Online,Mindfulness,Psychothera DIY Online Mindfulness Psychotherapy For Treating Phobias. Bould

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A phobia, from the Greek phobos, meaning to fear, is a recurrent irrational emotional andphysiological reaction to an object or situation. Phobias are actually one ofthe most common forms of anxiety disorder and the National Institute of MentalHealth estimates that as many as 10% of Americans suffer from phobias. The mostwell known phobias are the Specific Phobias produced in reaction to animateobjects, such as spiders, cats, dogs and moths or inanimate objects such asneedles. This class also includes fear of enclosed spaces, high places, darkplaces, dirt, the fear of injury or activities such as driving a car. Some ofthese specific phobias may have had evolutionary origins as defence reactionsagainst real threats, but most have no clear explanation. Another major groupof phobias are the Social Phobias. Most of us feel a degree of fear if we arecalled on to give a presentation, but for a social phobic the fear reactiontakes the form of panic, accompanied by an elevation in heart rate, rapidbreathing, sweating and blurred vision and an uncontrollable urge to flee thesituation. This class of phobias also includes fear of crowds, parties and socialgatherings and is often accompanied by extreme self-consciousness andembarrassment. Agoraphobia is perhaps the most disabling phobia in which thereis a generalized fear of a wide range of stimuli associated with being outsideof a defined safe space such as home.Phobias have a major impact on the qualityof life and can cause a great deal of stress. They cause embarrassment and leadto all manner of conscious and unconscious avoidance reactions that limitchoices and freedom. Phobias can have a major influence on self-esteem andself-confidence. What causes phobias to arise is far fromclear. However, it is well known that emotional trauma in which the individualis confronted with an overpowering sense of helplessness may manifest as aphobia long after the event and it is not unreasonable to assume that phobiascontain a core of unresolved emotional conflict. The treatment options forphobias are varied, but the general consensus is that effective psychotherapymust involve some form of desensitization protocol coupled with controlledexposure to the phobic trigger. Clients are taught a relaxation response to usewhenever they encounter the stimulus. They are gradually introduced to thestimulus, learn to monitor their stress response and respond with therelaxation technique. This is repeated many times until the client canencounter the object without having the phobic reaction. Neuro-Linguistic Programming has attractedconsiderable attention as a treatment for phobias and claims many success stories.The central premise in NLP is that an emotional reaction is built around aninternal mental representation. This Structural Theory of Emotions is a usefulconcept when working with intense emotional reactions such as phobias orpast-traumatic stress reactions. Basically, the theory states that an emotionalreaction has an internal structure built around sensory modalities. Theprinciple modalities are visual, auditory and psychophysical sensations. Ofthese, the visual modality of inner imagery is usually dominant. In effect,when an arachnophobe encounters a spider, what he sees is not the actualanimal, but an internal image, his internal representation of spiders. Mostlikely this will consist of a very large, very vivid in-your-face image that isin color and probably moves in a particular way. The emotional fear is encodedin these various sub-modalities of size, position, color and movement. This isthe internal structure of the emotion and this structure encodes the feelingsthat form the emotional reaction. The external object seen through the eyes issimply a stimulus that evokes this internal representation and it is theinternal representation generates the fear.            DuringMMT, the client learns how to establish a safe and non-reactive relationship,the Mindfulness Based Relationship, with the core internal representation of aphobia. There are a number of techniques that he can experiment with to createthis safety, such as making the image very small and distant. He might imaginelooking at the spider through a thick glass window. The therapist and clientengage their creativity to find what works for the client. In MMT, the emphasisis always on helping the client form a non-reactive relationship with his orher inner representation of emotions and when working with a phobia much timeis spent on establishing a mindful relationship. This is called theRELATIONSHIP PHASE of Mindfulness Meditation Therapy. This in itself can behighly transformative, because as the client learns not to react to his internalrepresentation he will find that he will be les reactive when he encounters theactual object or situation. The next phase of MMT is theTRANSFORMATIONAL PHASE. Now that you are able to relate to the inner imagerywith mindfulness, continue to observe and investigate the imagery, to becomemore familiar with its structure and all the various feeling sensationsassociated with the color, size and other sub-modalities. There is no attemptto analyze or interpret, only to fully observe and know what is beingexperienced, like a scientist observing an experiment as it unfolds, or afisherman observing the river for subtle features and changes that indicatewhere the fish are to be found. As this wealth of subtle details begins tounfold, you will simultaneously become aware of what needs to happen next. Thepsyche naturally looks for changes at the experiential level that reducesuffering and when you remain mindful and present with the unfolding experienceof inner imagery, it will present changes to you. You may discover that placingthe spider in a glass jar and putting the jar on a shelf is sufficient tocompletely neutralize the fear reaction or that changing its color from bloodred to pale pink does the job. What is important is that you experiment foryour self and find what works for you. But, rather than stopping there, youstay with the inner experience and continue to sense what needs to happen next.Perhaps you sense a need to take the spider jar and take it to a place whereyou can release the spider or you may discover some other thing that needs tohappen. The important thing is to allow these solutions to arise experientiallyand that they feel right. Next is the RE-EXPOSURE PHASE. Youdeliberately imagine seeing a spider in your home or other environment. Startwith the least difficult encounter and progress to the most difficult encounterof all, such as imagining the spider crawling on your hand. Check the feelingresponse in each case and repeat the visualization many times. If the emotionalreaction is still too intense, then return to the Relationship phase andcontinue working with the sub-modalities. If you can successfully manage allthe different imaginary situations, then you are ready to try exposure to areal spider. Do this gradually, first observing the spider at a distance, thenmove closer and finally place the spider on your hand. If the reactions are toointense, then return to the visualization phase. It may take many repetitionsof the process, from the relationship phase through to re-exposure, but you nowhave a strategy for working with your inner experience of a phobia at theexperiential level and eventually this will lead to the desired results.