Phobias Treatment
Therapy for specific Phobias
Is there a certain fear that's holding you back?
Does any of this sound familiar?
- You experience intense anxiety or fear in response to certain, specific situations
- You know that your fear (or at least the extent of your fear) doesn’t exactly make sense, but you can’t get past it
- You miss out on things that are important to you because the anxiety is getting in your way
Phobias can be a serious problem that can prevent you from traveling to visit loved ones, getting needed medical treatment, or just living your day-to-day life.
Some of the most common phobias include:
- Fear of heights (Acrophobia)
- Fear of flying (Aerophobia)
- Driving anxiety (Amaxophobia or Motorphobia)
- Fear of confined spaces (Claustrophobia)
- Fear of needles/injections (Trypanophobia)
- Fear of vomiting (Emetophobia)
- Fear of insects (Entomophobia)
- Fear of snakes (Ophidiophobia)
- Fear of dogs (Cynophobia)
- Fear of storms (Astraphobia)
- Fear of public speaking (Glossophobia)
Check out the screening tool below if you are wondering if you might have a Specific Phobia.
If you have a phobia you are not alone. According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, 8.7% of US adults have at least one phobia (that’s 19 million people!)
Phobias are Not a Choice
Unfortunately, others often don’t understand the extreme nature of this fear. They may think that pointing out the logical facts, such as how harmless a puppy is or that flying in an airplane is statistically safer than driving in a car, will be enough to help you “get over” your fear.
Unfortunately, this is not how anxiety works. Anxiety can hijack the logic part of your brain and make it almost impossible to respond calmly and rationally to the situation, no matter how much you might want to. Fortunately, you don’t have to stay like this!
What Causes Phobias?
Most anxiety is caused by a combination of two main factors: genetics and environment. What does this mean?
First, you may have inherited a greater likelihood of developing a phobia or anxiety from your biological parents. Just like green eyes or brown hair, anxiety is something that can be passed down from one generation to the next. Like other traits, however, just because your parent has a hooked nose or anxiety, that doesn’t mean that you are destined to.
Second, the way that you learned to handle anxiety growing up may have made your anxiety worse over time. For example, if you had a parent or caregiver that worried about everything all the time, then you may have picked up this habit from them. Or if you learned as a child that avoiding certain things helped you to feel better, then this may have solidified your anxiety around those things. Unfortunately, what tends to help us to feel better in the short-term often makes anxiety worse in the long-run!
The good news is that whether you were born with anxiety or you picked it up along the way, therapy can help you learn how to cope with your anxiety more effectively and stop letting it interfere with your life.
What Does Treatment for Phobias Look Like?
If you are ready to stop letting your phobia get in your way, the good news is that phobias are very treatable! Below are the 3 main types of treatment that I use in counseling for phobias.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) helps you break your cycle of anxiety and face your fears in gradual steps.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on breaking unhelpful patterns in your thinking and acting and finding more effective ways of being.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) incorporates mindfulness and acceptance strategies to help you be more present and bring your life more in line with your values.
No matter what kind of phobia you have, we would work together to make a plan to help you overcome your fear in manageable steps. Treatment for specific phobias is both effective and relatively quick. My goal is to give you the tools you need to start enjoying your life again as quickly as possible.
So What Next?
If you find that your world has started to shrink due to your fear and you are ready to live your life to the fullest again, I encourage you to reach out for help! I would love to help you to overcome your phobia (or phobias) and work to take your life back.
Let's talk!
If you’d like to talk about how I could help you with your phobias, please feel free to reach out!