Exposure therapy

Planned contact with appropriate feared cues or situations to support new learning and reduce maladaptive avoidance. Its rationale requires informed, collaborative tasks and attention to the behaviors that could block learning; exposure does not mean deliberately creating genuine danger.

A strategy intended to strengthen learning that competes with a threat association and improve its later retrieval. Expectancy testing and varied contexts are examples. A coherent learning rationale does not itself demonstrate the optimal clinical implementation for every developmental group.^[ref]

A concentrated intervention combining approach practice and learning about a phobic stimulus. A youth randomised trial compared this package with education-support and waiting list. Package efficacy is distinct from proof that one session is the optimal dose for all presentations.^[ref]

Specifying a feared prediction, arranging an informative and appropriately safe approach task, and comparing the observed outcome with the prediction. The review should include uncertainty and alternative explanations rather than compel a reassuring conclusion. Necessary protections and accessibility adjustments are retained.

Exposure to appropriate obsession-related triggers while refraining from compulsions and functionally equivalent reassurance or neutralization. The target is learning to respond differently to the cue and uncertainty, rather than first eliminating every intrusive thought.

A discrepancy between a predicted outcome and the outcome experienced. During exposure, explicit predictions can make such discrepancies informative; a safety behavior may prevent revision if the person attributes the benign outcome to that behavior.

Exposure to appropriate bodily sensations relevant to a feared prediction. Assessment and supervision determine suitable exercises; the inference concerns a specific tested prediction, not the claim that all bodily symptoms are harmless.