Amara has a severe, debilitating phobia of dental procedures (dentophobia) which began after a painful tooth extraction during her childhood. Since then, she has completely avoided dental clinics, managing toothache with high doses of painkillers. Amara recently attempted to confront her phobia by booking an appointment, but upon hearing the sound of a drill in the waiting room, she experienced a severe panic attack and fled the clinic.
Amara has just been informed by a doctor that she requires urgent root canal surgery to treat a deep infection. Anxious to save her tooth but terrified of the surgery, Amara is considering systematic desensitisation to treat her phobia.
Discuss how systematic desensitisation could be used to help Amara overcome her fear of dental procedures.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Content with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 1,059 questions covering Biological explanations of crime, Social explanations of crime, Cognitive and ethical interview techniques, Psychological formulation of offending, Cognitive-behavioural treatment for offenders, Biological treatment for offenders, Factors influencing eye-witness testimony, Factors influencing jury decision-making, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.
