Professional help from JUVENIS in Vienna

Specific phobia

A specific phobia refers to fears of narrowly defined objects, situations or even animals. For example, these fears relate to flying in an airplane, spiders, snakes, heights, dogs, deep water, syringes, visits to the dentist, etc.

If the affected person is confronted with the feared object or the feared situation, they usually react with strong anxiety - this manifests itself mentally ("I won't be able to do this"), in behavior (flight, avoidance) and physically and physiologically (breathing rate increases, palpitations, trembling, sweating).

The anxiety can also reach the level of a panic attack. Adult patients also know that their strong anxiety reaction is exaggerated and nonsensical. If these fears interfere with coping with everyday life and lead to a corresponding level of distress, professional help should definitely be sought.

JUVENIS consultation room for the treatment of a specific phobia

Development of a phobia

Specific phobias are often caused by a traumatic experience, e.g: A person is bitten by a dog or an engine starts to burn during a flight. However, some people develop these fears without ever having experienced a trauma (e.g. fear of flying). It is assumed that in some cases, information about a terrible event (repeated reports of plane crashes) is sufficient to develop a specific phobia. Phobias can also develop through model learning, i.e. by observing the fear response of another person.

Please contact JUVENIS by phone at +43 1 236 3020by e-mail to empfang@juvenismed.at or via the contact formto make an appointment for a consultation or treatment.

By fleeing from the feared situation, the anxiety quickly subsides. In the short term, this leads to relief, but in the long term, the anxiety disorder remains or even worsens. The patient believes they can only overcome the anxiety by escaping.

Treatments & therapies

Treatment methods in behavioral therapy (VT) for a phobia

In order to rule out physical causes for the development of the anxiety disorder, a medical examination is strongly recommended before any psychotherapy. Every treatment is preceded by a comprehensive diagnosis. In addition, an individual explanatory model is created, which provides insight into the development of the disorder. This includes pre-existing risk factors (e.g. increased anxiety) as well as triggers and maintaining factors (e.g. avoidance of the feared situation, sedatives) of the illness, which are given special consideration during treatment.

Please contact JUVENIS by phone at +43 1 236 3020by e-mail to empfang@juvenismed.at or via the contact formto make an appointment for a consultation or treatment.

  • Therapeutic relationship: The relationship between client and psychotherapist is an important factor in treatment. The therapist provides support in coping and tries to maintain a balance between change and stabilization. The better the therapeutic relationship, the more successful the therapy will be.

  • Psychoeducation: The patient is given information about the nature of anxiety, its development, course and maintenance, as well as the significance of avoidance behavior and treatment options.

  • Relaxation methods: Learning relaxation methods (e.g. progressive muscle relaxation, abdominal breathing, autogenic training) and their regular - daily (!) - application by the patient is an integral part of the treatment.

  • Exposure: Together with the patient, those situations are discussed in detail that trigger an anxiety reaction in her and are avoided in everyday life for this reason. During therapy, the patient applies the relaxation method she has learned and is confronted with one of the anxiety-inducing situations - while refraining from safety behavior (e.g. escape, avoidance or carrying emergency medication). The confrontation (exposure) can take place in the imagination (in sensu) or in reality (in vivo). The patient experiences that the fears are unpleasant but not dangerous. She recognizes that the fear - after it has reached its peak - also subsides by itself, that safety behaviours are not necessary and that her fears usually do not materialize! Through such corrective experiences, the patient re-evaluates the original trigger of the anxiety. The patient should be repeatedly confronted with as many of these feared situations as possible until they no longer trigger anxiety.

  • Depending on the individual problem, other psychotherapeutic methods may be used in specific cases.

Blood-injection-injury phobia

The treatment of a blood-syringe-injury phobia is slightly different due to the manifestations of the phobia. The fears here relate to blood, syringes and injuries. Those affected often describe a feeling of nausea or fainting. Those affected can actually faint at the sight of blood. Relaxation would promote fainting and is therefore contraindicated as a therapy method. Therefore, the confrontation with the fear-inducing object takes place under tension. The tension causes an increase in pulse rate and prevents fainting.

Costs

Treatment Price
1 therapy session (50 minutes) for the treatment of a specific phobia for new patients € 130
1 therapy session (50 minutes) for the treatment of a specific phobia for existing patients € 120

In behavioral therapy, a frequency of 1 session per week is common.

A partial refund of the costs via your health insurance is possible if you have a mental disorder that qualifies as an illness. Some private supplementary insurance policies often cover part of the costs—however, patients should check with their supplementary insurance provider.

It is also possible to deduct clinical-psychological treatment from tax as an extraordinary burden.

Team

Hilde Winkler

Hilde Winkler

Psychotherapist (behavioral therapy), clinical and health psychologist, occupational psychologist
Curriculum vitae

Dorothea Bertram

Clinical and health psychologist, psychotherapist (behavioral therapy)
Curriculum vitae

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Responsible for the content of this page: Hilde Winkler & Dorothea Bertram