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PHOBIAS
![PHOBIAS](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JsX8vzoix64/UxJp-y190iI/AAAAAAAAAEo/Vhme-hyhCBo/s1600/sosyal-fobi.jpg)
1 Mart 2014 Cumartesi
and finally songs 1 :)
video :
http://goo.gl/Cx08tc
http://goo.gl/Cx08tc
Fear Of The Dark Lyrics
I am a man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it's dark.
Fear of the dark,fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's always near
Fear of the dark,fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's always there
Have you run your fingers down the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you're searching for the light ?
Sometimes when you're scared to take a look
At the corner of the room
You've sensed that something's watching you.
Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no-one's there ?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you're sure there's someone there
Watching horror films the night before
Debating witches and folklore
The unknown troubles on your mind
Maybe your mind is playing tricks
You sense,and suddenly eyes fix
On dancing shadows from behind.
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a constant fear, thought you heard
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's always there.
When I'm walking a dark road
I am a man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it's dark.
Fear of the dark,fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's always near
Fear of the dark,fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's always there
Have you run your fingers down the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you're searching for the light ?
Sometimes when you're scared to take a look
At the corner of the room
You've sensed that something's watching you.
Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no-one's there ?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you're sure there's someone there
Watching horror films the night before
Debating witches and folklore
The unknown troubles on your mind
Maybe your mind is playing tricks
You sense,and suddenly eyes fix
On dancing shadows from behind.
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a constant fear, thought you heard
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's always there.
When I'm walking a dark road
I am a man who walks alone
sample essays about phobia
Phobias
Although I primarily believe in the cognitive perspective, on the topic of phobias I
find that I favor the behaviorist perspective. The cognitive perspective’s look at the
human mind works well when it comes to rational behaviors, but when faced with the
irrationalities of a phobia, it doesn’t hold its ground. The behaviorist perspective does a much better job of describing why a person might fear something that doesn’t make any sense. The cognitive perspective of psychology describes behavior through the use of schema. Schemas are the mental structures used to permit the classifications and organization of information. They allow a person to adapt to the world by assimilating and accommodating information. A schema can be made so that a person does not have to use any effortful thought, but instead can really on automatic thought. When it comes to rational fears, a cognitive psychologist can say that people have a schema that brings out the fight or flight instinct. However, in an irrational fear, this schema would not activate and the instinct would never exist. When it comes to phobias, cognitive psychology falls short.
I believe that behaviorist psychology can better explain an irrational fear.
Behaviorists believe that everything a person does can be explained as a response to a stimulus. When it comes to a normal, rational fear, the imminent danger would be the
stimulus and the fight or flight instinct would be the response. They could go further to say that the consequence would be survival and that this consequence would negatively reinforce the fight orflight behavior in thatsituation. Negative reinforcement is when an aversive stimulus is avoided or removed. So, in short, because someone escaped the danger, they would be more likely to run if that situation were to reoccur. This doesn’t, however, explain phobias.
Behaviorist psychologist John B. Watson did a study on fear. In this study, he
created an irrational fear of white rats in a young boy whom he called “Little Albert.”
Watson adopted Little Albert for some lab tests. In his lab, he observed two things about the child: first, that he didn’t like loud noises, and second, that he did not fear white lab rats. Watson created a situation where the loud noise was an unconditioned stimulus and the startled behavior of Little Albert was the unconditioned response. He introduced a white rat into the situation as a neutral stimulus. Every time Little Albert would reach for or notice the Lab Rat, Watson would produce a loud noise and startle the child. Eventually after repeated pairing, Watson observed that the startled, fearful behavior produced by the loud noise was carried on to the new conditioned stimulus of the white rat. He had conditioned the child into fearing the white rat. The results of this study can be seen as true in our own phobias.
To better understand this concept, look at the irrational fear of spiders,
arachnophobia. The stimulus/response relationship is there, where the presence of
spiders causes fear in a person. However, in this situation, a behaviorist would argue that the spider is not an unconditioned stimulus, but a conditioned one. Perhaps, when this person was a child, they would see a spider and be interested in it. Naturally, they would want to observe the creature from a closer point. When they start moving towards it, their parents may yell at and startle the child. While they may only be looking outfortheir child’s health and safety, they create a fear ofthis child. The initial stimulus wouldbe the yelling and the response would be the startled child. With repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus of the spider becomes a conditioned stimulus. Now, whenever the child sees a spider, they respond in fear.
