Exposure Therapy Doesn’t Work That Way
I occasionally encounter well-meaning people who, upon hearing of my anxiety disorder, take it upon themselves to “help me face my fears.” They know a little bit about exposure therapy, so they figure that if they just tell me “You can do it! It’ll be fine!” and throw me into the anxiety-provoking situation, I will conquer my fear.
In case it wasn’t clear from the title, that doesn’t work. At all. Ever. Do not do this to someone. Real exposure therapy is done gradually and with a trained professional. There is always, always the option to say no/stop without getting in trouble. If the anxious person doesn’t have a way out of the situation, it’s not exposure therapy. It’s throwing someone into the deep end without a life jacket.
read it then read it again
