Phobias are intense and irrational fears that can significantly interfere with daily life and place limits on personal or professional opportunities. At Union Square Practice, we understand the debilitating impact of phobias and use evidence-based treatments to help our clients get phobias under control or even eliminate them altogether. After a thorough evaluation, we create a customized treatment plan involving psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two.
We offer expert phobia treatment in person at our offices in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, as well as by telehealth across New York State.
Almost everyone experiences fear at one time or another, and anxiety or apprehension is an appropriate response to various circumstances. By contrast, a phobia is a persistent and excessive fear attached to a certain object or situation, triggering significant anxiety and usually avoidance behaviors. Rather than responding typically to a potential danger, a phobia is disproportionate to the threat posed.
For people with a phobia, confrontation with the object or situation in question can trigger symptoms similar to a panic attack, including:
In most cases this experience leads a person with a phobia to try to avoid similar situations in the future. In some cases, avoidance might not present a significant problem. For instance, your living environment might pose little risk of a snake encounter, but if you are a field biologist or an avid hiker a snake phobia can be a serious problem.
If a phobia is disrupting your life or keeping you from things you enjoy doing, hope to do, or need to do, an expert therapist at Union Square Practice can help you manage or even overcome your phobia.
There are hundreds of identified phobias, some much more common than others. While these are some better-known phobias, CBT and other evidence-based treatment approaches are adaptable to a wide range of phobias and individual situations.
Common animal phobias include the fear of snakes, spiders, insects, mice and rats, bees and wasps, bats, birds, and dogs.
Fear of needles, called trypanophobia, can pose a serious barrier to pursuing necessary medical treatment or, at minimum, build highly stressful associations with going to a hospital or clinic.
Acrophobia, the fear of heights, can cause intense panic even in situations where guardrails or other safety features prevent a real danger of falling.
Claustrophobia is the well-known fear of enclosed spaces. It can be triggered by a wide range of situations including elevators, airplanes, MRI machines, crowded rooms, traffic or pedestrian tunnels, vehicles with windows rolled up, and public transportation.
Agoraphobia is the term applied to the fear of wide open spaces, being in a large crowd of people, or situations where escape might be difficult.
An estimated 25 million Americans suffer from a fear of flying, a phobia with significant potential ramifications for both professional and personal travel possibilities.
The cornerstone of phobia treatment is psychotherapy, specifically forms of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targeted specifically to phobias. Treatment will generally include a customized combination of several things:
At Union Square Practice, we treat each client as a unique individual, taking the time to understand your circumstances, challenges, and goals. We know that facing any form of anxiety can initially provoke more anxiety, so we do our best to create a calm and welcoming therapy environment. After performing an initial evaluation, we will collaborate with you to develop a treatment plan that moves at your pace, respecting the physiological challenges of confronting a phobia.
In some cases medication is helpful for our clients, either for acute management of anxiety symptoms or to treat co-occurring conditions. When medication is indicated as an appropriate accompaniment to therapy, our psychiatric team provides expert medication management in close cooperation with your therapist.
A phobia doesn’t have to disrupt your life or limit your opportunities. Compassionate and knowledgeable care can help you confront and dismantle your fear, one step at a time. We have extensive experience guiding our clients to gain control of their phobias, and many people are able to eliminate them altogether. Reach out today and find empathetic, solutions-focused support to live your life unhampered by debilitating fear.
Reach out to us using any of the contacts below or our general contact form.