Phobias can easily be explained as being a conditioned stimulus that creates an
irrational fear. With a normal fear, the danger brings about the fight or flight instinct.
With the repeated pairing of a neutral stimulus, a phobia is created. While the cognitive
theory can explain many other things in psychology, I believe that it cannot sufficiently
explain these irrational fears. In this one topic, I believe behaviorist psychology is the
better perspective.
Essay on Phobias of Animals and the Natural Environment
While the reason for fearing certain animals lies in their dangerousness (e.g., sharks, lions, crocodiles), many dangerous animals are not objects of an animal phobia. This is because most people afraid of these animals are not impaired by such fear (e.g., they simply avoid places where they might encounter dangerous animals). Indeed, patients with animal phobia are usually afraid of animals such as snakes, dogs, cats, spiders and other insects, rats, and mice. Only a minority of these animals is dangerous, so factors other than danger seem to be more important in determining whether particular animals will be feared and avoided to the extent characteristic of a phobia. The most important of these factors is a feeling of disgust elicited by some animals.
It has been argued that with animals such as spiders, the main underlying issue is a feeling of disgust rather than a perception of danger, considering that only 0.1% of all the varieties of spiders are dangerous to humans.
The universal nature of the feeling of disgust probably accounts for the finding that disgust-relevant animals (e.g., spiders, cockroaches, worms) are feared to the same or very similar extent in different countries, even countries where contacts with some of these animals are unlikely. Animal phobias typically have an onset in childhood and are more common among women.
This is a heterogeneous group of phobias, which includes phobias of heights (acrophobia), water, storms, and thunder and/or lightning. It appears that in many patients with phobias from this group, particularly patients with phobias of heights and water, there is no history of contact or traumatic experience with the phobic stimuli prior to the onset of the phobia. This finding suggests that such phobias may have an ''innate,'' survival-relevant character.
The age of onset of natural environment phobias varies, but in many cases it is early. The main underlying theme in this subtype of phobia is the danger associated with phobic stimuli. That is, patients with the phobia of heights are typically afraid of falling off, whereas those with the water phobia are afraid of drowning.
References:
1. Mataix-Cols D, Rauch SL, Manzo PA, et al. 1999. Use of factor-analyzed symptom dimensions to predict outcome with serotonin reuptake inhibitors and placebo in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156: 1409--1416.
2. O'Sullivan G, Noshirvani H, Marks I, et al. 1991. Six year follow-up after exposure and clomipramine therapy for obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 52: 150--155.
3. Stravynski A, Marks I, Yule W. 1982. Social skills problems in neurotic outpatients: Social skills training with and without cognitive modification. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39: 1378--1385.
LISTEN& READ
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444914904577615690632669590
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/worried-that-people-are-laughing-at-you--150686245/609498.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2002_49_mon_04.shtml
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine-articles/creepy-crawlies
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/worried-that-people-are-laughing-at-you--150686245/609498.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2002_49_mon_04.shtml
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine-articles/creepy-crawlies
extra sources
phobias pdf free ebook download
http://www.insideout.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IO479-Phobias.pdf
http://www.michellehenry.fr/phobies.htm
http://www.kimscounselingcorner.com/2012/09/03/fear-of-you-fill-in-the-blank-all-about-phobias/
http://fear1.org/phobia-quiz-worksheet-l12.html
http://cedar.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/schoolofpsychology/cedar/documents/Specific_Phobia_Guide_Final.pdf
http://www.education.ne.gov/assessment/pdfs/WEB%20FOLDER%20C4L%20MAY%202012/8_L_Phobias.pdf
http://www.acibadem.edu.tr/staticfiles/files/ayes_key.pdf
http://www.insideout.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IO479-Phobias.pdf
http://www.michellehenry.fr/phobies.htm
http://www.kimscounselingcorner.com/2012/09/03/fear-of-you-fill-in-the-blank-all-about-phobias/
http://fear1.org/phobia-quiz-worksheet-l12.html
http://cedar.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/schoolofpsychology/cedar/documents/Specific_Phobia_Guide_Final.pdf
http://www.education.ne.gov/assessment/pdfs/WEB%20FOLDER%20C4L%20MAY%202012/8_L_Phobias.pdf
http://www.acibadem.edu.tr/staticfiles/files/ayes_key.pdf
27 Şubat 2014 Perşembe
HOMEWORK
HOMEWORK
1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
2. INTERNET INFO: Search the Internet and find more information about phobias. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about phobias. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
4. PHOBIAS POSTER Make a poster about phobias. Show it to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your posters.
