniques of implosion therapy and flooding. A case history is presented in which progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, and flooding were used to extinguish and countercondition a writing phobia in a junior-year occupational therapy student. Two target behaviors were selected for modification: to increase the number of words written within a specified time period, and, at the same time, to decrease the number of self-doubting thoughts. Twenty treatment sessions were conducted in which the subject practiced these techniques and wrote an essay during a specified time period. The results support the effectiveness of these techniques in modifying maladaptive anxiety or fear arising from a situation that is not objectively dangerous.