Cognitive Drill Therapy for Phobias

“Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear and how to be free from it”. Being fearless is not humane or moral. It is overcoming fear that makes you brave. To have no fear, is to not need to be brave, although fear to exist but not destroy you is powerful. This research paper is based around a case study that is about a seven-year-old boy who has fears of heights and darkness. The case study is done for support of the notion that cognitive drill therapy is effective. He is taken on a three-day journey where he learns how to overcome his fear and, in the end, he comes out stronger than ever. The fear is never fully gone but he learns to become fearless with bravery to conquer his fears.

There are multiple authors in this academic case study journal. The authors that contributed are all contributing for the same purpose. They all wrote and constructed this case study in order to have evidence that is efficient and reliable to support the notion that the cognitive drill therapy is validated and effective.

This case study is based around a cognitive drill therapy that is demonstrated on a seven-year-old child. He has phobias of darkness (nyctophobia) and heights (acrophobia).According to the Psychology In your life, “Phobias are classified based on the object of fear” (Grison, Sarah 2017, 506). The object of fear is the first step of the OBSD analysis which is a basis for the cognitive drill therapy. The OBSD analysis is a four-step process. O stands for objects of phobia. B stands for body and mind. S stands for safety behaviors. D stands for danger reactions. S stands for safety behaviors. This study occurred over three days. Day one was to complete the first stage of OBSD which is objects of phobia. In this case it was confirmed that he had a fear of darkness and heights. Day two was comprised of the second stage of OBSD analysis which is body and mind reactions. He was asked to rate his fear and he felt that he had conquered his fear. On day three he practiced facing his fear and he succeeded. In conclusion, he overcame his fear and the cognitive drill therapy was proven to be effective.

A typical person in this type of study is anyone, no matter what the gender, race or age. Although it is more common for children to need the cognitive drill therapies. According to the Psychology in your life, “DSM describes two types of phobias – specific phobias and social phobia”. Furthermore, this supports that DSM correlates with fear. In addition, according to Psychology in your life, “DSM describes a group of disorders that are most common in children”. This supports the statement that it is generally for children but it is not restricted for only children. In this case a seven-year-old is in cognitive drill therapy for his fear of darkness and heights. The OBSD analysis for his fear of the dark is: Object- fear of closing his eyes and going into a dark room, Body/Mind- he cries and loses his breath, Safety behaviors- he refuses to wear round neck t-shirts, shampoo his hair more than once a week and going into a dark room, and Danger ideation- he might see spirits or get hurt. The OBSD analysis for his fear of heights is: Object- anything above where he is standing, Body/Mind- he gets dizzy and shake, Safety behaviors- he refuses to go to any place that requires climbing or elevation from the ground, Danger ideation- he might fall down or get hurt. This case study concluded with the seven-year-old boy conquering his fears and doing things in his life he used to think he’d never do.

My personal connections and reactions to this case study is that I found it very entertaining and relative. I have fears of my own also. The only specific fears I can pin point is three fears: being a bad person, losing the ones I love and the unknown. Sometimes I wonder why I am so afraid all of the time but then I wonder if it is really fear or not liking certain circumstances. In my life it would seem I have a lot of fears but it is like certain points of my life I feel the emotion of fear but it can sometimes be something I am not typically afraid of. Out of all my fears I am most afraid of the unknown. This is because the unknown is what I don’t know which is the future. I am excited yet scared of my future because I like to know what’s going on but I don’t. Also, I'm worried that what I hope for won’t happen. So much change is occurring around me and it is very overwhelming. With trying to get a new car and getting ready to go to college and deciding which job I will work at with my grandparent's pressure is a lot. For my fear of being a bad person, I just want to be good and I'm scared of messing up or hurting anyone because it breaks my heart to even imagine myself being not good. So, I am afraid of that. Also losing the one’s I love makes me feel lonely and hurt. I don’t want it to happen so it causes me to have fear. Although In spite of these fears, what gives me the strength to be brave and to have hope just knows that God loves me and has a plan for me. I may not know who I will be, or what will happen to the ones I love on this earth or even what tomorrow will bring but knowing God loves me and all of us and that he has a plan for us gives me courage. God’s love and promise for us is so much more powerful than any fear.

In conclusion, this case study is done for support of the notion that cognitive drill therapy is effective. He is taken on a three-day journey where he learns how to overcome his fear and, in the end, he learns to become fearless with bravery to conquer his fears that he never thought he could overcome. Fear is very overwhelming and it can make us feel so defeated and scared but as long as we remember to have hope and be brave, we can and will conquer our fears.