5. MY PHOBIAS LESSON: Make your own English lesson on phobias. Make sure there is a good mix of things to do. Find some good online activities. Teach the class / another group when you have finished.
WRITING
Write about phobias for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.
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READING, LISTENING,SPEAKING AND WRITING ACTIVITY
THE TAPESCRIPT
Phobias are interesting things. Some of them are very serious and can have a really negative influence on life. The most common phobias are the fear of open spaces or closed spaces and the fear of heights and flying. Doctors say all phobias are treatable. Phobias are irrational fears of something. There is no logical reason why someone is afraid of going outside or of flying. It’s all inside the sufferer’s head. I understand some phobias like the fear of flying, but not others. Some people are afraid of babies, or computers, and even of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. That phobia has a really long Latin name. I wonder if there’s a phobia about the English language. Perhaps that’s grammarphobia. |
LISTENING GAP FILL
Phobias are interesting things. Some ________________ serious and can have __________________ on life. The most common phobias are__________________ or closed spaces and the fear of heights and flying. Doctors say all __________________. Phobias are irrational fears of something. There __________________ why someone is afraid of going outside or of flying. It’s all inside the sufferer’s head. __________________ phobias like the fear of flying, but not others. Some __________________ babies, or computers, and even of peanut butter sticking to the __________________. That phobia has a really long Latin name. I wonder if __________________ the English language. Perhaps that’s grammarphobia.
CORRECT THE SPELLING
Phobias are interesting things. Some of them are very rsioseu and can have a really inetvage influence on life. The most common phobias are the fear of open spaces or clodes spaces and the fear of heights and flying. Doctors say all phobias are rebaetlat. Phobias are irrational fears of something. There is nolgocali reason why someone is afraid of going oiseudt or of flying. It’s all inside the sufferer’s head. I tdrunndsae some phobias like the fear of flying, but not others. Some people are ardaif of babies, or computers, and even of peanut butter sgnikitc to the roof of your uhotm. That phobia has a really long Latin name. I wonder if there’s a phobia about the English language. Perhaps that’s grammarphobia.
UNJUMBLE THE WORDS
Phobias are interesting things. Some of them are very and have really serious can a negative influence on life. The fear the are phobias common most open of spaces or closed of and and fear heights spaces the flying. Doctors say all phobias are treatable. Phobias are irrational fears of something. There no reason someone is logical why is or of of going flying outside afraid. It’s all inside the sufferer’s head. phobias the I some like fear understand of flying, but not others. Some people are afraid of babies, or computers, even and sticking butter peanut of to the roof of your mouth. That phobia has a really long Latin name. phobia a there’s if wonder I the about English language. Perhaps that’s grammarphobia.
DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)
STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B) | |
1. | ________________________________________________________ |
2. | ________________________________________________________ |
3. | ________________________________________________________ |
4. | ________________________________________________________ |
5. | ________________________________________________________ |
6. | ________________________________________________________ |
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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A) | |
1. | ________________________________________________________ |
2. | ________________________________________________________ |
3. | ________________________________________________________ |
4. | ________________________________________________________ |
5. | ________________________________________________________ |
6. | ________________________________________________________ |
STUDENT PHOBIAS SURVEY
Write five GOOD questions about phobias in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.
When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.
STUDENT 1
_____________
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STUDENT 2
_____________
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STUDENT 3
_____________
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Q.1. | ||||
Q.2. | ||||
Q.3. | ||||
Q.4. | ||||
Q.5. | ||||
- Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
- Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.
ZOOPHOBIAS- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FEAR TURNS TO PHOBIA?
