Treating Phobias with Exposure Therapy When treatment for a phobia is needed, cognitive and/or behavioral therapy may help to desensitize the person to the thing or situation that causes the fear. Exposure therapy requires people to confront the triggers of their fear. For example, someone with a phobia involving heights might climb to the top of a high building and look out the window. Someone with an extreme fear of snakes would be asked to touch one. In some cases, the patient is exposed purposefully to these situations. A therapist first talks to the patient about how the phobia may have started and continued. Then the therapist carefully and gently encourages the patient to approach the fear-causing factor and remain there until the fear subsides partially or disappears. Once the intense anxiety has subsided, the therapist shows the patient how to continue to be exposed to the source of the problem to keep the phobia at bay. Studies have found that after just two to three and a half hours of exposure, the majority of patients with phobias involving snakes, spiders, blood, claustrophobia, heights and flying had significant relief. As another option, people with phobias may be able to use virtual reality technology to become accustomed to bothersome situations (like flying or heights) without real-life exposure.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 08:27:01 +0000
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