PHOBIA WORKSHOP

Do you avoid driving on highways? Are you walking up six flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator? Do you avoid social situations because you fear others will judge you? Are phobias and panic attacks ruling your life? You can learn to overcome your fear and live a productive and joyful life. Our workshops can help you accomplish your goals.

Clients participate in our nine-session Phobia Workshops, which are held periodically throughout the year and are led by either a psychologist or clinical social worker. In the workshops, clients are educated about phobias and anxiety and the application of our approach in overcoming their fears. Clients also have an opportunity and are encouraged to share progress and insights. In addition to the group sessions, clients spend one hour per week for seven weeks working individually with their assigned Phobia Counselor. This exposure/in-vivo, component of the program is accomplished through these individual sessions.

The principles of our work are based on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and systematic desensitization. Our work with clients is intended to lay a foundation of CBT and to begin a supportive program of Exposure Therapy to the feared object or situation.

Our counselors are graduates of our Center’s Phobia Counselor Certificate Training Program and are supervised by the Center Director, Dr. Fredric Neuman. The responsibilities of the Phobia Counselors are to provide education about phobias and anxieties and to facilitate the desensitization process.

It is not uncommon for clients in our programs to be treated, simultaneously, by a therapist and/or to be taking medication. There are also clients who seek assistance here without any previous or current therapeutic experience.

Based on six-month and four-year follow-up questionnaires, the success rate for the workshops is 92% (“helped very much”).

Workshop starting dates:
Phobia Workshop: September 15