Zoophobias More than one in ten people will suffer from an extreme phobia at some point in their lives. Zoophobia, the fear of animals, is one of the most common. A phobia is an irrational, uncontrollable fear of a specific object or situation. Some phobics are so frightened of the stimulus that they will go to great lengths to avoid it during everyday life. For example, a person with a phobia of birds (ornithophobia) may be too terrified to go outside for fear of encountering one. Others become so stressed when they encounter the source of their phobia that they suffer from panic attacks. Phobias affect people from all walks of life, of all races and of both sexes, although they are slightly more prevalent in women. There are three basic types of phobia: Agoraphobia: As well as being a fear of open spaces, agoraphobia is also a fear of being in a crowd, being alone in a house and travelling alone. Social phobia: A fear of specific or general social situations, such as meeting new people, group gatherings and talking to people in authority. Specific phobia: Fear of specific situations and objects, such as flying, heights, blood, thunderstorms, dogs, mice and spiders. Fear is a useful instinct. The biological processes that occur when a person is frightened gives them greater ability to either fight the source of their fear or to flee from it (the 'Fight or Flight' response). Adrenaline rushes through the body causing the heart rate, blood rate and ventilation to increase. Blood is directed away from peripheral areas of the body, such as the limbs, to more vital areas - the brain and heart. The digestive system shuts down, blood sugar is released to give the body the energy to react, and the pupils of the eyes widen to take in more light. This is a natural biological mechanism necessary for survival, but is exaggerated in phobics, and the stimulus is rarely life-threatening. Phobias may be learnt from another person. For example, a child may see his mother screaming and reacting hysterically to a spider, and from then on associate it with danger. A traumatic experience may be the trigger: a child may have been viciously attacked by a dog, thus developing the phobia. Books and television are also responsible - there are many people who are still afraid to go into the water after the film Jaws. Inate biological instincts may also be partly to blame. Primitive humans would have needed to avoid certain species of animals, as we do now, such as venomous snakes, poisonous frogs, tarantulas and wolves. These instincts may simply be particularly strong in some people. Sadly, most phobics will not seek help, although most sufferers who do undergo treatment are cured. A-Z of Zoophobias
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Phobias Do you have an irrational fear of something that doesn't worry most people - spiders, crowds, flying? Normally sane Jan Hetherington comes clean and talks about her phobia...
Phobias
Do you have an irrational fear of something that doesn't worry most people - spiders, crowds, flying? Normally sane Jan Hetherington comes clean and talks about her phobia...
We will all have panicked with good reason at some time. Most people when either peering over the edge of a cliff, about to undergo to root canal work or confronted by a growling dog will feel afraid. To panic in this situation is normal. It is a protective mechanism, which makes us more alert in a situation and prepares us in dealing with any danger.
However, what if a perfectly harmless experience creates the same response?
Phobias - what are they?
A phobia is an intense fear of a situation or object that wouldn't normally worry other people. It could severely restrict your life and may even force you to take extreme measures to avoid whatever triggers it. Almost all phobias feature places, situations, animals or objects which in themselves aren’t necessarily threatening at all, but which people react to - often out of all proportion. Those of us, who suffer from phobias, when confronted by the object of our fears, are very likely to panic - which in turn produces sometimes severe physical symptoms.
• Fast pounding heartbeat
• Breathing difficulties
• Chest pains
• Sweating
• Nausea
• Trembling
• Dizziness
• Dry Mouth
• Disorientation
• Breathing difficulties
• Chest pains
• Sweating
• Nausea
• Trembling
• Dizziness
• Dry Mouth
• Disorientation
Although these feeling pass, afterwards, you may feel depressed or embarrassed by them - all contributing towards making you feel even more nervous and inclined to avoid the situation ever again!
Common Phobias
It is possible to be phobic about almost anything and to suffer from more than one phobia at a time. Agoraphobia (fear of public places or open spaces), claustrophobia (fear of confined places), arachnophobia (fear of spiders), fear of heights, the dentists, flying and social phobias (meeting people) are amongst the most common types.
A frog in a garden pond
What causes phobias?
The exact cause isn't known. Theories include frightening experiences in early childhood or learned behaviour from a family member who suffers the same phobia. This is certainly true in my case. I have a phobia of frogs. I can trace this back to possibly my earliest childhood recollection, when as a very small child playing in the back garden, I was suddenly made aware of my mother running down the garden path screaming at me to get indoors quick! While burning some garden rubbish on a bonfire, she had spotted the trigger to her own phobia - a frog - and all rational behaviour had been lost. Now safe in doors, what she had neglected to notice was that the bonfire was still burning, had spread to the garden shed and was perilously close to burning our house down. Had it not been for an eagle eyed neighbour - I might not be here writing this today!
So, somewhere in my irrational mindset, frogs mean near death experiences. Not only are they responsible for almost burning your house down, but they're also disgustingly slimy and have the extraordinary ability to disguise themselves in the garden, just lying in wait for me to walk up the path in my wellies and to jump straight into the top of them!
Please don't ask me how many times I've found it impossible to open our back door and venture out into the garden, and all because I've spotted what could be a frog half way down the garden path - is that really a frog or just a leaf disguised as a frog? Why are my palms sweating, why is my heart racing and why do I suddenly feel sick?
