Which practitioner is associated with Systematic Desensitization?

• A. Joseph Wolpe
• B. B.F. Skinner
• C. Albert Bandura
• D. Sigmund Freud

Answer: (A)

Systematic Desensitization is a behavioral treatment that blends relaxation training with gradual, controlled exposure to feared stimuli, so the anxiety response is replaced with a calm state as the person moves through a hierarchy of feared situations. This approach, developed by Joseph Wolpe in the 1950s, relies on the idea of reciprocal inhibition: you cannot feel intense anxiety and relaxed at the same time, so pairing relaxation with progressively challenging feared scenarios weakens the phobic reaction. The process typically involves building a relaxed baseline first, then working up an anxiety hierarchy—from mild to more distressing stimuli—while remaining relaxed throughout each step.

B.F. Skinner is associated with operant conditioning and reinforcement principles, shaping behavior through consequences. Albert Bandura is linked to social learning theory and concepts like modeling and self-efficacy. Sigmund Freud is known for psychoanalysis and exploring unconscious processes. The question points to the practitioner who pioneered systematic desensitization, which is Joseph Wolpe.