How does it benefit to go to the psychologist to treat a phobia?

Phobias are among the most widespread psychopathologies in today's society; however, the good news is that these disorders respond very well to psychotherapeutic treatment.

Let's delve into the way in which the work of a psychologist helps to overcome a phobia and the way in which this mental health improvement process is developed.

The benefits of going to psychotherapy if you suffer from a phobia

Phobias are an anxiety disorder characterized by an intense irrational fear of an object, living being or certain situation; which is accompanied by a variety of symptoms of anguish and stress, both physical and psychological, reaching an extreme in which it interferes with the person's quality of life.

The sources that generate this fear or panic do not usually pose a real danger for the person who has such a phobia: these can be pets, fear of heights, flying plane, blood, having to talk to unknown people, or lack of access to help from friends or relatives.

These psychological disorders have been studied for several years by research teams in clinical psychology, neurosciences and medicine, and currently can be successfully treated from a detailed intervention and systematic.

In today's article we will see the main benefits of going to a professional psychologist to treat a phobia, whatever it may be.

1. Allows individualized and effective intervention

Putting ourselves in the hands of a psychologist to treat a case of phobia is the best way to receive an individualized and professional intervention, that is, adapted at all times to our particular characteristics and specificities.

This means that the professional will implement various therapies, techniques and strategies depending on the type of phobia that we present, our psychological state, family or social environment and characteristics personal.

In addition to that, psychology professionals apply therapies of proven effectiveness, based on previous investigations of high scientific evidence, that is why the chances of success are so high.

• Related article: "What is psychotherapy? Main characteristics of this process"

2. Allows you to maintain your social life

Another of the benefits of starting a psychological intervention specialized in phobias is that in cases of phobia social, as clients, it is not necessary to give up having a quality social life during the process therapeutic.

In addition to that, in case our phobia is another, we can also maintain a normal and current quality of life, doing the same activities that we did before, while we are having the help of the health professional psychology.

3. Allows to understand the nature of the phobia

In cases of phobia of any type, the affected people feel and perceive the world differently. different from other people, often experiencing a fear or terror that they are not capable of understand.

A psychology professional will help us understand the reason for each of the fears, stress or anxiety that we experience, which prevents the person from blaming himself or harboring wrong conclusions about his irrational fear that may affect his self-esteem.

In short, knowing in depth the nature of the phobia allows us, as patients, to learn more about ourselves, get to know ourselves better and acquire tools to overcome our problem staff.

• You may be interested in: "What is fear? Characteristics of this emotion"

4. Allows you to work with your family

Many of the therapies that they put into practice in the consultation of a professional psychologist specialized in phobias consist of working together with the family, since This can be a very useful therapeutic element.

The relatives of the person with phobias can provide great support so that they can overcome their problem more quickly and make the patient feel understood, supported and loved.

5. Allows you to change wrong strategies

Psychological therapy specialized in phobias also offers us a series of tools professionals with whom we can see that avoiding what causes us anxiety or discomfort is not the solution.

The fear focus avoidance strategy is one of the classic responses that people with phobias put into action and in a psychologist's office we will learn to launch other types of responses, both cognitive and behavioral, much more useful and adaptive.

6. Allows you to put virtual reality techniques into practice

For several years now, virtual reality techniques have been some of the most used therapeutic strategies to treat cases of phobias of all kinds, due to their proven scientific evidence.

The use of these techniques by qualified professionals allows us to be immersed in a virtual scenario that can generate fear, but without moving from home or from the consultation, which helps us to confront that terror progressively in a controlled environment.

7. Helps to reconfigure limiting or negative beliefs about oneself

Self-esteem is one of the personality components that a professional is responsible for working on and improving in people with phobias, since this is essential to overcome this problem.

Phobias are often rooted in low self-esteem.: that feeling of not having the skills or abilities necessary to face an encounter with a person, an animal or an object, something that the rest of the people would have and for that reason (supposedly) they have no reason to worry about their well-being in the face of these experiences. This type of narrative serves to maintain a mirage of rationality when assessing what a phobia is and how it affects us.

For this reason, during the process of psychological therapy for phobias, it is also essential to overcome, replace or reconfigure a series of negative or limiting beliefs that contribute to keeping the phobia in person.

Hand in hand with a professional psychologist we will achieve identify these harmful beliefs and thoughts, understand them and change them by other more positive ones that allow us to acquire strength, resources and motivation to overcome the problem.

Improving self-esteem, gaining confidence and acquiring all kinds of resources to overcome our fear is the path that will help us overcome the phobia that affects us so much on a daily basis and to recover our lives former.

8. Allows treatment of other associated disorders

Psychological therapy specialized in addictions also allows treating other disorders that may be related to the first, globally and taking into account all aspects of the life of the person.

In addition to presenting phobias of any kind, people may have developed cases of anxiety or depression, as well as other mental health disorders that can be perfectly treated by a psychology professional.

Looking for psychotherapy services?

If you want to go to therapy to overcome a phobic disorder, contact me.

Am Ignacio Garcia Vincent and I am a psychologist specializing in emotional and anxiety problems.