Introduction & Theoretical Background
Exposure as a therapy procedure is one of the most effective treatments for anxiety. What Is Exposure Therapy? is an information sheet describing the purpose and mechanism of exposure therapy. It includes a simple clinical example to help patients understand how fears come about and how exposure can be used to treat fear. This information sheet uses a memory 'retrieval competition' (Brewin, 2006) account to explain exposure – this is consistent with other accounts (including classical conditioning explanations) but does not require knowledge of learning theory.