Glossary

A list of names and terms from the training programme Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking and the accompanying website www.overcoming-fear-of-public-speaking.com.

Albert Ellis
(1913) Cognitive psychologist from New York: one of the most influential psychotherapists in history. Architect of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), Ellis discovered that people are not so much confused by events themselves but by the manner in which they interpret these events.

Anxiety disorder
Psychological problem characterised by recurring periods of fear without any real underlying threat or physical cause.

Behavioural therapy
An important movement in psychotherapy. The basic principle of behavioural therapy is that undesired behaviour is learned and can, therefore, be unlearned.

Cognitive restructuring
Technique used in cognitive therapy, based on the fact that fear and depression are often caused by irrational thought. Cognitive restructuring replaces irrational negative thought with realistic positive thought.

Cognitive therapy
An important movement in psychotherapy. Cognitive therapy is a form of therapy that is based on the idea that psychological symptoms or problems stem from the way in which people select and process information.

Edmund Jacobson
Doctor from Chicago (1888 - 1983), founder of Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). Jacobson studied the relationship between muscle tension and various disorders of body and psyche over a period of 50 years.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
A controversial psychotherapy tool developed by Gary Craig in the 1990s. The theory behind EFT is that negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body’s energy field. EFT treatment aims to restore the balance of the body’s energy field by tapping on meridian points while thinking of a negative emotion.

Fear
A sense of threat or danger: a useful and natural reaction to a threatening situation. The symptoms of fear are palpitations, dry mouth, an oppressed feeling, nervous tension, irritability, restlessness, increased muscle tension or sleeping and concentration problems.

Fear of speaking
Severe irrational fear or phobia of speaking. The main manifestation of this phobia is the fear of speaking in public; but one can also be afraid of talking to superiors or experience fear during one-to-one conversations.

Flow
Phenomenon researched and promoted by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow is the state of concentrated relaxation; the state between maximal tension and maximal control. Flow exists in the area between challenge and skill and can be achieved when the challenge of a certain task is in perfect balance with the necessary skills to fulfil that task.

Imaginary exposure
Technique used in behavioural therapy in which the patient, in his imagination, is exposed to situations that evoke fear. The goal of imaginary exposure is to break the conditioned connection of fear to a certain situation and replace it with a pleasant feeling of well-being.

Irrational fear
A sense of threat or danger that is not caused by something that presents actual danger; or the intensity of fear to a threat that is not in reasonable balance with the measure of that threat.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
(1849 - 1936), Russian physiologist and doctor: awarded with the Nobel Prize. Widely known for the phenomenon of the learned reflex which he stumbled upon during his study of the digestive system of dogs.

John B. Watson
American psychologist (1878 - 1958); established the psychological school of behaviorism: the school that studies the conditioned relationship between situations and the human response to it. He also conducted the white mice experiment with "Little Albert".

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
American-Hungarian psychologist (1934). Professor at Claremont University, California. He is noted for his work in positive psychology; is one of the most widely cited psychologists today, and architect and promoter of Flow.

Mind mapping
A visual method of organising and recording information that better suits the human brain than the traditional linear way. Used for centuries but popularized by the work of British psychologist Tony Buzan.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming
A system for personal development developed in the early 1970s by Richard Bandler, John Grinder and Gregory Bateson. It uses a variety of techniques from linguistics, hypnotherapy and psychotherapy. The core idea behind NLP is that an individual's thoughts, gestures and words interact to create one's perception of the world. By emphasizing the positive thoughts, gestures and words, and diminishing the negative ones, the individual’s perception of the world will be positively influenced.

Neurology
A branch of medicine dealing with the working of the brain and the nervous system.

Phobia
Severe irrational fear.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
A technique used for the reduction of psychological tension by means of deep relaxation of all the muscle groups. Developed in the early 1920s by Edmund Jacobson and still widely used by physical therapists and psychotherapists.

Psychotherapy
Intervention to treat mental problems like anxiety, phobias, depression and addiction. There are various schools of psychotherapy, including cognitive therapy and behavioural therapy.

Real fear
A sense of threat or danger that is caused by something that presents actual danger and from which the intensity is in reasonable balance with the measure of threat.

Social phobia
Severe irrational fear of losing face in front of other people. Examples of social phobia are the fear of speaking, fear of telephoning, fear of eating out and fear of blushing or trembling.

Tony Buzan
Tony Buzan (1942), British psychologist and author: widely known for his studies of the human brain and its functions, especially with regard to memory skills, speed reading, mind mapping and creativity.

Visualization
Part of the psychological training of top-class sportsmen for the mental preparation of their performances. Through visualization and positive associations, healthy, positive tension and routine is built up.