Private exposure and covert sensitization in the treatment of exhibitionism

The present report describes the treatment of a long standing exhibitionism case by covert sensitization and private exposure in front of his wife within an A-BC-B-BC-C single case experimental design. The therapeutic phase of the treatment lasted 10 weeks. Results show that the combination of covert sensitization and private exposure seems to be an interesting technique for married exhibitionists and their wives. Covert sensitization was used to eliminate deviant fantasies and private exposure seemed to have rendered exhibitionism socially acceptable. The various measures of subjective responses indicated that there were no exhibitionist activities during baseline and treatment nor during the year's follow-up, and the patient has been asymptomatic for more than 2 years, as confirmed by a recent follow-up visit. Controlled studies with larger groups of patients are now needed to prove the efficacy of this active, nonaversive and economical treatment for exhibitionists and their wives.