Exposure by Chorpita and Foa

From Modular Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Childhood Anxiety Disorders by Bruce Chorpita:

Every anxious child is different. Some have families who encourage the child to confront his or her fears and overcome them, and others do not. Although Bruce Chorpita points out, "nobody likes exposure," some move smoothly through it, whereas others have depressive symptoms or oppositional behaviors or other problems that interfere with the treatment. Chorpita views exposure as the heart and soul of an effective treatment of anxiety, exposure, both imaginal and in vivo.

From Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Adolescents with PTSD: Emotional Processing of Traumatic Experiences by Edna B. Foa et al.:

The overall aim of Prolonged Exposure (PE) is to help trauma survivors emotionally process their traumatic experiences in order to diminish PTSD and other trauma-related symptoms. The name “prolonged exposure” reflects the fact that the treatment program emerged from the long tradition of exposure therapy for anxiety disorders, in which clients are helped to confront safe but anxiety-evoking situations in order to overcome their excessive fear and anxiety. At the same time, PE has emerged from the emotional processing theory of PTSD, which emphasizes the central role of successful processing of the traumatic memory in the amelioration of PTSD symptoms. Emotional processing is the mechanism underlying successful reduction of PTSD symptoms.