Agoraphobia
Fear of situations from which escape would be difficult or where help would not be available.
How it shows up
It isn’t only a fear of open spaces. More often it is the shop, the bus, a queue, a bridge — places where it would be awkward if panic took hold. The space you move in slowly narrows, sometimes to the house.
What we do with it in therapy
We work with a ladder, from the easiest upwards, and always so that the exercise isn’t an escape. Every completed step is evidence, and evidence counts for more than explanation.
See also
Self-harm
Deliberately hurting yourself as a way of managing an unbearable emotional state.
Infidelity
A breach of the agreement about exclusivity, which destroys the foundation of predictability in a relationship.
Co-regulation
Settling through another person — the nervous system regulates in contact, not alone.
