My gut sense is to be extremely wary of any "therapy" that promises quick and easy cures to phobias such as hypnotic therapy or neurolinguistic programming. There is a lucrative industry based on people with little to no valid qualification promising miracle cures to desperate people, and I doubt that Maury Povich and his producer have the background knowledge to be able to tell genuine treatments from fraudulent ones, only the sense as to what might make exciting exploitative television. From their point of view, it would be more entertaining if the "cure" failed, particularly if the phobia sufferer were confronted with the object of her fear and sent into a panic attack.
The NIMH classifies "specific phobias" (i.e., fear of chickens, fear of driving, fear of bridges, etc.) under the general category of anxiety disorders, and suggests that psychotherapy, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, is quite effective in treating them, often within a 12 week period. Also suggested by them are particular types of medications to be used on a short-term basis while the phobia is being treated. Given the questionable relationship between NIMH and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the apparent lack of ethics in the latter, I would recommend researching any drug prescribed before ingesting it, and consider a therapist who doesn't recommend drugs.
Regardless, if you are suffering from a phobia, there's no way around confronting it head-on. Having been through it myself, though, I can tell you that there's no right time to proceed, you don't have to face it alone, and you will thank yourself later for doing so.
Information at NIMH on specific phobias: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publicat ... bias.shtml
15 Dec 2007, 2:03 am
