Management of interpersonal issues in systematic desensitization

The authors use the management of typical clinical problems that arise during systematic desensitization as a model for the analysis and solution of problems associated with behavior therapy techniques. Three main problem areas are considered: initiation of the technique, therapist and patient difficulties, and therapeutic decision making. The discussion is designed primarily to help therapists with varied backgrounds to deal with clinical issues that arise in the application of behavior therapy techniques such as systematic desensitization.