a. Gillian lives in the country in a 150 year old farmhouse. Recently, she notic

Question

a. Gillian lives in the country in a 150 year old farmhouse. Recently, she noticed her cat pawing at something in a corner of her living room. Upon turning the light on, she saw that it was a three-foot long milk snake (they are aggressive, and look like rattle snakes, but are not poisonous).   It likely had been living in the stone walls of the basement, but recent masonry work probably sealed it inside.

Gillian is terrified of snakes. A number of years ago, she had been bitten by a rattle snake and almost died. Now, the sight of even a garter snake at a distance sends her screaming in terror—as does this one in her house—her anxiety is overwhelming. Unfortunately, in this instance, she finds her self in a real dilemma. The snake plays dead as to avoid further injury from the cat; and the cat loses interest. Gillian is home by herself, and therefore must find a way to get the snake out of her house before losing sight of it.

As she stands frozen across the room, she feels the symptoms of a panic attack coming on, and begins to hyperventilate. Her chest tightens, and her breathing becomes difficult. She experiences chest pain, and collapses to the floor. Thankfully, she manages to send a text message to a kind neighbor who rushes over to her aid, and skillfully removes the snake from her home.   The neighbor is so worried that she calls ‘911’ to have an ambulance come and make sure Gillian is not having a heart attack.

Using a cognitive/behavioral model (i.e. incorporate both perspectives), how might you explain Gillian’s behavior/response to her encounter with the milk snake in her livingroom? Be sure to integrate an explanation of the anxiety she experiences, as well as the panic attacks and the symptoms she might experience (using evidence based models discussed in the course).

Make sure to apply the principles to the scenario in a way that demonstrates understanding of the material.

b. Describe the strategies that might be most effective in her treatment (note: treatment should be consistent with the theoretical perspective that you choose—please apply the strategies to Gillian’s case). Be specific.

Explanation / Answer

Here Gillian's behaviour is characterised by specific phobia which leads to panic attack.The behavioural theory of phobia argues that maladaptive learning results in a conditioned fear of a stimulus.Classical conditioning refers to learning through association.A number of years ago,when she had been bitten by a rattle snake and almost died,the association was formed and as the association was formed so the maladaptive learning occured.Operant conditioning theory provides a model to explain this phenomenon: Anxiety is a drive that motivates the organism to do whatever it can to obviate a painful affect. In the course of its random behavior, the organism learns that certain actions enable it to avoid the anxiety-provoking stimulus. These avoidance patterns remain stable for long periods as a result of the reinforcement they receive from their capacity to diminish anxiety.So for avoiding the situation there was panic attack.

The most effective therapy for her treatment is behavioural therapy.The key aspects of successful treatment are (1) the patient’s commitment to treatment; (2) clearly identified problems and objectives; and (3) available alternative strategies for coping with the feelings.The most common technique is sustematic desensitization.In this method, the client is exposed serially to a predetermined list of anxiety-provoking stimuli graded in a hierarchy from the least to the most frightening.Other behavioral techniques that have been used more recently involve intensive
exposure to the phobic stimulus through either imagery or desensitization in vivo.

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