1st Edition

Systematic Desensitisation for Panic and Phobia An Introduction for Health Professionals

By Rhona M. Fear Copyright 2018
    122 Pages
    by Routledge

    122 Pages
    by Routledge

    Panic disorder and phobia are difficulties that are commonly encountered in our consulting rooms. There is an ongoing debate concerning the lack of provision within the NHS to help those with mental health problems. This book puts forward a different method of recovery called systematic desensitisation, which is rarely covered by the many books that are available on the subject. Rhona M. Fear presents this method both as a former patient and as a therapist of almost thirty years’ standing. It can be learned and used highly successfully by practitioners to help alleviate panic disorder and phobia.

    Introduction -- The symptoms of anxiety and fear -- The fight or flight cycle -- What is the fear of the fear cycle and how is it maintained? -- The labels: anxiety states and phobias -- Involving the general practitioner: the helpfulness and limitations of medications -- Breathing and relaxation -- The systematic desensitisation programme -- Case study: using systematic desenitisation to recover from agoraphobia -- Case study: using systematic desensitisation to recover from driving phobia -- Cognitive interventions -- Seeking help from counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists -- Summary

    Biography

    Rhona M. Fear BA (Hons), MA, is a UKCP registered psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She has been in private practice in Worcestershire since 1994, and specialises in working with clients in long term therapy. She first qualified as a counsellor in 1990, and then broadened her knowledge by undertaking a master's degree at Keele University. She then trained as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist.