# Exposure therapy



## craig1212 (Dec 27, 2011)

I've been hearing a lot about exposure therapy, but here's the thing, isn't high school just one big exposure therapy event ? I mean I give presentations day after day (sometimes 2 in on day), silly class participation games, etc, and I don't feel any less anxious after 4 years of that. My voice still quivers when I talk, get weird looks when I do presentations because I look extremely uncomfortable ( ex, I sound like I'm about to cry). So my question is whether or not exposure therapy is that much different than what I've already been doing on my own in school (ex, giving presentations day after day) ?


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## TheoBobTing (Jul 8, 2010)

Have you tried any cognitive restructuring to go with the exposure you've been doing? Exposure therapy plus cognitive therapy forms the bulk of CBT for social phobia. You don't necessarily need a cognitive therapist. You could teach yourself about it by reading books. You might need to unearth and question your negative thoughts so that the exposure can pay off more.

Bear in mind that exposure sessions work best when they are prolonged. I think a really good exposure session lasts for about 30-45 minutes or more. Obviously this can be very uncomfortable and sometimes impractical.


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