Pathetic isn't it? But I'll have you know I'm in very good company…
Pierce Brosnan is claustrophobic, so was less than thrilled about appearing in the underwater scenes in GoldenEye, his first Bond outing.
Arsenal footballer Dennis Bergkamp developed a fear of flying after a false bomb scare on a plane during the 1994 World Cup. He has an agreement with the club that states he need never fly as part of his job, even if it means missing out on away matches.
Johnny Depp is arachnophobic, plasmophobic and most strangely coulrophobic. That means he's afraid of spiders, ghosts and clowns!
Madonna is reported to have brontophobia - in other words, a fear of thunder and lightning, which must be tricky, seeing as she spends most of her time here in Britain...
And poor Natalie Appleton - who can forget her multiple phobias in 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here…' which included cars, planes, lifts, crowds, hygiene and food. At one point, she even freaked out when she touched a tree!
Getting Help...
This is where I have to admit that I've not sought any help at all - my phobia doesn't impact too much on my life and over time I've developed various coping strategies to deal with it (getting rid of the fish pond in the garden has helped enormously!).
However, there is help out there. Self help groups can be a good way of contacting other people with similar problems. Relaxation techniques can also alleviate the panic that confronting your phobia can cause.
If you're feeling particularly brave, 'graduated exposure' or 'desensitisation' may be for you! Over a period of time, a person with arachnophobia might initially be asked to look at a photograph of a spider, then look at a spider in a glass tank, going on to look at a spider that someone else is holding, eventually building up to possibly even touching one themselves! This may take many months to achieve. At each stage, the person is encouraged to talk about how they feel and use specific techniques to control their anxiety.
Not altogether sure that I'm ready to be 'gradually exposed' to a box of frogs… just don't expect to see me in the Reptile House of the local Safari Park either!
FACING YOUR FEARS
A psychologist comes up with a combination of yoga, hypnosis and auditory vibrations to help people bring their minds, bodies and spirits into balance.
IF possible, most of us would want to live free of drugs and pain. We want to be physically, emotionally and mentally balanced.
When something moves out of balance, our mind and body go out of sync, too. That’s when we need healing.
After much research on different healing modalities, Dr Lennie Soo, a psychologist and clinical hypnotherapist, has come up with a unique, non-invasive method called the Full Moon Vibrational Gong Healing.
By combining simple yoga postures, hypnotherapy and gong healing – three modalities with proven track records – she has seen positive healing results in her clients.
“With medication, the pace of recovery may not be so fast. The body may heal, but not the mind.
“Vibrational healing is among the fastest ways to achieve results with daily problems, such as confidence and stress, as well as ailments, such as fertility and irritable bowel syndrome, which are very much affected by stress,” she says.
Dr Soo calls it vibrational healing, but the Chinese call it chi healing, the Indians, pranic healing, and the Japanese, reiki.
The energy is the same, but is introduced and harnessed in a different manner.
According to Dr Soo, research reveals that the vibrational sounds of the gong help reduce stress, stimulate the glandular system, strengthen the immune system, clear negative energies, increase intuition and cleanse negative karma.
It also helps activate and tune your vibrations, aligning and balancing your chakras and energy grid.
These vibrations focus and slow the mind, moving the body into a deeper, slower state of vibration. It is in this deep state that healing and realignment can occur.
“I am constantly looking for ways to put my patients into a trance state, where I can access their subconscious and deeper unconscious minds.
“I found that different people respond better to different types of inductions, for example, physical induction (kinaesthetic types), narrative induction (visual types), emotive induction (feeling types) or waking induction (nervous types).
“I started to experiment with techniques that involve all the senses within a person.
“By combining bodywork (yoga) and the gong (auditory), most patients are able to relax more deeply and become less resistant to hypnotic suggestions.
Dr Soo starts beating the gong as participants enter a deep state of relaxation after a session of gentle yoga stretching and breathing exercises.
Dr Soo starts beating the gong as participants enter a deep state of relaxation after a session of gentle yoga stretching and breathing exercises. – RICKLY LAI/The Star
“Many experience cathartic releases in one session, which accelerates their healing,” she explains.
Getting relaxed
This writer was invited to try out a recent session held at BE Urban Wellness, Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur.
I had experienced gong baths before, where you are surrounded and immersed in the sound of gongs, but this was completely new and I didn’t know what to expect.
The objective of the session was for Dr Soo to address deep-rooted fears, phobias and anxieties in participants.
