3 EASY STEPS TO GET OVER A PHOBIA (Overcome Fear in 2022)

In this post we learn what a phobia is and how YOU can overcome it. We’ll review the steps to get over your phobia and face your fear.

Before we get deep into this post, I want to let you know how important it is to speak with someone who specializes in phobias and exposure therapy. Seek the advice of a highly trained professional who practices regularly. Exposure therapy must be done correctly, so you don’t leave therapy feeling worse.

It’s pretty common for people to have a fear of spiders and to try to avoid them, but this doesn’t mean they have a spider “phobia”. The definition of a phobia is an irrational fear associated with a particular object or situation. Except this fear we just defined is anxiety SO INTENSE that it becomes incapacitating. A phobia involves significant stress and people will go to great lengths to avoid it. To justify a diagnosis, the condition must be present for at least 6 months.

Now let’s dive into a technique you can use to get over your phobia…

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION:

This method involves gradually exposing someone to something they are afraid of.

If you want to try systematic desensitization, its most often done with the help of a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, but here are the 3 steps you can take to try it on your own.

Step 1: Relaxation

First, get yourself into a relaxed state however works best for you. All that matters is that you choose a method of relaxation that is most comfortable for you.

Some possible methods of relaxation are:

- Meditation

- Yoga

- Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

- Breathing Exercises

- Listening to music

- Stretching/Walking

Relaxation is a very important step, so you want to try your best to master a relaxation technique.

Step 2: Construct your anxiety hierarchy

Your anxiety hierarchy is a list of situations that cause anxiety from the least to most anxiety-inducing triggers.

- Write each situation on a separate index card.

- Grade the anxiety of each item by assigning it a number on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 is the highest level of anxiety and 0 is no anxiety (complete relaxation). Write this number on the back of the index card for the item being graded. Just give each item the first number grade that pops into your head.

- When each item has an anxiety grade you can sort the cards into 5 category piles.

- The goal here is to end up with at least two items in each pile. If this happens, great! If not, just go back and re-evaluate some items or create some new items. When you have finished, combine all the cards into one pile or make a list that is ordered from lowest to highest anxiety.

*You should describe the items on your anxiety hierarchy in enough detail to enable you to vividly imagine each one. It might be sufficient to say, “Standing in a room with a spider,” but saying, “Standing barefoot in a small room with a spider, with nothing handy to kill it with,” might be more graphic. Remember that items are most effective if they can help you experience the event in your imagination, not just describe it.

STEP 3: Work through your hierarchy

Let’s revisit the fear of spiders we mentioned earlier. Pretend the list below is the hierarchy you just constructed. You can desensitize yourself from the fear by following a process like this:

Work on each item for whatever amount of time you consider tolerable. Even if this is only 10 seconds.

HOW TO WORK THROUGH YOUR HIERARCHY:

1. Relax.

2. Practice the situation for a tolerable amount of time.

3. Stop and determine your anxiety level.

4. Re-establish relaxation.

5. Re-practice the situation for a tolerable amount of time.

6. Stop and determine your anxiety level. If you feel no anxiety it is time to move onto the next item. If you are still anxious, repeat the relaxation technique.

7. Move on to the next item and repeat the process.

Don’t spend more than 30 minutes at a time and don’t attempt more than 3 items per session. It’s okay to be stuck on one step for a long time. Phobias can go away if continued to be treated.

Each session (except the very first one) should begin with the last item from your previous session. That is, if the last item was successfully desensitized, then you should review it in the next session, and if it was not successfully desensitized, then you should begin with it in the next session.

Take as long as you need to complete each stage of this process. Even if it takes months that’s okay. Each step is directly related to the main fear but pushes you a little bit further every time. A lot of people wonder, how long does it take to get over a phobia? But the answer is different for everyone. So, ask your clinician about systematic desensitization therapy if it sounds right for you.

BONUS TECHNIQUES

FLOODING:

The flooding method involves the client being totally immersed in the sensation of anxiety, opposed to the more gradual nature of systematic desensitization.

Let’s say you have a phobia of elevators…

Using the flooding technique, a clinician may actually begin by taking you onto an elevator to activate your fear. This is the most stressful type of treatment and therefore has a high dropout rate.

VIRTUAL REALITY EXPOSURE THERAPY (VRET):

VRET involves the client being immersed in computer-generated environments that resemble the situations they fear.

It is a safer method than immediate flooding and more realistic than imaginal methods. This is a great way to provide clients with experiences that can allow them to unlearn their fears. If your local clinician offers VRET it is worth inquiring about.

THOUGHT STOPPING:

Thought stopping is a cognitive behavioral method in which the client learns to stop having anxiety-provoking thoughts.

While practicing thought stopping, a therapist may challenge the client’s irrational beliefs about their phobia. For example, a therapist may show a client with a fear of crowded spaces that the catastrophic results they believe will come from going to a crowded event are unrealistic and exaggerated.

Another technique associated with thought stopping can be talking to yourself. While in an anxiety-provoking situation, you could keep reminding yourself that your fears are irrational and exaggerated.

Be sure to ask your therapist about any of the techniques mentioned in this article you may be interested in to determine if they are safe for you.

CONCLUSION:

I’ve provided you with a bunch of information about phobias and how to overcome them, but where do you go from here? If you are ready to start getting over your phobia today, click here to download the anxiety hierarchy template, which includes all of the exposure therapy instructions. This list will help you organize all of your anxiety-inducing situations, so you can start overcoming them today!

If you guys start working on your phobias let me know how it’s going in the comments section. Feel free to share what works for you so we can all grow together as a community.