Most people have a relatively normal and healthy fear response to most things. By the same token, most everyone has some kind of overblown phobic reaction to something. Being afraid of spiders, snakes, heights and various other things can have it’s benefits, but when this fear begins to prevent us from normal exposure, then it becomes considered phobic in nature. Exposure therapy is one of the quickest, and most effective methods of treatment for many of these phobias.
Exposure therapy is quite simply a method of introducing a patient to their fears slowly and progressively, until the “natural” response to the stimuli is normal. What is normal for one person may not be the same for another, so it is vital that this be done under supervision of a professional.
Take for example a patient that has a fear of spiders. Well, we know that spiders can be rather dangerous in some cases, and so a healthy fear of spiders can be a good thing. Black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders are quite dangerous, and a fear of them can prevent us from being careless when around them.
What about when that fear extends to every spider though? What if it extends so far that a person will not go outside for fear of bumping into a spider? What if a person sees a black widow in every corner of the home, even when they are not there? People who are phobic take things that far sometimes, and it can literally take over their lives.
Exposure therapy will take this person and slowly introduce them to the situation or scenario that brings this phobia to the surface. If the fear is spiders, the doctor might have the patient walk around a garden for a while. This might eventually progress to having a tarantula crawl up their arm in some cases, whereas others might stop after viewing spiders behind the glass at a zoo. It all depends on the opinion of the therapist and the extent of the exposure therapy.
Exposure therapy is popular because of the drastic results that can sometimes be found. We respond quite well to the therapy on the whole, and can find a number of different, creative ways in which to bring the therapy to fruition. What happens is we slowly begin to realize the fear as being an invalid reaction to the danger, and our bodies and minds start to adjust. Seeing it and experiencing it through exposure therapy can be very powerful.
Exposure therapy is not ideal for every patient and every situation however. For example, you would not want to take a person with a fear of spiders and a heart condition through the same exposure therapy as on without the heart condition. Common sense must be a big part of any exposure therapy session. This is why exposure therapy is not advised without a therapist present. Too many things can go wrong in this situation.
