THERAPIES FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS: MELISSA’S CASE
Melissa had a part-time job and had to work at night. On most nights she was alone, except for customers coming and going. Melissa was scared of being held up, as there was always quite a bit of cash around. Her fear increased and her anxiety became all-pervasive. She decided to seek help and was put on a three-month waiting list to see a therapist. During this time her anxiety and fear escalated. Melissa felt she had no alternative but to resign, but her fear and anxiety continued. When she finally saw the therapist she filled out various forms and spoke to the therapist about her fears. The next time she saw him she noticed a jar of spiders on his desk. Melissa asked him about them and he replied that as she was also scared of spiders, the first step was to confront her fear of them. The therapist then left the office leaving her with the spiders. Melissa had always been scared of spiders; she could not remember a time when she wasn’t. She didn’t care about her fear of spiders, but here she was sitting in an office looking at a jar of them. All she wanted to do was to stop the anxiety so she could go back to work. She walked out and didn’t go back.
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