Anxiety hierarchies help you verbalize the situation that frightens you in specific terms, such as the exact settings, number of people around you or your role. By breaking the situation down into steps, you can see exactly what portions of social settings make you nervous. The different stages give you a process of confronting your fears in a gradual and safe manner.
Determining Your Anxiety Hierarchy
To determine your anxiety hierarchy, your therapist will work with you to establish a list based on situations that make you anxious. The most disturbing situation is placed on the bottom, the least disturbing at the top. Once the list is determined, your healthcare provider will help you work through the list step by step until you reach the final stage.
Desensitization and Social Anxiety Hierarchy
Desensitization therapy aims to remove fear from your anxiety-inducing situations and replacing that fear with relaxation techniques to obtain a calm and rational response. There are three parts of the desensitization process:
Relaxation: Your healthcare provider will help you with relaxation techniques and breathing exercises to help you manage your nervousnessHierarchy: You will create an anxiety hierarchy based on your unique fears and situationPractice: Your therapist will help you work your way down the anxiety hierarchy, starting at the easiest item and working slowly through each step of the hierarchy until you can face the final and most anxiety-inducing step.
It’s important to not rush through this process. For people who are eager to stop their social anxiety, they often rush through the steps and will end up actually harming their treatment. By working slowly through the process, you can ensure that you are truly comfortable and relaxed. If going to the next stage induces anxiety, you can return to a lesser step in order to build on your relaxation training. Your therapist may recommend that you only go through the hierarchy during therapy situations so your healthcare provider can ensure you are safe and comfortable throughout the process. Some phobias can be conquered in as little as four to six sessions; more severe cases will need several months of therapy.
