Better Mental Health.net
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Fears & Phobias

Fears, paranoia and phobias are seen as irrational responses to a perceived threat.  Of course, that is the viewpoint of someone not having to live through the racing heart, racing thoughts, tense muscles and urge to run.  Most people who suffer from fears and phobias already know they are not real threats, and yet cannot control the physical panic that is overwhelming and makes life difficult.  I will  avoid examples of fears and phobias because I do not want to trigger anyone reading this.

Just to be clear, I am talking about irrational fears.  It is one thing to be fearful of something real. Fear is an emotion designed to protect us and we wouldn't want to lose that.  However, what if someone saw a photo of something fearful. An problematic response would be one where you have the same racing heart, nervous sweats, tense muscles and urge to run. 

Usually there is an etiology, a source to one's fear or phobia. An intense moment when we were little, a traumatic moment during our life, they can be the result of chronic anxiety or be learned over time.  Sometimes it is easy to find and work with the source, and sometimes it remains a mystery.  All you probably know is that when you have a particular thought, vision, or see or think about an item, or idea, your nervous system goes bonkers.  It is as though someone stuck a screwdriver in your body's main electrical panel causing a huge short circuit. Thankfully it does not matter if we figure out the why or where it came from; thankfully we have effective tools to clear out the emotions and help free you from this problem.

In counseling you can learn to be more self aware of when those panicky feelings start up and work together to build tools to interrupt those responses. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping) is one tool I use to help eradicate fears and phobias.  If you are interested in working on a fear or phobia, give me a call or book an appointment today.