Hello Air-Clinicians & Friends,
Yesterday was a glorious day. It is a day that we became truly relaxed. OUR DIRECTOR OF COUNSELLING @HopeHuggs was there to help us all conquer our fears on #AIR-CLINIC DISCORD.
In attendance were @nairadaddy, @amarbir, @adoore-eu, @ponmile, @nexrules, DR. @maureenaleyo, @samirich, @prince-opk, @pearlumie, @pangoli etcz. We all had a lot of fun as the TUTOR gave practical examples that made the topic sink in.
Shoutout to @HopeHuggs for being awesome.
She described a technique known as The COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY as a way to tackle such. Let's take a look at some of the teachings;
What is CBT?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that is the most widely used evidence-based practice for improving mental health. Guided by empirical research, CBT focuses on the development of personal coping strategies that target solving current problems and changing unhelpful patterns in cognitions (e.g. thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes), behaviors, and emotional regulation.
ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA
@HopeHuggs Said;
The most common way of describing CBT in action is the study ‘Pavlov’s dogs’. Here, Pavlov demonstrated that he could get a dog to salivate when it heard a bell, simply by ringing the bell every time it got fed. Eventually, this ‘classical conditioning’ taught the dog to associate the bell strongly with the experience of getting fed.
Therefore CBT is based on that our behavior and thought processes have been learned through repetition, association and observation and for many us been set in our minds for years.
Using the example of talking in public,The fear is because you are probably thinking of all the things that could go wrong. You maybe think ‘people will laugh at me’, or ‘what if I stutter’ or ‘what if I faint?’. Thinking these things – and visualizing them as we tend to do – can be enough to trigger the release of hormones or other hormones and this then makes us panic and possibly even causes us to make those mistakes! A self fulfilling prophecy.
TECHNIQUES OF CBT:
- She duely outlined 5 techniques of CBT namely;
1- MINDFULNESS
2- JOURNALING
3- THOUGHT-CHALLENGING
4- HYPOTHESIS-TESTING
5- EXPOSURE THERAPY
THE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS:
- FIRST KNOW YOUR FEARS:
It could be fear of public speaking (agoraphobia), fear of spiders, fear of driving, fear of being in an elevator etcz.
- THINK ABOUT YOUR FEARS:
Since the problem here is "fear of public speaking", you have to think about it.
Does it make sense? What exactly are you afraid of in public speaking? Is it fear of ridicule? Is it fear of stuttering? Is it fear of making mistakes? Is it fear that you will forget what you have learned?
- ASK YOURSELF SOME PERTINENT QUESTIONS:
Are people usually that insensitive to laugh when you speak? Is there anyone that doesn't make a mistake? Do you normally stutter on a normal day if you aren't in public?
These will prove to you beyond reasonable doubt that your fears aren't real. They are just in your mind.
- PRACTICALIZE IT BY TESTING & EXPOSURE TO THE FEARS:
Eg. if you are scared of public speaking, @Hopehuggs suggested that you just go to an audience and stand. Don't say anything for a while and watch what they do. Infact you may actually end up making them more uncomfortable. You will see that everyone also feels what you feel because we are all humans.
Start exposing yourself to more public speaking opportunities. Practice they say makes perfect. You can start with audiences you are already comfy with like your family. Then graduate to your classmates and colleagues. Then larger audiences of random strangers.We have found that strangers are even the most sympathetic. SO try that out!
With these, I believe we have dealt a giant blow to your fear of public speaking causing you anxiety and panics. Try and try until you conquer!
Thanks for reading! Cheers!
JOIN OUR DISCORD COMMUNITY
https://discord.gg/rqded5m
Wow I really found this useful because I usually have fear of speaking in public but in my little circle I'm the most social,goofy and funniest of all but out in public I can't say a word,but I think I could read this some more times and I feel it could help me improve in socialising
I was so privileged to be apart of that wonderful discussion. I really learnt alot. Thanks to @hopehuggs. And I hope you do more of this. Thanks so much.
Thanks my dear.i am one of such people that is yoked by fear of public speaking.but when i through your post,behold and indeed,i found a right therapy to the aspect of my fear.then ,i conclude that this post was literally orchastrated from divine inspiration to answer my question i have been long ago busy asking.thanks for changing my life.
I totally enjoyed this class yesterday at the Dicord discussion room. I've already started applying these the various steps in my day to day life.
You don't have to think too much about what might be and what might not be, all one needs is to adopt the right approach and then execute as @amarbir pointed out to me during the class yesterday.
I have always had stage freight and always get scared of crowed but i think this is helpful enough...thanks a lot for sharing
I'm all nervous and afraid before I get on the stage to speak, no matter the size of the audience. But I've discovered that once I open my mouth and start talking, just like that, all my fears, doubts and insecurities disappear.
Air-Clinic is the new revolution, I'm so glad I could make it to the class. It was really educative and I'm using both the hypothesis and exposure test. But not the exposure @hopehuggs was talking about when learning how to drive a car😂😂😂😂
Wow! @air-clinic you really touch some key point there, am also scared of speaking in public, and your highlighted some reasons why and you suggested some practical solution, thanks brah!.
thanks for pointing me to this post @hopehuggs. Yes, CBT is a powerful tool for dealing with phobias. I love the idea of staring at the audience until they start to wriggle a bit lol. Great tip.
Great advice. People have to deal with fears because that is the greatest hurdle
Really interesting. I don't have a fear of public speaking but I could definitely improve my skills.