Miss
Primal fear – phobia case study!
Trevor: * Fear of heights * Trevor goes to Germany to try a controversial therapy called ‘flooding’ which forces patients to confront their fears head on with no chance of escape. * He’s a builder but his phobia makes it impossible for him to work on any structure more than 1 story high. * In ‘flooding’ they take the patient’s biggest phobia and try to expose them to it in the most massive way, so the exposure is massive and immediate. * In Trevor’s case they make him climb to the top of the biggest steeple in the town, with no chance of escape. * In his therapy the doctor tries to teach Trevor that fear reaches a climax and can’t go on indefinitely. * They then take him to and even higher place and attempt to get him to lean over the window and he does, but not for very long, he then gets put up in a firetruck’s ladder and he stays up at a great height for a little while. * However, he begins to become better at dealing with his phobia, but has not yet conquered it.
Jackie: * Fear of birds/feathers * Has had fear as long as she can remember * When she was a girl she visited her g/ma’s house and found herself in a room with a trapped bird which petrified her and traumatized her. * Jackie decides to confront her worst fear using a different type of therapy – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). * He starts by creating a fear hierarchy and exposing Jackie to the lowest fear-inducing stimulus, the feather asking her to rate where he fear is on a scale of 1 to 100. * So in this therapy, the aim is to show them that fear peaks, and to show them by constantly exposing them to worse and worse fearful stimuli that fear will eventually peak and go down, which teaches them to be in control of their fear. * Jackie’s therapy did work and she is now able to spend time with her daughter anywhere without the fear of a bird attack.
Ryan: * Loves roller-coasters and bungee
Trevor: * Fear of heights * Trevor goes to Germany to try a controversial therapy called ‘flooding’ which forces patients to confront their fears head on with no chance of escape. * He’s a builder but his phobia makes it impossible for him to work on any structure more than 1 story high. * In ‘flooding’ they take the patient’s biggest phobia and try to expose them to it in the most massive way, so the exposure is massive and immediate. * In Trevor’s case they make him climb to the top of the biggest steeple in the town, with no chance of escape. * In his therapy the doctor tries to teach Trevor that fear reaches a climax and can’t go on indefinitely. * They then take him to and even higher place and attempt to get him to lean over the window and he does, but not for very long, he then gets put up in a firetruck’s ladder and he stays up at a great height for a little while. * However, he begins to become better at dealing with his phobia, but has not yet conquered it.
Jackie: * Fear of birds/feathers * Has had fear as long as she can remember * When she was a girl she visited her g/ma’s house and found herself in a room with a trapped bird which petrified her and traumatized her. * Jackie decides to confront her worst fear using a different type of therapy – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). * He starts by creating a fear hierarchy and exposing Jackie to the lowest fear-inducing stimulus, the feather asking her to rate where he fear is on a scale of 1 to 100. * So in this therapy, the aim is to show them that fear peaks, and to show them by constantly exposing them to worse and worse fearful stimuli that fear will eventually peak and go down, which teaches them to be in control of their fear. * Jackie’s therapy did work and she is now able to spend time with her daughter anywhere without the fear of a bird attack.
Ryan: * Loves roller-coasters and bungee