How Do You Work In Psychotherapy Against Glossophobia?
Glossophobia is defined as the phobia of speaking in public, that is, the fact of showing excessive fear at the idea of expressing oneself in front of a more or less large group of people.
Faced with this problem linked to anxiety, different psychotherapeutic intervention techniques can be applied, aimed at the different symptoms, very useful to help the person with glossophobia to recover their quality of life. In this article We will talk about glossophobia and what psychotherapeutic techniques can be used for it to overcome this pathological fear.
Etymologically, the meaning of glossophobia comes from the words that compose it: “glosso”, language, and “phobos”, fear. We can classify it as a type of social phobia, with the specifier that it is only activated when performing in front of an audience.
For now we know that glossophobia refers to the fear of speaking in public, but it must be differentiated from the normal feeling of anxiety that appears when performing imminently in front of other people. To make the diagnosis of phobia, it is necessary that intense discomfort appears in the subject, and that this affects his or her functionality; That is, an anxious feeling of increased tension before speaking in public is not enough, but we must actually observe an inability to do so. The subject has a really bad time and avoids the situation, goes blank, or is unable to finish the presentation.
As I have anticipated, glossophobia can be understood as a specifier of social phobia. The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5) establishes as the only specifier of social phobia the excessive fear of “only acting” when it appears only when the individual acts or speaks in public. Likewise, as with other types of phobia, to understand that a person has developed glossophobia, the diagnostic criteria must be met for at least 6 months.
And which are they the symptoms ? Typical in most other phobias, all of them linked to anxiety. Specifically, it highlights the appearance of an excessive anxiety response to the experience that generates this irrational fear, which is reflected in the following symptoms (which appear in a matter of seconds and last a few minutes, although not all of them need to appear): :
As we have seen, the symptoms of glossophobia They have a physiological and emotional facet, another cognitive type based on thoughts, and another behavioral one linked to the avoidance and flight response. Psychological treatment must address all of them.
Psychotherapeutic intervention for glossophobia
Now that we know what the causes and symptoms that can lead to this pathology are, we will see the techniques that are most effective in treating glossophobia.
1. Psychoeducation
It’s fundamental explain to the patient what is happening so that they can understand why their symptoms appear and what they are related to. Let them see that they are not “crazy”, that there are other people who suffer the same condition, and most important of all, that there is a way to treat it and reduce the symptoms and discomfort.
By making the patient aware of the pathology, psychologists aim to increase the probability that they will be more participatory in their treatment, showing more adherence to the intervention.
2. Skills learning
A prior step to any type of coping or exposure to phobias consists of check if you have the appropriate skills to be able to deal with the situation of public speaking optimally. If we see that you do not have the appropriate skills, prior learning and training will be necessary. In this way, the subject will gain confidence, feel more prepared and it is more likely that the public talk will be carried out in a more favorable way.
The skills that we can train in the situation of social phobia are both social and communicative. In the case of glossophobia, the last ones, the communicative ones, will be the most important. It works in know how to express yourself clearly, slowly, with an appropriate tone of voice taking the necessary breaths, avoiding moving constantly, since correct body communication is also important.
3. Relaxation and breathing techniques
The physical symptoms that arise in the public speaking situation are related to an increase in somatic activation, acceleration of breathing, blood pressure and heartbeat. For this reason, performing relaxation and breathing techniques prior to exposure to the phobic situation can help the subject face it more calmly.
Likewise, it is also good work on breathing to do it correctly, with an adequate rhythm, when the talk or performance is carried out in public. If slow inhalations and exhalations are carried out, we help ensure that the breathing time is calm and thus reduces the probability of feeling of suffocation and lack of air.
4. Exhibition
The exposure technique is the core of therapy for glossophobia, the one that has proven most effective. This strategy consists of exposing the subject to the situation that causes fear, going through a well-adjusted difficulty curve, with the purpose of ensuring that his fear decreases progressively.
If we make the patient expose himself and see that nothing negative happens and that he can carry out the action in an appropriate way, little by little the anxious symptoms and repetitive negative thoughts will decrease, and with it the discomfort.
Related article: “Exposure therapy with response prevention: what it is and how it is used”
Cognitive-behavioral techniques use multiple strategies, some of which introduce goals focused on cognitive work, that is, the management of thoughts, beliefs and decision making. Among them stands out cognitive restructuring which aims to identify and modify dysfunctional beliefs, repetitive negative thoughts, which, as we have already mentioned, appear in subjects with glossophobia and make the psychopathology continue to function.
An effective way to test the irrationality of thoughts is to perform the feared action and see what happens. For this reason, it is interesting to apply cognitive restructuring together with exposure, carrying out both cognitive modification and behavioral change strategies.
You may be interested: “Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: what is it and what principles is it based on?”
6. Video feedback
The video-feedback technique is also used for the treatment of social phobia. This strategy consists of filming the subject while carrying out the social interaction, in this case while speaking in public, so that they can be seen and check that your actions are not as negative as you think and thus be able to modify the distorted image he has of himself and increase his confidence.
