Computer-assisted Therapy for Flight Phobia

In this chapter we describe the computer-assisted therapy for flight phobia. Since it is an exposure therapy, we start with a brief explanation about the theoretical foundations of the exposure techniques. Then we present the different exposure procedures that have been used to treat flight phobia (in vivo, using slide projectors, virtual reality, and computer-assisted), and we make a detailed description of the computer-assisted fear of flying treatment (CAFFT) developed by Bornas and his colleagues. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only computer-assisted exposure therapy for fear of flying. In the next section we summarise the research testing process on the CAFFT: efficacy, clinical usefulness, and appropriateness depending on the client's fear profile. The last section of the chapter is devoted to some concluding remarks. We underline the advantages of the CAFFT but also the limitations, and we suggest some future lines of research.