Hello, pcventures-ga!
Fears like you describe normally happen after a traumatic event. What
may have been an initial fear associated with a difficult or traumatic
event in your life can often turn into what is called "secondary
fear", which is the fear of "the fear" itself. Thus, you are not
necessarily afraid of the paperwork and finacial statements, but of
the "feelings" of the fear that are now associated with looking at
your financial statements or anything associated with financial
matters - (rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing, adrenaline rushes,
etc.)
** Cognitive therapy is considered an excellent therapy to deal with
this type of fear and treatment is far more rapid than traditional
psychotherapy.
Please see the following descriptions of how Cognitive Therapy can be
used for phobias.
From "Phobias, Fears and Panic Attacks." Cognitive Therapy Associates
http://www.cognitive-therapy-associates.com/phobias.php
"Typically, with a phobia or fear, the probability of actual physical
or psychological harm is extremely low. Therefore, it is not adaptive
to have the rush of adrenaline and feelings of anxiety, which would be
useful to enhance survival in an actual emergency. Under the false
alarm scenario, these reactions become maladaptive, or harmful, taking
a physical and emotional toll on the person, for no good purpose. In
reality, chances are almost 100% that no harm will occur, but for the
person that has the phobia, it seems as though the threat is present
right now. This connection between the feared object/situation and the
SNS is learned, and the association can be unlearned (extinguished),
or at the least, managed successfully."
"Cognitive-behavioral therapy has a demonstrated high success rate in
helping people to deal with and overcome phobias and excessive fear
reactions."
==
From the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in New York:
http://www.cognitivetherapynyc.com/problems.asp?sid=245
"In order to overcome your fear, your therapist will have you make a
list of the situations that you fear, how intense your fear is, and
what your beliefs are about the feared situation (for example, do you
think that you will be contaminated, die, be attacked, or go insane?).
You will be taught how to relax when you are feeling tense. Your
therapist may ask you to form images in your mind about the feared
situation and to practice the image until you feel less anxious. You
may observe your therapist doing the things that you fear and, later,
you might imitate him or her. Your exposure to the things that you are
afraid of will be gradual---your therapist will explain everything
before you do it, you are free to refuse to do anything, there will be
no surprises sprung on you, and you will determine the pace at which
you make progress. Most patients using these techniques find that they
feel much less tense, they are able to do things that they feared, and
they feel more effective in their lives. Many patients are able to
improve rapidly with a few prolonged sessions (for example, two to
three hour sessions) that allow intense exposure to the feared
situation. Depending on the fear, between 74-94 % of patients improve
using these techniques. Although some patients may use antidepressants
or anti-anxiety medications for these fears, the treatments which we
describe do not require these medications."
==
Also read about "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy" from the National
Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists at
http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm. This page describes the various
steps used during treatment.
==
The online directory from the Association for Advancement of Behavior
Therapy provides a start to finding a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist
in your area. However, it is limited to the therapists who sign up
with the service. You should also be able to look in your local phone
book for similar therapists in your area.
See the directory at http://www.aabt.org/CLINICAL/CLINICAL.HTM#aabt
==
If you need any further clarification, please don't hesitate to ask. I
will be happy to help in any way that I can
Sincerely,
umiat
Search Strategy
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Clarification of Answer by
umiat-ga
on
19 Mar 2004 12:14 PST
Hello again, pc!
Hypnotherapy is certainly another option you can try. Hypnosis can
often be successful in helping to eradicate irrational fears. The
major problem is finding an excellent hypnotherapist who has very good
training, as opposed to someone who has received a simple
certification course in practicing hypnosis.
Please read the following excerpts about hypnotherapy and phobias:
How can hypnotherapy/hypnosis help with fear and phobias?
---------------------------------------------------------
"Hypnotherapy (specifically analytical hypnotherapy) can effectively
help treat phobias, because it goes after the root cause of the
problem - the event, which first created the phobia. This is achieved
by linking together memories and thoughts, until eventually some
memories, which hold great emotion, come to the surface."
"When these ?bottled up? emotions appear to the conscious mind, the
unconscious processes maintaining the phobia start to lose their
power, and an understanding of the problem results."
"If you have a phobia that is starting to control the way you live
your life, then that surely must be the right time to do something
about it, and start to use hypnosis / hypnotherapy on the fear or
phobia."
From "Using hypnotherapy for fears and phobias." Avon Hypnotherapy.
http://www.avonhypnotherapy.co.uk/phobias.htm
===
"It is said that we humans are only born with two fears, those being
loud noises and falling. The rest of them are learned behaviours."
"Phobias are, for example, an indication of how wonderfully fast the
brain learns a new behaviour. Often it just takes one 'bad' experience
for the unconscious mind to generalise behaviours that can last for
years, sometimes a lifetime."
"The good news is that because the brain does learn so fast, it can
learn a different and more useful behaviour just as quickly. It
usually amazes people who come in with a phobia they have had for as
long as they can remember, that the behaviour can change so fast,
often within a matter of minutes, and for good."
From JustBeWell.com
http://www.justbewell.com/phobia.html
===
"Hypnotherapy is helpful in treating phobias. A course of hypnosis
therapy will help to assist in removing fearful thoughts that tend to
perpetuate the specific phobia. This process will replace the fearful
thoughts with positive controlled actions. This can easily be
achieved through the use of Relaxation, Desensitization and
Visualization and Positive Affirmations."
From Avanti Hynotherapy
http://www.avantihypnotherapy.com/phobia_therapy.htm
===
I encourage you to try whatever method seems most appropriate for
you. I did try several sessions of hypnotherapy for a specific phobia
I had several years ago. While the hypnotherpist was very good, I did
not find any success. However, every person is different and it is
certainly worth a try if you want a treatment method that is
relatively inexpensive and quick! And if it works for you, all the
better.
One final suggestion...you might be interested in the downloadable
e-book titled "The Phobia Self-Help Book" described on the following
website, since it talks about the various methods of treatment. It
also offers exercises that can be done on your own. That may be the
only treatment you need!
http://www.phobiascured.com/
==
I wish you all the best! With persistence, I am sure you will be able
to overcome your particular fear. My hat is off to you for taking
action!!
umiat
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