Build a fear ladder
Face something you avoid in small, safe steps, from easiest to hardest.
This is for things that feel frightening but are actually safe. It isn't for memories of trauma, or for anything genuinely dangerous. If fear is running your life, a therapist trained in exposure can guide you through it.
In the 1950s, a South African psychiatrist named Joseph Wolpe tried something his colleagues thought was risky: instead of helping people avoid what frightened them, he helped them face it. Slowly, in steps.
Each patient made a list of feared situations, from mildly uncomfortable to terrifying, and rated each one. Then they worked up the list, one rung at a time. Wolpe called it an anxiety hierarchy. Today it's usually called a fear ladder, and exposure built on it is one of the best-tested treatments for anxiety there is.
Why avoiding keeps fear alive
Avoiding something you fear brings instant relief. The trouble is what your brain learns from that relief: "Phew, that was close." The fear never gets the chance to be proved wrong, so next time it's just as strong, or stronger.
Facing it, in a step you can manage, teaches something different: the feared thing didn't happen, or it did and you coped. Researchers now think this new learning, more than simply getting used to it, is what makes exposure work.
Good rungs, and shaky ones
Sam has avoided motorways for two years, since a panic attack while driving. Which of these would make a good step on Sam's ladder?
- Sitting in the car on a slip road, engine running, for five minutes
- Rush hour on the motorway on day one, to get it over with
- Driving one junction early on a quiet Sunday morning
- Driving one junction, but only with a friend ready to take the wheel
- Repeating the same junction three times this week
- Doing one junction, then avoiding motorways for a month
0 of 6 sorted
Sam is on a step, and anxiety climbs to 60 out of 100. What's most helpful?
What it can look like in Maya
Drag to look around. Click a card for more.
Build your own ladder
Pick something you avoid that is safe, but feels frightening. Keep it everyday while you're learning.
Sign in to get feedback from Maya on your answer.
Your answers stay in this page and aren't saved or sent anywhere.
Related tools
- CBT
A behavioural experiment tests one prediction; a fear ladder builds courage step by step.
- Mindfulness
Urge surfing helps with the pull to escape: notice it rise, peak and pass.
Finish the lesson
Answer the question above to complete the lesson.