Systematic Desensitisation for Panic and Phobia

Rhona M. Fear BA (Hons), MA, is a UKCP registered psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She has been in private practice in Worcestershire since 1994, and specialises in working with clients in long term therapy. She first qualified as a counsellor in 1990, and then broadened her knowledge by undertaking a master's degree at Keele University. She then trained as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist.

• Introduction -- The symptoms of anxiety and fear -- The fight or flight cycle -- What is the fear of the fear cycle and how is it maintained? -- The labels: anxiety states and phobias -- Involving the general practitioner: the helpfulness and limitations of medications -- Breathing and relaxation -- The systematic desensitisation programme -- Case study: using systematic desenitisation to recover from agoraphobia -- Case study: using systematic desensitisation to recover from driving phobia -- Cognitive interventions -- Seeking help from counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists -- Summary