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Empirical Status of One-Session Treatment

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Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias

Part of the book series: Autism and Child Psychopathology Series ((ACPS))

Abstract

One-session treatment (OST) is a massed, intensive exposure treatment that is maximized to a single 3-hour session. OST uniquely incorporates a variety of efficacious methods such as participant modeling, reinforcement, psychoeducation, and cognitive challenges during graduated exposure (Davis and Ollendick, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 12:144–160, 2005; Davis et al., Cognitive and Behavioral Practice 16:294–303, 2009; Öst, Phobias: A handbook of theory, research, and treatment, pp. 227–247, 1997; Zlomke and Davis, Behavior Therapy 39:207–223, 2008). To address these points, various other chapters have covered the implementation of OST (see Chaps. 4–7 and 9) using the extant literature to describe the principles and administration of OST with a variety of different individuals. This chapter, however, will examine the literature to determine the evidence base behind the use of OST, and its current evidentiary standing will be evaluated and updated (see Davis et al., Clinical Psychology Review 31:592–602, 2011; Davis and Ollendick, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 12:144–160, 2005; and Zlomke and Davis, Behavior Therapy 39:207–223, 2008 for previous reviews). The most detailed review of OST to date, by Zlomke and Davis (Behavior Therapy 39:207–223, 2008), summarized the literature and concluded that approximately 85–90% of individuals receiving OST benefited significantly from the treatment and that it met empirically supported treatment criteria for a probably efficacious intervention at that time. In the years since Zlomke and Davis, however, a number of other studies have added to the evidence base for OST making a new, updated review timely.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Thompson. E. Davis III Ph.D.

  2. Laboratory for Anxiety, Phobia, & Internalizing Disorder Studies (LAPIS), Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Whitney S. Jenkins & Brittany M. Rudy

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  1. Thompson. E. Davis III Ph.D.
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  2. Whitney S. Jenkins
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  3. Brittany M. Rudy
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Correspondence to Thompson. E. Davis III Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, Louisiana State University, Audubon Hall 236, Baton Rouge, 70803, Louisiana, USA

    Thompson E. Davis III

  2. Child Study Center, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, 24060, Virginia, USA

    Thomas H. Ollendick

  3. Dept. Psychology, Stockholm University, Frescati Hagväg 8, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden

    Lars-Göran Öst

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Davis III, T.E., Jenkins, W.S., Rudy, B.M. (2012). Empirical Status of One-Session Treatment. In: Davis III, T., Ollendick, T., Öst, LG. (eds) Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3253-1_11

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