|
Phobia
Introduction
Many people suffer from different phobias which prevent or inhibit them from doing something, participating in something or achieving something. These tend to paralyze those who suffer from it and sometimes just mentioning the object or subject from which they fear causes these people to panic or feel unwell.
In order to overcome these phobias, psychologists have developed various techniques. Perhaps the most famous and commonly used technique of all is the systematic desensitization.
This is a behavioral therapy used to overcome phobias as well as anxiety disorders, and consists of teaching those who suffer from it coping strategies, establishing a hierarchy of stimuli that cause the phobic fear and then progressively and gradually exposing them to the thing they fear (Wikipedia, n.d; Rainey, 1997).
|