ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the way in which thinking about the exposure developed over time and outlines the prevailing theory underlying exposure therapy that has driven the practice of exposure since the second half of the 1980s. It focuses on the clinical implications for the practice of exposure in light of this new theory. The chapter also describes the other innovations affecting the practice of exposure therapy including an innovative approach for enhancing exposure, innovative vehicles for the delivery of exposure, and innovative targets for exposure. Craske et al. proposed a framework called the inhibitory learning model. Perhaps the most fundamental implication of this approach is that the client must be exposed to a circumstance in which his or her expectations for a catastrophic outcome are violated. There are many ways to introduce variation into exposure exercises, that are discussed in the chapter. Reinforced extinction occurs when the worst-case scenario indeed follows the presentation of the feared stimulus or situation.
