flooding

flooding

 [flud´ing]

in behavior therapy, a form of desensitization for the treatment of phobias and related disorders in which the patient is repeatedly exposed to highly distressing stimuli without being able to escape but without danger, until the lack of reinforcement of the anxiety response causes its extinction. In general, the term is used for actual exposure to the stimuli, with implosion used for imagined exposure, but the two terms are sometimes used synonymously to describe either or both types of exposure. Compare systematic desensitization.

Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

flood·ing

(flŭd'ing),

1. Profuse bleeding from the uterus, especially after childbirth or in severe cases of menorrhagia. Synonym(s): flood (1)

2. Profuse uterine hemorrhage. Synonym(s): flood (2)

3. A type of behavior therapy; a therapeutic strategy at the beginning of therapy in which the patients imagine the most anxiety-producing scene and fully immerse (flood) themselves in it. Compare: systematic desensitization.

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

flooding

Psychology
A form of behavioural therapy for a specific phobia, in which the individual is “intensely” exposed to the object (e.g., snakes, spiders) or situation that he or she normally tries to avoid. The hope is that by “flooding” the person’s psyche with the dread event or object, his or her anxiety would be exhausted and learn to cope.

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

flooding

Forced exposure, implosion Psychiatry A behavior therapy for phobias and other problems linked to maladaptive anxiety, in which triggers are presented in intense forms, either in imagination or in real life; the presentations are continued until the stimuli no longer produce disabling anxiety; the hope is that by 'overloading'–ie flooding the person's psyche with the dread event or object, anxiety is exhausted and the Pt learns to cope with largely irrational fears. See Aversion therapy, Behavioral therapy, Encounter group therapy, Imaging aversion therapy, Systematic desensitization.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

flood·ing

(flŭd'ing)

1. Bleeding profusely from the uterus, especially after childbirth or in severe cases of menorrhagia.

2. A type of behavior therapy; a therapeutic strategy at the beginning of therapy, in which the patients imagine the most anxiety-producing scene and fully immerse (flood) themselves in it.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012