What does systematic desensitization aim to achieve?

Systematic desensitization is a behavioral therapy technique primarily designed to help individuals reduce their anxiety responses to feared stimuli. It achieves this by gradually exposing the person to the feared situation or object in a controlled and incremental manner, allowing them to confront their fears without becoming overwhelmed.

The process typically involves the following steps:

1. Teaching relaxation techniques to the individual so they can calm themselves when anxiety arises.

2. Creating a fear hierarchy, which is a list of fears or anxiety-inducing situations ranked from least to most anxiety-provoking.

3. Gradually exposing the individual to each item on this hierarchy while simultaneously utilizing the learned relaxation techniques to manage any anxiety that may occur.

Over time, this gradual exposure helps decrease sensitivity to the feared stimuli, allowing the individual to handle anxiety-provoking situations more effectively. By addressing anxiety directly through this step-wise approach, systematic desensitization ultimately aims to diminish the fear response and promote a sense of control over anxiety.

The other options pertain to different therapeutic goals, such as cognitive restructuring, which is aimed at addressing cognitive distortions; enhancing self-esteem, which involves processes to improve personal worth; or developing social skills, which focuses on interpersonal functioning. However, these goals do not encompass the primary aim of systematic