Matt Goes to a Therapist to Help Overcome His Fear

Matt goes to a therapist to help overcome his fear of snakes.The therapist helps Matt become deeply relaxed through the use of progressive relaxation.Matt is then exposed to actual fear-evoking stimuli involving snakes while trying to maintain his relaxed state.The therapist begins with the least distressing stimuli in a hierarchy and progresses to more distressing stimuli until Matt can maintain his relaxed state when exposed to even the most distressing stimuli in the hierarchy,which involves draping a large snake over his shoulders.This process is called ________.

A) cue-controlled conditioning
B) systematic desensitization
C) gradual exposure
D) flooding