You have a fear of spiders, or of flying, or of crowds. Are you just sitting there suffering? It’s time to try Exposure Therapy!
Exposure therapy is a type of Behavioral Therapy used to help the patient confront a feared situation, object, thought, or memory and dispel its power to produce fear and anxiety. It involves reliving a traumatic experience in a controlled, therapeutic environment.
The Anxiety Disorders can paralyze the sufferer with ever-mounting avoidance behaviors. While successful for the moment, avoidance just sets aside the fear and anxiety triggered by a situation. They are sure to come back, stronger than ever.
Exposure therapy has been shown to be effective with many of the Anxiety Disorders, including Social Phobia (SAD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), panic attacks and Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder (ASAD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and specific phobias.
This is the second of a two-part series of articles on Exposure Therapy. It focuses on tips to make your Exposure Therapy successful. Today’s installment has these headings:
- Exposure Therapy: Better in real life or in imagination?
- Tips for successful Exposure Therapy experiences
Yesterday’s Part 1 describes Exposure Therapy and what goes into a typical Exposure Therapy plan:
- Exposure Therapy is based on habituation
- Exposure Therapy counteracts Anxiety Disorders’ avoidance
- Exposure Therapy is a part of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Characteristics of a typical Exposure Therapy plan
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder,
Agoraphobia,
Anxiety,
Anxiety Disorder,
Exposure Therapy,
GAD - General Anxiety Disorder,
Panic Attacks,
Panic Disorder,
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
SAD - Social Phobia,
Specific Phobias
The neighbor’s dog barks night and day. If you have gotten used to it, you have used one of the root principles of Exposure Therapy.
Exposure therapy is a type of Behavioral Therapy used to help the patient confront a feared situation, object, thought, or memory and dispel its power over them. It involves reliving a traumatic experience in a controlled, therapeutic environment.
In a way, Exposure Therapy is related to the old maxim “face your fears,” but instead of jumping into a terror-inducing situation with both feet, therapy usually advocates a carefully planned, gradual approach to alleviating fears.
Exposure therapy has been shown to be effective with many of the Anxiety Disorders, including Social Phobia (SAD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), panic attacks and Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder (ASAD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and specific phobias.
This two-part series of articles describes what Exposure Therapy is, and offers tips to make your Exposure Therapy successful. Today’s installment has these headings:
- Exposure Therapy is based on habituation
- Exposure Therapy counteracts Anxiety Disorders’ avoidance
- Exposure Therapy is a part of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Characteristics of a typical Exposure Therapy plan
Tomorrow’s part of the article will continue the discussion under these headings:
- Exposure Therapy: Better in real life or in imagination?
- Tips for successful Exposure Therapy experiences
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder,
Agoraphobia,
Anxiety,
Anxiety Disorder,
Exposure Therapy,
GAD - General Anxiety Disorder,
Panic Attacks,
Panic Disorder,
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
SAD - Social Phobia,
Specific Phobias
by Mike Nichols on September 24, 2008 · 6 comments
Drugs are commonly used in conjunction with therapy to reduce the effects of Anxiety Disorders.
One of the purposes of psychiatric medications is to relieve a person’s symptoms enough to allow therapy to be effective. This has been a standard approach for years.
A radical new approach to drugs and therapy has been proposed by researchers and published in the June 15, 2008, issue of Biological Psychiatry.
Instead of using drugs to relieve symptoms, they propose using certain drugs to enhance learning during therapy sessions, improving the effectiveness of behavioral therapy treatment for Anxiety Disorders.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Anxiety Disorder,
Exposure Therapy,
Medications,
OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
Panic Disorder,
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
Therapy
Traveling by airplane is one of the fastest, safest and easiest modes of transportation. It enables people to travel vast distances unthinkable just a few short decades ago.
While most people enjoy the convenience of air travel, people with a flight phobia have an intense fear of flying. This fear may prevent a person from going on vacations or visiting family and friends. It can cripple the careers of businesspeople by preventing them from traveling on work-related business.
Fear of flying, also known as aviophobia, is an Anxiety Disorder classified as a situational Specific Phobia. The person with fear of flying has a continuing and excessive fear triggered by flying or the thought of flying. Typically, flying is avoided or endured with intense anxiety, which may take the form of a panic attack.
Famous people afraid to fly include John Madden (NFL coach and commentator), Stanley Kubrick (filmmaker), Kim Jong-Il (North Korean leader), Whoopi Goldberg (actress), Joseph Stalin (past ruler of the Soviet Union), and wrestler Andre the Giant.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Agoraphobia,
Aviophobia,
Benzodiazepines,
CBT,
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
Exposure Therapy,
fear of flying,
flight phobia,
Panic Attacks,
Panic Disorder,
Specific Phobia
