Desensitization. What is it?
Fear and anxiety are natural responses that help protect us from danger. However, sometimes fear can become excessive and begin to interfere with everyday life. When this happens, people may start avoiding certain situations, objects, or activities. Over time, avoidance can actually strengthen the fear and make it harder to overcome. One evidence-based approach used to address these fears is desensitization.
What Is Desensitization?
Desensitization is a behavioral strategy that helps individuals gradually become less fearful or anxious about a specific situation, object, or activity. The process involves slow, controlled exposure to the feared stimulus while ensuring the experience remains manageable and supportive.
Rather than confronting the fear all at once, desensitization introduces the feared situation in small, incremental steps. Each step allows the person to build tolerance, confidence, and new learning that the situation can be handled safely.
Desensitization has been widely used in psychology, behavioral therapy, and applied behavior analysis (ABA) to help people address a variety of fears and anxieties.
Why Avoidance Makes Fear Stronger
When a person avoids something they fear, they usually feel immediate relief. While that relief can feel helpful in the moment, it often reinforces the avoidance behavior. The brain learns that escaping the situation reduces anxiety, which makes avoidance more likely in the future.
Unfortunately, this pattern prevents individuals from learning that the feared situation may actually be safe or manageable. Desensitization works by gently breaking this cycle.
How Desensitization Works
Desensitization typically follows a step-by-step process that allows individuals to progress at a comfortable pace.
1. Identifying the Fear
The first step is identifying the specific situation or stimulus that triggers anxiety. This might include things like needles, dogs, heights, medical procedures, or certain social situations.
2. Creating a Gradual Plan
Next, a series of steps is developed that progress from the least anxiety-provoking to the most challenging situation. For example, someone with a fear of dogs might begin by:
Looking at pictures of dogs
Watching videos of dogs
Observing a dog from a distance
Standing closer to a calm dog
Eventually, interacting with the dog
Each step is introduced gradually so that the person can adjust before moving forward.
3. Repeated Practice
As individuals repeatedly experience each step without negative outcomes, their anxiety often decreases. The brain begins to learn that the situation no longer poses the threat it once seemed to.
Applications of Desensitization
Desensitization is commonly used to address:
Specific phobias (e.g., spiders, heights, flying)
Medical procedure anxiety (e.g., blood draws, injections)
Dental fears
Social anxieties
Certain fears in children or individuals with developmental differences
Because the process is gradual and supportive, it can be adapted to many different ages and settings.
Building Confidence Through Small Steps
One of the most important aspects of desensitization is that progress happens gradually. Small successes accumulate over time, helping individuals build confidence and resilience.
With structured support, patience, and consistent practice, many people find that situations that once felt overwhelming become manageable—and sometimes even routine.
Moving Forward
Fear does not have to control everyday life. Desensitization provides a structured, evidence-based way to reduce anxiety while building real-world confidence. By approaching fears step by step, individuals can develop new experiences that reshape how they respond to challenging situations.
Over time, what once felt impossible can become something that is handled with calm and confidence.
Further Reading:
Ricciardi, J. N., Luiselli, J. K., & Camare, M. (2006). Shaping approach responses as intervention for specific phobia in a child with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39(4), 445–448. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2006.158-05(PMC)
Rapp, J. T., Vollmer, T. R., & Hovanetz, A. (2005). Evaluation and treatment of swimming pool avoidance exhibited by an adolescent with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 38(1), 101–105.
Schmidt, J., Luiselli, J. K., Rue, H., & Whalley, K. (2013). Graduated exposure and positive reinforcement to overcome setting and activity avoidance in an adolescent with autism. Behavior Modification, 37(1), 128–142. (ResearchGate)
Shabani, D. B., & Fisher, W. W. (2006). Stimulus fading and differential reinforcement for the treatment of needle phobia in a youth with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39(4), 449–452. (PMC)
Beaudet-Dommer, K., Derby, K. M., Weber, K. P., McLaughlin, T. F., & Barretto, A. (2016). The effects of systematic desensitization with a phobic adolescent with autism: A case study with measures of generalization. International Journal of Academic Research and Development. (ResearchGate)