While the sessions do not have to take place solely during the full-moon period, Dr Soo says research has strongly indicated that the moon affects human behaviour.
She says: “Extrapolating the conclusions of this research, I felt that the biggest positive effects that therapy can have on a person is when that person is at their peak negative state.
“It is for this reason that I have the group therapy session during the full moon.
“It can bring out the worst in people, and allow therapy to be its most effective.
“Naturally, it has to be well-controlled, and at no time must the people be exposed to actual danger.
“The perceived danger for phobias, for example, comes mainly from their own irrational fears, and not from exposure to real danger.“
The motley crew of participants were in a sea of whites, except yours truly, who didn’t know there was a colour code. White emits all colours, easing the way for heavy and dark emotions to be discharged.
We started off with some yoga breathing and gentle stretching, led by lawyer-turned-yoga teacher Balraj Pannu.
The breathing helped induce us into a state of relaxation, and as we lay on the floor, face up (relaxation pose), Dr Soo started beating the gongs.
It was therapeutic, and when we had a sharing session later, everyone reported having had different images in their mind.
Dr Soo says: “This form of therapy is very safe for all races, ages and background.
“Most people sleep through the entire session and wake up feeling transformed in ways that feel ‘natural’.
“When they wake up, they forget the stress they brought with them to the session.”
An unexpected guest
What came next was totally unexpected.
Dr Soo went to the corner of the room, grabbed a basket and announced: “I’ve got a guest in here. Just sit quietly and feel your fear. I’m going to count down to ten, then you’ll open your eyes and you will have no fear.”
There were hushed whispers all around; some participants started uttering profanities, some cried, others smiled, while I sat frozen.
Earlier, we were asked to fill a questionnaire on our fears, and I had noted down “snakes and leeches”, giving it a five on a scale of one to 10 (10 being “absolutely terrified”).
Some had mentioned fear of sharks, cockroaches, rats, drowning, confined spaces, etc, but the majority had said snakes.
As I suspected, she took out a three-year-old python, Samson. Someone screamed and started sobbing hysterically, whereupon Dr Soo went to calm her down.
Dr Soo then told us to close our eyes, immerse ourselves in our fear, while she counted down from 10. When we opened our eyes, our fears would supposedly have disappeared, or subsided.
My heart started to race as Dr Soo then invited a participant to carry the reptile (this participant had rated her fear as a nine).
The woman coolly cradled Samson in her arms and said he felt “expensive”.
I was up next.
No, no, I can’t do it, I pleaded.
“Just try,” urged Dr Soo. “Come and give Samson your hand. Let him smell you.”
I just about managed, but couldn’t bring myself to touch him, even though he seemed like a friendly fellow.
But, it was a start.
Self-directed healing
What do Dr Soo’s results from her new healing modality reveal?
“You have observed for yourself that quick results can be achieved with phobias for some people, and for others, it might take a few more sessions.
“All benefit from it at a cellular level because it does affect the para-sympathetic and nervous systems in a positive way.
“Vibration healing is non-directive and non-suggestive. You take from the session what you need.
“The role of the therapist is to engage with all your senses at a subconscious level, and it is entirely up to your body, mind and spirit to direct it towards whatever your physical, mental, emotional or psychological parts need and want.
“Thus, with phobias, we direct you towards your phobia and give you the resources to deal with it hypnotically.
“Then, it is up to you to release it whenever you feel ready to do so.
“The degree of release is determined by your own subconscious mind, or perhaps you might want to examine your own fears within the safety of the therapeutic setting.
“Our fear affects us very deeply and controls our psyche.
“Fear is the product of the story you tell yourself.
“When you can conquer your fears, it opens you to courage, strength and limitless possibilities,” she says.
Hence, the kiasu part of me decided I could indeed conquer my fear, and I asked Dr Soo if I could try again.
She gladly obliged, and this time, I managed to hold Samson for a few seconds.
It didn’t seem that bad, but I was feeling squeamish the whole time.
So, did I conquer my fear?
I don’t know yet. If my stomach woes improve, then Samson must have done me some good.
As for Samson, he accompanies the doctor during her sessions.
“Samson likes the vibration of the gong. Snakes are very sensitive to vibrations - their entire length is a vibration antenna.
“The sound of the gong relaxes them, so I bring him along for meditation sessions, gong sessions, healing sessions, etc.
“He seems to enjoy it,” shares Dr Soo about her pet snake.
But not to worry, Samson only comes out of his basket when Dr Soo needs his help to assist clients to conquer their phobia of snakes.
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