The referral pathways guide
Read with intention
Meet the cliniciansPhobia treatment, one small step at a time.
A phobia isn’t a lack of courage. It’s a fear system stuck on high alert. Graded exposure therapy and CBT help you retrain it, at a pace you control. Available in Parramatta or online.
A fear that’s quietly running the schedule.
A specific phobia is an intense, out-of-proportion fear of a particular object or situation. The avoiding tends to grow quieter and cleverer over time. You don’t need to tick every box to reach out.
- One specific thing (needles, dogs, flying, heights, vomiting) sets off instant alarm.
- You plan routes, seats and excuses so you never have to meet it.
- Even photos, films or conversations about it make your body react.
- Your heart races, you feel dizzy or faint, or you freeze on the spot.
- You know the fear is bigger than the real risk, but knowing doesn’t switch it off.
- Medical or dental care keeps getting postponed because of what it involves.
- Travel, work or family plans keep bending around the fear.
- It’s been six months or more, and the thing getting smaller is your world, not the fear.
If a fear is shaping your choices, that’s reason enough to get support. Specific phobias are among the most treatable anxiety conditions. And if worry has crept in more broadly, the free two-minute GAD-7 anxiety self-check is a good place to start.
Different fears, same stuck alarm.
Clinicians group specific phobias into a few broad types, and many people have more than one. Whatever yours looks like, treatment follows the same logic.
Animals & insects
Dogs, spiders, snakes, birds. Often starting in childhood, these are the phobias people most commonly recognise in themselves.
Natural environment
Heights, storms, deep water, the dark: fears of situations where the sense of being unsafe feels hard-wired.
Blood, injection & injury
Needles, procedures, seeing blood. The one type where fainting is common, so treatment adds specific skills for it.
Situational
Flying, lifts, tunnels, driving, enclosed spaces: fears that shape how you move through the world, sometimes invisibly.
Phobias usually begin in childhood or adolescence, and having more than one is common. None of it means anything is wrong with your character. It’s learning, and learning can be updated.
Graded exposure. Never a deep end.
Exposure-based CBT has the strongest evidence for specific phobias. You and your psychologist build a ladder from “barely bothers me” to “the real thing”, and you climb it together, one agreed rung at a time.
Graded exposure
Approaching the feared thing in small, planned, repeatable steps (photos before videos, distance before closeness) so your alarm system can recalibrate.
CBT
Working with the predictions underneath the fear, comparing what you expect to happen with what actually happens, so your thinking catches up with your new experience.
Skills first
Breathing, grounding and, for blood-and-needle phobias, applied muscle tension, so you have tools in hand before any exposure begins.
Imaginal & video steps
When the real thing is hard to practise with, such as flying or storms, guided imagination and video-based steps stand in until you’re ready.
You set the pace at every rung: each step is agreed before it happens. Many people find the early steps more manageable than they feared.
Your first weeks, step by step.
No surprises and no ambushes. Here’s how phobia treatment usually unfolds.
- 1
Mostly a conversation
Your psychologist asks how the fear started, what it’s costing you, and what you want back, whether that is a holiday, a health check or a licence. No exposure happens in session one.
Session one - 2
Your fear ladder
Together you map exactly what triggers the fear and build a step-by-step hierarchy. Then you practise the coping skills you’ll use before agreeing on the first small step.
Sessions two to three - 3
Climbing, reviewing
Graded exposure at your pace, with wins consolidated between sessions. Progress is reviewed against your goals, and many phobia courses are shorter than people expect.
Ongoing
Know your costs before you start.
We confirm your fee and any rebate in writing before your first session. If a funding body covers you, we bill them directly wherever possible.
See fees- Medicare: rebates on up to 10 sessions a year with a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your GP.
- NDIS, DVA, Workers Comp & CTP: usually no out-of-pocket cost when approved.
- Private health: claim through your extras cover, with no referral needed.
Meet our clinicians.
Bülent Ada
Principal Psychologist & Director
Anxiety · Trauma
Sijal Ansari
Clinical Psychologist
Trauma · PTSD
Taline Bardakjian
Consultant Psychologist
Anxiety · Sleep
Mohan Shankarappa
Clinical Psychologist
Depression · Mood
Michael L. T. Cheung
Consultant Psychologist
Stress · Couples
Shahim Ahmad
Clinical Psychologist
Stress · Anxiety
Check in with yourself.
Free, private tools to try before or alongside sessions. They are not a diagnosis.
Free · 5 to 10 min
Take the Mind Health Check
Short questionnaires, scored privately in your browser. We have ticked the ones most related to this page, and you can change them.
Fact sheet: Understanding anxiety
A plain-language guide with practical steps. Free to download.
Try this week
- List situations from the least to the most frightening.
- Practise slow breathing before you try a small step.
- Notice that anxiety rises, peaks and falls when you stay with it.
Need help now? Our urgent help page has who to call, day and night.
Things people ask before booking.
What’s the difference between a fear and a phobia?
Will I have to face my fear in the first session?
How long does phobia treatment take?
Do I need a referral to book?
Can phobia treatment work over telehealth?
What if it’s panic more than phobia?
Can I get Medicare rebates for phobia treatment?
Do you treat needle or dental phobia?
Your world doesn’t have to keep shrinking.
Tell us what the fear is and we’ll match you with a psychologist who works with phobias and anxiety, usually after a free triage. No referral needed to begin.
Talk to us
How can we help?
Fees & rebatesFind a psychologistMind Health CheckReferring a clientWorkplaces & EAP
If you need support right now Lifeline 13 11 14 · Suicide Call Back 1300 659 467 · 13YARN 13 92 76 · Emergency 000. Available 24/7 — this panel isn't.
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Follow the circle. Breathe in as it grows, out as it settles. Nothing else to do.
That calm you just found is always within reach. When you'd like someone alongside you, we're here.