who do you see to conquer a phobia?

[vash]

a psychologist? regular doctor? a hypnotist?

i'm just asking. for a friend.

[MT930]

You've got to grind your way through it yourself.

The psychologist will just get you to talk about it and then after awhile buy a new 911 with your money.

Don't like snakes or lizards? you need to handle some.

Don't like flying? you need some flight instruction.

Don't like germs? eat a sandwich off the floor.

You need to square off with the fear. Only you or your friend will be free of the fear. A good feeling to get it behind you.

psychologist, doctor, hypnotist. They will just take your money.

[syncroid]

who do you see to conquer a phobia?

See within yourself.

[syncroid]

If that doesn't work then see a professional.

[Racerbvd]

I use to really be scared of hights, then while working my way through college, I got a job at the ship yard loading/unloading container ship. Riding on a container, when the crain is taking you to the next level to set & lash, with no safety staps & steel toed boots on dew covered metal on a 12 hour shift, well, you kinda get over it... That worked for me..

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by MT930

You've got to grind your way through it yourself.

The psychologist will just get you to talk about it and then after awhile buy a new 911 with your money.

Don't like snakes or lizards? you need to handle some.

Don't like flying? you need some flight instruction.

Don't like germs? eat a sandwich off the floor.

You need to square off with the fear. Only you or your friend will be free of the fear. A good feeling to get it behind you.

psychologist, doctor, hypnotist. They will just take your money.

Pretty much.

[LakeCleElum]

Just put your mind to it and Cowboy Up. I hate snakes, but when visiting my friend in Australia, I told him I wanted to handle his Python.

[cgarr]

I never used to post here out of fear!

[cmccuist]

I'm afraid of phobias!

[Zef]

Just face it.

[sammyg2]

Deal with it. No need to try and have someone else solve our problems.

[Gogar]

Watch that show "Obsessed" on A&E. Maybe seeing other people with absurd habits and fears will bring you to your senses.

[Rikao4]

heights ..
no, it's the edge that was the problem..
so ..I sat on edge in the Helo at 3000 feet..
all went well..
my Lady almost drowned as kid..
for yrs...it was swimming pools only
she had to be able to see bottom /pool edge
few yrs back..she went diving with me..
that took some serious guts..
she's fine now..

Rika

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

... when visiting my friend in Australia, I told him I wanted to handle his Python.

You're lucky he didn't belt you one!

But seriously. It depends on the phobia. My wife suffered from a genuine fear of flying for a while. I sent her to a three day seminar run by Lufthansa for people like her.

This involved essentially two days of flying theory and explanations why it is safe; explanations of what all the noises are you hear on a typical flight; etc. On the third day the whole class went up in a 737 and flew around Germany at different altitudes and in different attitudes etc., all the while having everything clearly explained to them.

My wife hasn't given flying as second thought since.

Point is many fears are irrational, and the best way to deal with them is to "demystify" them in a very rational manner.

[piscator]

This is a wonderful board -- fascinating for it's range of topics and intelligent insights.

RE: phobias.

My best friend's wife is a fine therapist who "likes" phobias. That is, she enjoys that area of her work and talks about it -- (the methods, never the people, of course). One thing she told me is that alleviating phobias is an area of psychotherapy that has a demonstrable success rate. I also gather that it's often a MUCH shorter process than people realize.

Many of her techniques are rather 'mechanical' and that intriqued me. She is a methodical woman, so some of that emphasis may be personality. Still, it was interesting to learn how she combines specific excercises and traditional talk therapy. The excercises and 'homework' assignments seem to figure more prominently than the talking. Obviously, different people require different kinds of help, but I think a lot of what she does is simply monitoring the progress folks make on their own. Alleviating a phobia does require 'facing a fear' (obviously) and she's convinced me that there are 'specialty tools' to make that job easier.

I would agree that people can probably resolve many phobias on their own, but a professional may have the tools to shorten the process. To me, it really seems a lot like going to a Porsche mechanic because they have 'purpose built' equipment.

Lastly, I think it's good to remember that the individual 'faces their fear' and 'cures' their own phobia -- not the therapist. To me, it's like having a Porsche mechanic help 'drop an engine' -- they brought the tools, but I'm still doing the work!

If I had a phobia that was causing me problems, I'd go to a psycho-therapist.

piscator

[dhoward]

Hookers and blow.

[TechnoViking]

The MD will do the only thing he is trained to do: pull out the prescription pad an get you some Paxil, or other drug.