If irrational beliefs and thought patterns drive or worsen your phobia, a therapist can teach you techniques to untangle those thoughts, reframe them, and ultimately better cope with the anxiety you feel when faced with situations involving heights. Not ready for exposure therapy? Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) offers another option. During the sessions, a virtual coach led participants through a 10-story office complex, where they completed a variety of tasks that escalated in difficulty - from playing a xylophone near a balcony to rescuing a cat from a tree.Īnother 2021 study found that even just using a VR app for a single one-hour session can have benefits for people with acrophobia. Tara Eastcott climbed to the top of El Captian as one of her greatest achievements in overcoming her acrophobia.Ī 2018 study found that six 30-minute sessions of VR over the course of two weeks reduced participants' acrophobia - and those benefits lasted through follow-up four weeks later. You can try VR with or without additional support from a therapist.Įmerging research suggests virtual reality (VR) for exposure therapy may offer an effective, convenient, and more approachable alternative to in vivo exposure therapy.
Here, Tara Eastcott goes for an early morning climb to kick off the day.Įxposure therapy is largely considered the gold standard for treating phobias, but you don't need to go rock climbing to overcome your fear. "When I found one of those angles, I would keep looking there, focusing on the fear sensations in my body until they began to recede," she says. "I would take some time to look down at the ground, and all around the gym, noticing that some angles set my feet tingling, my heart racing, and my throat tightening," she says. After creating her own hierarchy, Eastcott went back to the gym and began climbing very short heights. When Eastcott works with a client who has a specific phobia, like acrophobia, she has them create an "exposure hierarchy," or a list of ways they can confront their fear from the mildest to the most extreme.
As your brain and body learn to recognize you're safe in these situations, the phobia starts to subside. This therapy approach helps you very gradually expose yourself to the fear so you can learn to cope with and manage your anxiety. While completing her Psychology degree at the University of Denver, Eastcott earned specialized treatment for treating anxiety disorders and learned that exposure therapy is one of the most effective options. Tara Eastcott taught herself to overcome her fear of heights by first practicing rock climbing at her local gym.
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