Exposure therapy involves confronting your fear by gradually increasing exposure to whatever object, activity or situation may be frightening you. This technique has proven successful for treating anxiety and phobias among many other conditions.

As with most treatments, exposure therapy may cause emotional discomfort; however, its success often results in reduced symptoms. Your therapist will tailor his or her approach depending on your specific condition.

In vivo exposure

Exposure therapy's primary aim is to assist patients in safely confronting those things which cause anxiety or fear, in an organized and systematic way. By gradually exposing people, places, or situations that cause anxiety they build tolerance and resilience until those sources no longer cause distress.

There are various approaches to exposure therapy, including in vivo (real life) exposure, imaginal exposure and virtual reality exposure. With real life exposure techniques such as attending parties for those suffering social anxiety or handling snakes for those experiencing specific phobias; with vivid imagination exposure such as simulating combat in order to combat post traumatic stress disorder.

Virtual reality exposure uses virtual technology to simulate objects or situations that cause fear. This approach is useful when in-vivo exposure isn't feasible, such as with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Muscle tension therapy and interoceptive exposure therapy are other exposure therapies to consider.

Imaginal exposure

Imagined exposure involves patients vividly visualizing things or situations that cause fear. This technique is most beneficial for those experiencing severe trauma or distressing phobias, managing panic attacks and other immediate needs such as managing panic attacks. Unfortunately, however, imaginal exposure might not work for everyone - those struggling with PTSD or OCD would likely benefit more from alternate treatments.

Therapist and client collaborate to devise a detailed script based on the patient's biggest fear, then repeat it verbally or write it out as homework. A rating scale called Subjective Units of Distress or SUDS measures how anxious each scene makes someone.

Some patients suffering from PTSD or OCD fear physical sensations like a pounding heart or shaking. To combat their fear, therapists may induce these sensations deliberately so they become familiar and show that they're harmless; this method of interoceptive exposure.

Virtual reality exposure

Virtual reality may be associated with video games and movies, but it can also be used to treat mental health conditions like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias. Therapists can use VR technology to expose patients without placing them into real life situations or proximity with them - this can help if transportation or other limitations prevent in-vivo exposure therapy from taking place.

At the center of virtual exposure therapy lies its success: in it, traumatic memories of patients can be recreated using virtual reality in order to increase exposure. Therapists may provide virtual retrieval cues which encourage recall of these memories and increase exposure. Studies have demonstrated its success at alleviating symptoms of PTSD and depression while improving quality of life without resorting to medications as an expensive solution.

One recent study included 20 servicemen suffering from PTSD who participated in multiple sessions of VR-exposure therapy. Following these sessions, these servicemen underwent diagnostic testing and demonstrated significant improvements at three-month follow-up appointments.

Interoceptive exposure

Interoceptive exposure therapy uses physical sensations that people associate with anxiety or fear to break the cycle of avoidance and distortions in beliefs. For example, someone suffering from panic disorder might experience rapid heartbeat in a safe setting such as their therapist's office to help realize it is not dangerous, while another could try feeling pain or tingling in their fingers and discover they are harmless sensations.

CBT therapy typically requires the supervision of a psychologist or other health professional, such as a physical therapist. When choosing your healthcare provider it's essential they possess training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and experience using exposure therapy techniques - to do this you can search on websites like American Psychological Association's or national associations dealing with mental health disorders for credentials of each health provider. BetterHelp makes starting therapy easy by matching you up with one who has completed extensive training on anxiety-related disorders.