down under<\/em> here where I live, love this little CBT game. It involves them asking fear victims about worst case scenarios:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2018What\u2019s the worst thing that could happen if you took a short trip in an aeroplane?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Apart from crashing, that is?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I might hyperventilate<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018What\u2019s the worst thing that could happen if you did all of those things, one after the other or all together?\u2019 he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I might feel sick.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Is that a big problem?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018What else?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018People might laugh at me.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And what would be the consequence of that?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I\u2019d feel bad,\u2019 I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Is that all?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And sick.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Anything else?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Just death.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Leap Or Not To Leap?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n After many sessions like this, my therapist invited me to accompany him on a short plane trip. It was part of the package deal that I was paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the fifth trip with this kindly mentor, I\u2019d learnt how to go up into the skies in a plane without hyperventilating, without vomiting or having a panic attack. I was proud of myself. Overjoyed. I\u2019d be globe-trotting soon, for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n My boyfriend asked me, one fine weekend, to go skydiving with him. I couldn\u2019t believe he\u2019d want me to do this. Had I teamed up with a sadist? Was this his idea of a bad joke?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we zoomed up into the ether in the small plane, I imagined I\u2019d soon be toppling off the edge of the world and into the void. Matt was calm. He held me close from behind, as we edged towards the open door of the aircraft. My teeth were chattering, it wasn\u2019t from the cold. I closed my eyes. That helped. The last thing I wanted to see was the void below the open hatch, like a giant mouth sneering up at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matt was hugging me into his body. \u2018Our parachute will open up,\u2019 he said calmly into my ear. \u2018I will keep you safe.\u2019 I was closing my eyes tightly to block out the view of the gaping emptiness about to swallow me up. It\u2019s do or die, <\/em>I thought. Either way was bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2018Just peer over the edge before taking the leap\u2019 he said, \u2018and if it\u2019s all clear, jump, and we\u2019ll go together.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did what he said. I opened my eyes wide. My heart went up into my mouth and I couldn\u2019t even scream. But I did it, and we soared together. He was the carapace of a large flying tortoise, I the soft underbelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My fear suddenly left me, as we sailed down through the sky, my boyfriend on top of me and the parachute opening above us both like a smiling promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I jumped because, after all, not leaping seemed to be a much bigger risk, at least to my love life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Editor’s Note<\/strong>: This is a fictional piece of writing, partly tongue-in-cheek. If you have a real problem with Flight Phobia you might need to try a different approach than the one suggested above.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nCaptain Bunn founded SOAR to develop effective methods for dealing with flight anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therapists who have found this phobia difficult to treat will find here everything they need to give their clients success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anxious flyers who have \u201ctried everything\u201d to no avail can look forward to joining the nearly 10,000 graduates of the SOAR program who now have the whole world open to them as they fly anxiety free wherever they want. See his book on Amazon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My Story I’ve always been afraid of things. Psychologists in this country use cognitive behaviour techniques (CBT) on people like me. This involves teaching you how to change thoughts, to over-ride fearful feelings and alter behaviour. It’s a re-education process. What led me to this particular psychologist was an extreme fear of flying. My new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3807],"tags":[4106,4104,4105,4103,4034],"class_list":["post-19990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-short-story-2","tag-does-captain-bunn-approve-of-cbt-for-treating-flight-phobias","tag-is-this-a-non-fictional-piece-or-is-it-fiction","tag-pushing-through-seems-to-be-a-part-of-cbt-and-also-depth-approaches","tag-what-are-depth-therapies","tag-what-is-cbt"],"yoast_head":"\n
Fear of Flying in Planes and How to Cure Your Fear - The Art of Creative Writing<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n