Chapter 12: Methods for Changing Emotions - Psychological Self-Help

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1199 illness, he became obsessed with fears of having "diseased organs." He decided to study medicine as a means of overcoming his morbid fears. Goethe's greatest work, Faust, tells of a man striving for complete knowledge of life in all its forms. Faust is torn between the devil, who provides him with many life experiences, and God. Eventually, God saves Faust from the devil, partly because Faust continually sought self-improvement in the hopes of becoming perfect. There are no known dangers except the stress you might feel if you proceed too rapidly. Of course, you should never do anything dangerous in an effort to overcome a fear. We are talking only about overcoming unreasonable fears, not realistic fears. Additional reading Watson, D. & Tharp, R. (1972). Self-directed behavior Exposure to the fear (flooding) There are two ideas involved. First is the idea that irrational fears grow stronger whenever we run away from the scary-but-notdangerous situation. Second is the idea that we can change our attitude from, "I can't stand the stress" to "I can stand it." Putting these ideas together, the method is to gradually approach the frightening situation with a strong determination to take all the fear it can generate. The most thorough description of this method and its application is by Jeffers (1987). Purpose Steps · To quickly deal with excessive fears and anxieties in any scary situation that cannot hurt you. STEP ONE: Arrange for plenty of time and a supportive friend, if needed, to help you You should have at least two hours, perhaps all day. Select a friend who is sympathetic and encouraging, who can cheer you on and give advice like a coach. Besides, if the fears should become extremely
1200 intense, you need a dependable friend there in case you start to feel overwhelmed (not likely but be prepared). STEP TWO: Expose yourself to the scary situation Approach the scary situation. If you can go all the way at first, then do it and stay in the situation until the fear declines. If you can't stand to go all the way at first, get as close as you can stand, wait until the fear declines at that point, and then advance a little further as you can tolerate it. Example: if you are afraid of elevators, perhaps you can just get on and ride all day until the fear subsides. If you can't get on it and ride immediately, you can stand outside it, then stand on it without going up or down, then go only one floor, etc. STEP THREE: Experience the fear completely until it loses its strength The use of this method has gone different directions over the years. In this step I used to say: If needed hold your friend's hand, but approach the frightening situation so that the fear is intense. Don't try to reduce the fear, rather try to experience the fear fully. Tell yourself you want to feel it, not run away. Focus on the fear, not on the situation and not on your urge to run. Concentrate on your physical reactions (shaking, sweating, rapid heart beat, etc.) and on your thoughts about all the awful things that might happen. Recognize how unrealistic the thoughts and fears are. Try to arouse the fear to its full fury, study it (telling yourself you can stand more), and challenge it to become even more intense. Welcome it. Be determined to stay right there as long as it takes to overpower and shrink the fear response. The fear will decline after some time, maybe after a couple hours or maybe after 6 or 8 hours (probably not that long). Today, exposure has become a much more common approach because it is a very simple and effective way to reduce certain fears. But there is less emphasis on the need in most cases to arouse extreme fear. Just getting people to gradually expose themselves to heights or bugs or large (friendly) dogs or asking questions in meetings or public speaking may be all one needs to do. One reason for this change in approach is because commercial airlines and other businesses would like to help people get more comfortable using their products. In those cases arousing intense fear and having horrible fantasies are not desirable or acceptable. Some airlines provide a instructional/informational approach giving explanations of the physics of flying, the causes and consequences of turbulence, the reasons for certain flight instructions and noises, the facts about airline safety, etc. All of which arouse many fantasies of flying. Other approaches simply expose potential flying customers over and over to various scenes (sights and sounds) they will encounter in flight. There are several impressive efforts to use computer-assisted instruction and videos to expose flight phobic people to scary situations until the anxiety
Page 1 and 2: 1154 Chapter 12: Methods for Changi
Page 3 and 4: 1156 feelings are most intense. It
Page 5 and 6: 1158 Still other emotions may arise
Page 7 and 8: 1160 Storms and McCaul (1976) have
Page 9 and 10: 1162 therapy, self-help groups, or
Page 11 and 12: 1164 Steps · To aid other purposes
Page 13 and 14: 1166 o o o Occasionally give self-i
Page 15 and 16: 1168 o o o o o o o "Do unto others
Page 17 and 18: 1170 task. In many of us, the stres
Page 19 and 20: 1172 report everything you notice.
Page 21 and 22: 1174 Eight You are very high now. S
Page 23 and 24: 1176 How to be happy--determinism M
Page 25 and 26: 1178 possible; the person who feels
Page 27 and 28: 1180 yourself from a constantly act
Page 29 and 30: 1182 assumptions, namely, that duri
Page 31 and 32: 1184 Calmly observe whatever comes
Page 33 and 34: 1186 Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full ca
Page 35 and 36: 1188 have, (d) how you behave while
Page 37 and 38: 1190 imagine addressing a class of
Page 39 and 40: 1192 a coke some afternoon after cl
Page 41 and 42: 1194 Learning to relax may take two
Page 43 and 44: 1196 Watson, D. & Tharp, R. (1972).
Page 45: 1198 three miles first and end up j
Page 49 and 50: 1202 Several researchers (Gelder, 1
Page 51 and 52: 1204 making myself angry and unhapp
Page 53 and 54: 1206 instructions developed by you
Page 55 and 56: 1208 consequences depend on the out
Page 57 and 58: 1210 STEP FIVE: Try out the methods
Page 59 and 60: 1212 Meichenbaum, D. (1974). Cognit
Page 61 and 62: 1214 Holding in our feelings causes
Page 63 and 64: 1216 If you feel bored, feel depres
Page 65 and 66: 1218 teeth, and imagine what you wo
Page 67 and 68: 1220 relationship, it may be helpfu
Page 69 and 70: 1222 Hart, J., Corriere, R. & Binde
Page 71 and 72: 1224 Obviously, some people are ver
Page 73 and 74: 1226 The environment can change fee
Page 75 and 76: 1228 responding with intense fear.
Page 77 and 78: 1230 Paradoxical intentions Emotion

Chapter 12: Methods for Changing Emotions - Psychological Self-Help

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