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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Can a therapist help me overcome agoraphobia?

    Related Topics
    Anxiety Mental Health
    • 2 answers
    • Anthony Berrick
    • Dr Louise Shepherd
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    Anthony Berrick

    Psychologist

    I'd just like to back up everything Grant has said. Phobias (including agoraphobia) are almost always treatable - it's one of the great acheivements of modern psychological therapy!

    A good psychologist who has experience treating phobias using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) should be able to help you acheive great results - you might be surprised how quickly you recover.

    Also, if your agoraphobia is very severe and you would struggle to leave your home to see a psycholgist (or even get a referral from your GP), some psychologists will visit you at your home until you are well enough to travel to their practice.

    All the best.

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    Dr Louise Shepherd

    Clinical Psychologist, Psychologist

    I am a clinical psychologist with 15 years experience working with all sorts of goals and issues. I love working with people, helping them to … View Profile

    A slightly different approach to the more traditional CBT is known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which uses many of the same techniques as CBT - and has a big focus on what matters to you and what gets in the way….for instance when someone has a lot of anxiety and avoids a lot of life (agoraphobia) they often miss out on things that are really important to them - such as family get togethers, meeting new people, travelling and so on .

    An ACT therapist will help you to learn skills known as mindfulness and defusion so that you feel better equipped to deal wtih the anxiety and associated scary thoughts about getting out and about. When we focus on what is important to us it can help to face things that we have been avoiding. 

    I wish you all the best!!

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