Which of the following is one of the three rules of systemic desensitization?

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Systemic desensitization relies on exposing a person to feared stimuli in a controlled way while teaching relaxation to counteract the anxiety. The three rules typically emphasized are graded exposure (facing fears in manageable steps), repeated exposure (practice strengthens the new, calm response), and prolonged exposure (staying with the feared situation long enough for the anxiety to decline). The idea behind staying with the exposure is that anxiety needs time to habituate and for the relaxation skills to take effect, so the fear response diminishes with sustained contact rather than brief encounters. The therapy itself goes by the name systemic desensitization, not a rule. Thus, the statement about prolonged exposure—staying in the feared situation long enough for anxiety to decrease—best captures the third rule.