Phobias and How to Overcome Them: Understanding And Beating Your Fears

A handbook for sufferers, those who treat them, and those who love them.

What distinguishes a fear from a phobia? How do I know if I have one? What treatments for phobias have proven most effective? These and many other questions are addressed in this guide to the complex issue of phobias—which come in many forms and many degrees of severity. Based on scientific and clinical research as well as patients' experiences, Phobias and How to Overcome Them delves into topics including:

• Recognizing the symptoms of phobias
• Stories of successful treatments
• Specific phobias both common and uncommon
• Medical evaluation and treatment of phobias
• The roles of counseling, psychotherapy, and cognitive-behavioral therap
• Other anxiety disorders and mood disorders that may underlie phobias
• Resources for additional help

In addition, Dr. Gardner provides an Anxiety Toolkit that can be used to combat and conquer phobias—offering new techniques and new hope for people who experience these debilitating fears that can not only affect physical health but also interfere with full and joyful participation in life.

James Gardner, a well known and widely published complexity theorist, lives in Portland, Oregon. His first book, Biocosm, was selected as one of the ten best science books of 2003 by the editors of Amazon.com and was featured in major stories in TIME, U.S. News & World Report, Harper's, and National Geographic and other major publications. Gardner?s path-breaking scientific articles have appeared in Complexity (the scientific journal of the Santa Fe Institute), Acta Astronautica (the scientific journal of the International Academy of Astronautics), the International Journal of Astrobiology, and the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. He is a regular lecturer at prominent institutions around the world.


Arthur H. Bell, PhD is Director of Communication Programs and Professor of Management Communication at the Masagung Graduate School of Business, University of San Francisco.