• WHAT IS AVERSION THERAPY?

• HISTORY OF AVERSION THERAPY

• USES OF AVERSION THERAPY
• HOW AVERSION THERAPY IS DONE?
WHAT IS AVERSION THERAPY?

• Aversion therapy is a type of behavioral modification

that involves repeating pairing an unwanted behavior
with discomfort.
• This therapy employs unpleasant and sometimes painful
stimuli in an effort to help a patient unlearn socially
unacceptable or harmful behavior.
 WHAT IS AVERSION THERAPY?

• Chemical and electrical aversion have been the most

commonly employed techniques, although these
techniques have seen a decline in recent decades.
WHAT IS AVERSION THERAPY?

• Year 1930 was first recorded the use of aversion

therapy for alcoholism. As time passed by become one
of the more popular methods used to "cure" sexual
deviation, including homosexuality and cross-dressing
 CL ASSICAL
CONDITIONING
AV E R S I O N T H E R A P Y
 IVAN PAVLOV
A Russian physiologist named Ivan Pavlov discovered classical or respondent conditioning.
a Russian scientist interested in studying
how digestion works in mammals. During 1849-
1936, Pavlov was investigating the automatic
reflexes of animals. He observed and recorded
information about dogs and their digestive
process. As part of his work, he began to study
what triggers dogs to salivate.
 CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING
A Russian physiologist named.
Classical conditioning involves learning to
associate an unconditioned stimulus that already
brings about a particular response (i.e., a reflex)
with a new (conditioned) stimulus, so that the
new stimulus brings about the same response.
 AVERSION
It refers to a physiological or emotional
response to a stimulus indicates that an
object, organism, or situation, should be
avoided. It is usually accompanied by a
desire to withdraw from or avoid the
aversive stimulus.
Aversion Therapy
 How Aversion
Therapy is done
Preliminary
 The therapist will assess the problem by measuring the
severity, frequency, and the environment of the
undesirable behavior.
 This will allow them to formulate a treatment program.
Depending on the behavior to be modified, the
therapist will decide on which is the appropriate
aversive stimulus to use.
Techniques Used in
Aversion Therapy
Physical Stimuli
 Physical stimuli used in Aversion therapy can
include pinches or smacks, and sometimes the
patient can administer his own aversive
stimulus, for example by snapping an elastic
band which is on his wrist.
Physical Stimuli
 These shocks, which are sometimes called
Faradic shocks, are unpleasantly painful but
they are not dangerous. The patient can choose
the level of shock that they will receive, and
they are usually applied to the arm or the leg.
Physical Stimuli
 Atthe same time, the electric shock is applied.
This is repeated many times so that the person
becomes conditioned to relate his desire to
abuse a child with a painful consequence.
Physical Stimuli
 While the use of electrical stimuli may be controversial,
they do have the advantage that it is a relatively cheap
stimulus, which is easy to administer, with few adverse side
effects, and which gives the therapist complete control over
the application.
 As therapy progresses the patient may be given a portable
shocking unit which he can use at home.
Chemical Stimuli
 The drug disulfiram (Antabuse) is frequently used for
treating alcohol abuse. It causes a desire to vomit and
a very unpleasant overall sensation when alcohol is
ingested after administering it.
Chemical Stimuli
 Chemical stimuli can be quite effective, but they are
quite expensive, and as they often need to be
administered in a hospital setting this can further
elevate the cost. Additionally, they can sometimes
have unpredictable or excessive effects, and the
therapist does not have such control over the stimuli.
 Visual Imagery Stimuli
 Nowadays, visual imagery is often used, in a
technique known as verbal aversion therapy or covert
sensitization. In this treatment method, the person is
asked to think about the target behavior and to
imagine an undesirable consequence.
Visual Imagery Stimuli
 In this treatment method, the person is asked to think
about the target behavior and to imagine an
undesirable consequence.
 For example, someone who cannot control their
eating of ice-cream may envisage a mound of ice-
cream covered in maggots or excrement.
Examples
Case#1
 What would a treatment protocol look like for a
relatively well-adjusted patient specifically
requesting aversion therapy on an outpatient
basis to reduce or eliminate problem gambling
behavior?
Process
 The therapist begins by asking the patient to keep a
behavioral diary.
 Because electric shock is easy to use and is acceptable to
the patient, the therapist chooses it as the aversive stimulus.
 The patient has no medical problems that would preclude
the use of this stimulus. He or she fully understands the
procedure and consents to treatment.
Process
 The treatment is conducted on an outpatient basis with the
therapist administering the shocks on a daily basis for the
first week in the office, gradually tapering to once a week
over a month. Sessions last about an hour. A small, battery-
powered electrical device is used. The electrodes are placed
on the patient's wrist. The patient is asked to preselect a
level of shock that is uncomfortable but not too painful.
Process
 This shock is then briefly and repeatedly
paired with stimuli (such as slides of the
race track, betting sheets, written
descriptions of gambling) that the patient
has chosen for their association with his or
her problem gambling. The timing,
duration, and intensity of the shock are
carefully planned by the therapist to assure
that the patient experiences a discomfort
level that is aversive and that the
conditioning effect occurs.
Process
 After the first or second week of treatment, the patient is
provided with a portable shocking device to use on a daily
basis for practice at home to supplement office treatment.
The therapist calls the patient at home to monitor
compliance as well as progress between office sessions
Process
 Booster sessions in the therapist's office are scheduled once
a month for six months. A minor relapse is dealt with
through an extra office visit. The patient is asked to
administer his or her own booster sessions on an
intermittent basis at home and to call in the future if needed.
Case#2
 What would the treatment protocol look like for
an alcohol-dependent patient with an extensive
treatment history including multiple prior life-
threatening relapses?
Process
 The patient who is motivated to change but has not
experienced success in the past may be considered a
candidate for aversion therapy as part of a
comprehensive inpatient treatment program.
Process
 The treating therapist assesses the extent of the patient's
problem, including drinking history, prior treatments and
response, physical health, and present drinking pattern.
Patients who are physically addicted to alcohol and
currently drinking may experience severe withdrawal
symptoms and may have to undergo detoxification before
treatment starts.
Process
 When the detoxification is completed, the patient is
assessed for aversion therapy. The therapist's first decision
is what type of noxious stimulus to use, whether electrical
stimulation or an emetic (a medication that causes
vomiting).
Process
 In this case, when the patient's problem is considered
treatment-resistant and a medically-monitored
inpatient setting is available, an emetic may be
preferable to electric shock as the aversive stimulus.
There is some research evidence that chemical
aversants lead to at least short-term avoidance of
alcohol in some patients. An emetic is "biologically
appropriate" for the patient in that it affects him or
her in the same organ systems that excessive alcohol
Process
 There is some research evidence that chemical aversants
lead to at least short-term avoidance of alcohol in some
patients. An emetic is "biologically appropriate" for the
patient in that it affects him or her in the same organ
systems that excessive alcohol use does. The procedure is
fully explained to the patient, who gives informed consent .
 To associate the emetic with the sight, smell
and taste of alcohol, the patient is then
asked to take a sip of the alcoholic beverage
of his or her choice without swallowing.
This process is repeated over a period of
30–60 minutes as nausea and vomiting
occur.
 As the unpleasant effects of the emetic drug
become associated with the alcoholic
beverage, the patient begins to lose desire
for drinking.
Kinds of Concerns Aversion is
Therapy Best For
Aversion therapy can be effectively used to treat a
number of problematic behaviors including the following:

