Mastering Your Fears and Phobias, Second Edition, Workbook outlines a cognitive-behavioral treatment program. It consists of four steps: Identifying your fears, Challenging your thoughts, Rewarding yourself when you overcome your fears, and overcoming your fears.
Identifying your fears
The first step in identifying your fears is to plan how to face them. You can use a fear ladder to help you approach the situation in a realistic and constructive way. This helps you develop adaptive strategies for dealing with the anxiety and puts things in perspective.
Creating a fear ladder
A fear ladder is a method of gradually exposing yourself to the things that you are afraid of. The idea is that by gradually exposing yourself to each fear, you will be able to decrease its intensity and the associated unwanted behaviors. The fear ladder starts with a seemingly innocuous thing. As you work your way up the ladder, you can add more activities to it.
Challenging your thoughts
One of the most effective ways to master your fears is to challenge your thoughts. By reframing your negative self-talk into a positive frame of mind, you can rewire your brain to think differently. For example, if you're fearful of failure, you'll probably want to think about how much effort you need to put in rather than how successful you'll be. In a study, participants who practiced positive "effort-talk" performed better in math tests than those who used other types of self-talk. In addition, this method allowed the subjects to separate themselves from negative self-talk.
Rewarding yourself for overcoming your fears
When you overcome your fears, you should take some time to reward yourself. You can do this in many ways, including going out to eat or seeing a movie. Whatever you choose, make sure it is something that motivates you.
Disidentify with your fear because it isn't you
When mastering your fears, you must understand that you are not the fear. You are a victim of that fear, and the pain it causes you is not yours. By understanding this, you can stop identifying with the pain. Instead, you can accept the pain and accept it as part of life.
Creating a plan to face your fear
One of the best ways to overcome fear is to make a plan to face it. You can tell loved ones that you're going to tackle the fear and that they can support you in your efforts. This is an extremely powerful tool, and it will help you become more confident and prepared.