When he is used to this, he can be shown a spider from a distance. After this the subject can be taken to the spider and eventually be asked to touch the spider. Flooding and implosion With both these treatments, the subject is immediately exposed to the highest level of anxiety producing stimuli. Unlike with graded exposure and systematic desensitization, the subject is no longer exposed step by step. This is like throwing someone in the swimming pool and not having him step down a ladder.
Implosion uses imaginal stimuli and flooding uses in vivo.
Participant modelling With participant modelling, the subject learns to overcome his anxiety by following a fearless model. This can be the psychologist. When the subject sees that the model has no problem exposing himself to the stimuli, he might start to copy the models behavior. For instance, when the subject is afraid of spiders and sees the psychologist touch the spider, the subject might want to believe it is not as dangerous as he thought. Assertiveness and social skill training Especially with social phobias, the subject has a lack of confidence in himself.