Behavior Therapy Dyad Activity

Pia’s anxiety - not being able to meet personal expectations.
Majoy’s phobia – lizards

The behavior therapy dyad activity we had is useful because during and even after the processing we realized and found a way to release stress and anxiety that is applicable in our daily lives. What we did was we thought hard, drew back our anxieties in the past, and used them for this activity. It felt awkward doing the therapy in the beginning because we had to do it seriously and it was just too hard to concentrate because a lot of external factors came into play; we did the activity on a very tiring afternoon after a whole day class and deadlines of projects and thesis distracted us from keeping an eye on the activity. Majoy did not have a hard time thinking or remembering an anxiety or phobia because she knew exactly what she is anxious about. She is very much afraid of lizards and she can say that it really hinders her to do things at home especially that lizards are considered house animals. Pia had quite a hard time thinking of an anxiety because she has no phobia whatsoever with animals, things or situations. She just remembered that she is very much anxious about not being able to meet personal expectations and it sometimes cause her to get depressed or to even doubt her capabilities when she fails to do what she expects of herself.

The succeeding instructions were hypothetical and it really was a fun part since it’s more like “what would you do if you were given a chance to do things in your own way or make things, which you think is impossible, to happen?” We had the craziest ideas and it felt good to share experiences and situations that hindered us from doing some things because of those anxieties and phobias.

As we ended with the activity, we realized that it was intended to make us feel powerful. It would really be empowering to imagine that our particular anxieties are so small and they can be something that can just be placed in a container and we can watch them from afar- far enough that they can no longer affect us. However, the need to focus is really important. We lacked that particular element and it really affected the outcome of the designed activity. Also, as we learned from our discussion of Behavior Therapy in our class, dealing with the anxiety (or doing a behavioral therapy) moves from simple to complex and from less threatening to more threatening and we can’t expect an abrupt change after doing one activity like this. During our reflection/ sharing of insights after the activity, Majoy, on one hand, stressed out that the activity is good but it did not even lessen her fear of lizards. She very well knows that her fear of lizards causes her so many hindrances, and though she sometimes wants to face her fear, or thinks that she wants to solve that anxiety, she still can not. Many people tried to explain to her that lizards are harmless and even give facts about lizards but they’re just of no use. She said someday when she’s really ready to face her fear, she might seek professional help because she admits that she won’t be able to do it even if she’s willing enough. She is aware that there are some patterns of her thinking that is maladaptive and there are beliefs and experiences that underlie such thinking. And even though a part of her is willing to face the fear, she is a person in distress and she is likely to hold her beliefs about lizards with great conviction. She feels that with a therapist’s help, she might be enlightened with it and her biases in thinking (or irrational beliefs about lizards) might be resolved. On the other hand, Pia’s anxiety occurs when she fails to meet the expectations she set for herself, which is not a very frequent occurrence since she knows her capabilities and she won’t set goals that are not attainable. She said this activity gave her an idea, a way rather to release her anxieties whenever she feels depressed for not accomplishing a goal that she has set for herself.