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Definition

Exposure treatment is a technique that is widely used in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Exposure treatment is used for a variety of anxiety disorders, and it has also recently been extended to the treatment of substance-related disorders. Generally speaking, exposure treatment involves presenting a patient with anxiety-producing material for a long enough time to decrease the intensity of their emotional reaction. As a result, the feared situation or thing no longer makes the patient anxious. Exposure treatment can be carried out in real situations, which is called in vivo exposure; or it can be done through imagination, which is called imaginal exposure. The category of imaginal exposure includes