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Updated for AQA 2025 Spec – Teaching from SEPTEMBER 2025 onwards

This resource is designed for teaching The Behavioural Approach to Treating Phobias under the AQA A-Level Psychology (2025 Specification). It has been fully updated to meet the revised requirements, which expect students to describe, apply, and evaluate systematic desensitisation and flooding as behavioural treatments for phobias, including the principles of classical conditioning, and to consider appropriateness and effectiveness in context.

If you’re looking for the 2019 specification version of this topic, please visit my shop.

This fully editable lesson guides students through the behavioural therapies used to treat phobias. Students build AO1 knowledge through structured explanations and diagrams, apply understanding through real-life case scenarios, and develop AO3 evaluation skills through worksheet tasks, challenge prompts, and exam-style questions.

What’s Included:

• Fully Editable Lesson Slides – Covers systematic desensitisation and flooding in depth, including core processes such as the fear hierarchy, relaxation techniques, counterconditioning, and immediate exposure. Includes visual diagrams, retrieval starters, and applied examples (e.g. Emily’s cat phobia and Tommy’s fear of birds).
• Think, Pair, Share Activities – Stimulate reflection on when and why certain therapies may be more appropriate, and ethical considerations related to distress and consent.
• Case Study Application Task – Students apply the key concepts of behavioural therapies to a fictional case study involving ailurophobia (fear of cats), developing their AO2 and diagnostic reasoning.
• Evaluation Worksheet – Printable task for exploring key strengths and limitations of systematic desensitisation and flooding. Stretch column prompts encourage students to deepen their explanations.
• Exam Practice Questions – Includes realistic 4- and 6-mark questions aligned with the 2025 format, along with structured prompts and model answers to build exam technique.
• Plenary and Extension Tasks – End-of-lesson stretch prompts encourage critical thinking, reinforce key terms, and support higher-level evaluation.

How This Resource Reflects the 2025 Specification Changes:

• Fully aligned with AQA 2025 content under Clinical Psychology and Mental Health

• Covers updated sub-topic: The Behavioural Approach to Treating Phobias

• Supports AO1, AO2, and AO3 with clear modelling, applied case work, and structured evaluation

• Encourages use of diagnostic reasoning and ethical awareness in therapy selection

• Suitable for classroom delivery, independent learning, cover lessons, or revision