Essentials of implosive therapy: A learning-theory-based psychodynamic behavioral therapy.

Abstract

A learning-theory-based method of psychotherapy (implosive therapy), which integrates psychodynamic concepts into its theoretical model and leads to a new technique of treatment, is described. The technique has been applied to a wide variety of psychopathology with apparent success. Treatment time ranges from 1 to 30 1-hr, sessions with marked changes in symptomatology usually occurring within 1-15 implosive sessions.1 This paper is not intended as a complete presentation of the theoretical framework of implosive therapy. Unfortunately, the complexities of features involving both the learning model and certain subtleties associated with the therapeutic technique precluded a completely exhaustive treatment of these issues in the space limitations of this article.The senior author especially wishes to express his great debt to George Golias, of Hawthornden State Hospital, and Robert Hogan, of Illinois State University, for their help in extending the technique used in the therapy in its early stages of development. The authors also would like to thank

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