To desensitize yourself to your fears, you will need to work through a program of gradual exposure through eye contact or real life with your fear. Most people do this through images, gradually exposing themselves in their mind to their fear.

Some people prefer to do a real life exhibition and others a combination. The method you choose depends on the level of your anxiety, as well as the practicality of facing your fear in real life.

Facing your fear of shopping at the grocery store or in a crowded place is much more feasible than working in gradual steps by flying an airplane or going to the ocean if you live far from one.

The desensitization process requires the formation of a hierarchy of steps to achieve your goal. Making a hierarchy is the key to success because it will help you deal with your fear in a gradual and doable way and you will see real progress as you move up the list.

To create a hierarchy, write your fear at the top of a piece of paper and your goal at the bottom of the paper. Divide the steps to complete your goal into at least 8 parts. Each step should be more challenging than the last, and each step should elicit more of a fear-based reaction than the previous step.

1) Let’s say you are afraid to go to the mall, it is so crowded, confusing, loud and overwhelming. Write your fear at the top of the page; Fear of crowded places or going to the mall.

2) Write your goal at the bottom of the page; to be able to comfortably go to the mall and buy things.

3) Now that you have your fear and your goal, you need to divide your exposure steps into at least 8 parts. Some examples of your steps might include:

For) drive to the mall parking lot with your support person. If parking is part of your anxiety and you are scared, try spending more time in the parking lot, first 1 minute, then five minutes, then 15 minutes, and so on.

B) Once you’ve mastered the parking lot, get out of the car and walk to the mall entrance with your support person.

vs) next time, go to the mall with your support person and take advantage of that in increments of time.

D) then go to the stores and spend some time in them in increasing increments. Then you can work on buying things.

The goal is to develop your resistance to this exposure and eventually do things without your support person.

You don’t have to expose yourself in real life; You can also be desensitized if you can imagine the sights, sounds, and smells of a shopping mall.

Building your hierarchy gives you your roadmap to success. Check off each step as you successfully complete it and note the date it was completed. You will feel a true sense of accomplishment and see progress in the weeks and months to come as you work to overcome your fears.