Question

How would a social learning theorist account for a phobic fear of lizards/cockroaches? How would a psychoanalyst account for the same phobia?

Answer

Social learning theories work on the principle that our experience—be it positive or negative—such as phobia of lizards/cockroaches are the result of learning process which start early in life. Small children can play with snakes, they are not aware of the danger involved. For them it is just another play object, as they grow up the fear of these things are instilled by their parents and society which is reinforced and accounts for reactions like phobia.

A psychoanalytical account for the same could involve attribution to some unconscious or/and repressed experiences. For example, suppose in your childhood you watched a group of roudy boys brutally torturing a cockroach/snake, which eventually died, although you going about the incidence after some days, but it might remain in back of your mind forever, which might explain your phobia to cockroaches which might remind you of the incidence and disturbs you emotionally.

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Some More Questions From Therapeutic Approaches And Counselling Chapter

Which therapy encourages the client to seek personal growth and actualise their potential? Write about the therapies which are based on this principle.

What are the factors that contribute to healing in psychotherapy? Enumerate some of the alternative therapies.

What are the techniques used in the rehabilitation of the mentally ill?