• Bad habits
• Addictions
• Alcoholism
• Smoking
• Gambling
• Violence or anger issues
Effectiveness
The overall effectiveness of aversion therapy depends upon a number
of factors including:

• The treatment methods and aversive conditions that are used.

• Whether or not the client continues to practice relapse prevention
after treatment is concluded.
• In some instances, the client may return to previous patterns of
behavior once they are out of treatment and no longer exposed to
the deterrent.
• Generally, aversion therapy tends to be successful while it is still
under the direction of a therapist, but relapse rates are high.
• Once the individual is out in the real-world and exposed to the
stimulus without the presence of the aversive sensation, it is highly
likely that they will return to the previous behavior patterns.
Problems With Aversion Therapy

• One of the major criticisms of aversion therapy is that it lacks

rigorous scientific evidence demonstrating its effectiveness.
Ethical issues over the use of punishments in therapy are
also a major point of concern.

• Practitioners have found that in some cases, aversion

therapy can increase anxiety that actually interferes with the
treatment process. In other instances, some patients have
also experienced anger and hostility during therapy.
Jhon Kenneth C . Alejandre
BS PSY 3-4
is the pseudoscientific practice of
trying to change an individual's
sexual orientation from homosexual
or bisexual to heterosexual using
psychological or spiritual
interventions