Areas of Specialization - Adults

Systematic Desensitization for Specific Fears (Phobias)

A specific phobia is an irrational fear of a specific object, situation or activity. In contrast to the majority of other anxiety disorders, the fear is restricted and functioning outside of the area of the phobia is typically not affected. However when the individual is confronted with the feared stimulus, their anxiety can be intense and overwhelming. The individual may consequently avoid situations in which they may encounter the feared object. Therefore, phobias can interfere with an individual's ability to work, socialize or go about a daily routine despite the realization that their fears are unreasonable and disproportionate to the actual threat of danger.

There are four categories of specific phobias:

Animal Type: Animals such as dogs or snakes and insects, including spiders and bees.
Nature Environment Type: Fear is triggered by objects in the natural environment, such as storms, heights or water.
Blood-Injection-Injury Type: Fear is cued by seeing blood or an injury on oneself or someone else or receiving an injection. Unlike other specific phobias, a blood phobia is often associated with fainting.
Situational Type: This type includes fears of public transportation, going through a tunnel, crossing a bridge, elevators, flying, driving, and closed spaces.
Other Type: These stimuli include fear or avoidance of situations such as choking, vomiting or contracting an illness.

What causes a specific phobia to develop?

For some individuals it is apparent in their history that the phobia was learned through a traumatic incident sensitizing them to be afraid of a specific object or situation. For example, being bitten by a dog as a child might create a dog phobia or experiencing severe turbulence on a flight may result in a fear of flying. However the learning process may not be that obvious. Individuals learn through observing the behavior of others such that it is not uncommon for children to learn to fear the same things their parents fear. In other words, by observing their parent's distress when in contact with the feared stimuli, the child learns to react to the same stimuli with fear and avoidance. Thus if a parent becomes distressed when seeing a dog, avoids going to parks where dogs may run free, and asks friends to lock up their dog when visiting their home, the child learns that dogs are to be feared and avoided in order to remain safe.

However, individuals have specific phobias in which it is impossible to identify a traumatic event or learning experience that might explain the fear. Although it is possible that certain circumstances did occur and were forgotten, the development of a phobia may be the result of a process called "preparedness." Scientists have gathered substantial evidence that particular fears are more readily learned than others. Thereby we are more "prepared" to learn certain stimuli are inherently more dangerous than others and therefore we are prepared to respond with fear at the slightest provocation. For example, evidence suggests that we are more prepared to learn to fear snakes than trees such that the fear of snakes is learned more rapidly than a tree phobia. However the good news regarding help for specific phobias is that regardless of the cause of the fear, effective treatment is possible, even if the cause is never identified.

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