A technique, used in behaviour therapy for treating phobias, in which the patient is gradually exposed to the cause of the fear.
n. 1. (hyposensitization) a method for reducing the effects of a known allergen by injecting, over a period, gradually increasing doses of the allergen, until resistance is built up. See allergy. 2. a technique used in the *behaviour therapy of phobic states. The thing that is feared is very gradually introduced to the patient, first in imagination and then in reality. At the same time the patient is taught relaxation to inhibit the development of anxiety (see relaxation therapy). In this way he or she is able to cope with progressively closer approximations to the feared object or situation.
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