Before beginning systematic desensitization exercise, you need to have mastered relaxation training and develop a hierarchy (from least feared to most feared) list of your feared situations. If you have difficulty getting to a state of relaxation or identifying your anxiety hierarchy, you should consult with a professional who will be able to provide you with guidance.
Systematic desensitization usually starts with imagining yourself in a progression of fearful situations. Once you can successfully manage your anxiety in this way, you can repeat the steps in the actual situations that you fear. The process takes you from your imagination to real life (in vivo) exposure.
Using systematic desensitization to conquer a fear of shopping in large stores may go something like this:
- Create an Anxiety Hierarchy
Create an anxiety hierarchy of the steps involved in going shopping in a large store. For example, you may have the least anxiety walking into the store. As you get further from the exit doors, your anxiety intensifies. Standing in the checkout line may represent your highest fear response. Arrange your list from the least to most distressful.
- Start With Your Least Fear
Next, imagine yourself standing at the entrance outside of a store. Closing you eyes may help you to picture the scene. As you imagine yourself in this situation, you are likely to feel a sense of anxiety. Use deep breathing to regain a sense of calm. Perform this exercise several times a day until you can imagine yourself at the store entrance without too much discomfort.
- Take the Next Step
Now, imagine yourself entering the store. You counteract your anxiety with the relaxation techniques you’ve learned. Once you are able to imagine yourself entering the store without a great deal of anxiety, go to the next step.
- Continue to Journey up the Fear Ladder
You’re walking down a store aisle, getting further from the exit door. You continue to picture this scene, using your relaxation training to counteract your anxiety. Continue this step several times per day for as long as it takes you to effectively manage your anxiety.
- Face Your Greatest Fear
Now you’re ready for your most feared situation – standing in the checkout line. Just as in the other steps, you imagine the scene and counteract your anxious feelings with relaxation techniques. Once you feel comfortable with all of these steps, you are ready to try the exercise “in vivo,” or for real, beginning with standing outside of the store’s entrance.
The result of systematic desensitization is that you have gradually (systematically) become desensitized to the various anxiety-provoking triggers of shopping in a large store.
Source:
Breaking Free From Anxiety Disorders – Self-Care Handbook. (1998). Deerfield, MA: Channing L. Bete Co.
