Imaginary exposure for overcoming the fear of public speaking

By means of imaginary exposure, feelings of fear will also practically disappear. It is a technique used in behavioural therapy, a second important movement in psychotherapy. The basic principle of behavioural therapy is that undesired behaviour is learnt and can, therefore, be unlearned. With imaginary exposure, the course participant exposes himself to situations that evoke fear; not in reality, but in thought, in the safety of his own home. It begins with a situation that is the least fearful and gradually, when the course participant is ready, builds up to situations that terrify him. By breaking through the avoidance, fear gradually decreases and the participant becomes used to what are for him very difficult situations

With imaginary exposure you break through the vicious circle of fear to make place for a circle of pleasure and well-being. With imaginary exposure you expose yourself to fear-inducing situations. Not in reality, but in imagination, in the safety of your own home. And you learn to replace the feeling of fear with one of calm and relaxation. You begin with a situation that is the least fearful and gradually work up to situations that terrify you.

Imaginary exposure works by means of a ladder of fear. This is a list of situations entailed in giving a speech that instil fear in you. At the top of your ladder is the situation that most terrifies you. At the bottom is the situation that causes you the least fear. The ladder is, therefore, a reflection of the situations that cause you fear listed by intensity.

With imaginary exposure you call up a feeling of relaxation that you couple with the thought of a stressful situation. A technique by which you are conscious of reaching a state of complete relaxation is Progressive Muscle Relaxation. When complete relaxation is reached, then you evoke the situations that incite fear. You visualize the situations, one at a time, as they are on your ladder of fear. In this way you learn in your subconscious to associate these situations with a pleasant feeling of relaxation. The negative vicious circle gets broken. You will be amazed at the result.