COUNSELLING FOR PHOBIAS

Phobias involve feelings of fear and anxiety about a situation, place or an object which are not commonly considered dangerous.  Anticipating these situations can cause real dread and make sufferers reorganise their lives to avoid them. Fernwood offers effective, evidence-based counselling for phobias such as Exposure Therapy, to help neutralise the impact of a situation perceived to be threatening.

Types of Phobias

There are several general types of phobias:

• Specific (isolated) phobias

These phobias are restricted to specific situations, for example heights, darkness, flying, enclosed spaces, animals, thunder, eating certain foods, dentistry, sight of blood or injury;

• Social Phobias

Social phobia is a fear of attention by other people which can lead to avoidance of social situations. This type of phobia can be associated with low self-esteem and fear of criticism. People can find themselves over-preparing for social occasions or over-analysing them afterwards. This type of anxiety is very common;

• Agoraphobia

This type of phobias is defined as a fear of open and or / public spaces. Situations such as leaving home, going shopping, being in a crowd or in public transport can produce anxiety. People often avoid the spaces that cause them to feel uneasy and sometimes do not leave home altogether. As a result, this could have a dramatic impact on the person's ability to lead a normal life.

Symptoms

Regardless of the type of phobia, you might experience the following symptoms:

• Fear of losing control or having no escape
• Feeling panicky or stressed
• Desire to avoid the situation no matter what
• Unable to think clearly or concentrate because of the anxiety
• Feeling faint / irregular heat beat
• Blushing
• Trembling
• Nausea

Treatment

Simple phobias are usually treated with exposure therapy (also known as desensitisation). This is a type of CBT  and involves gradual exposure to the object or situation that you fear. For example, if you have a fear of spiders (arachnophobia) the therapist may first show you a picture of a spider, a short film about spiders, spiders in a fish tank and finally arrange to see and hold a live spider.

For social phobia and agoraphobia, a tailor-made form of CBT is usually recommended. For social phobia, around 15 90 minute sessions over 4 months are typically considered an adequate course of treatment. For agoraphobia, the treatment is briefer and 7-14 hours over 4 months is usually enough.

If you have any questions about how Fernwood can help you with counselling for phobias, please contact us on info@fernwoodclinic.co.uk