Reptile Cymru have an exciting new collaboration with Dr Megan Davis, Health and Care Professions Council registered Psychologist, to offer therapy to address your phobias of all of our reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids.
This article does not contain any images that could be triggers for your phobia, but please be aware that this website in general does contain imagery of reptiles, amphibians and arachnids, so please do not explore off this page if this would be distressing to you.
What is a Phobia and How Does It Affect You?
The NHS defines a phobia as an “overwhelming and debilitating fear” and it can be a fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal. Animal phobias can include any animal and can be a specific animal or a large group of animals. Snake phobias (known as ophidiophobia) and tarantula or spider phobias (known as arachnophobia) are one of the more common phobias that phobia treatment can help with. Regardless of what the object of your phobia is, or how severe your reaction to it may be, there is help available to treat it.
Having a phobia such as arachnophobia can manifest in physical symptoms, psychological symptoms and behavioural symptoms. Some examples are:
Physical Symptoms of a Phobia
- Increased heart rate
- Shortness of breath, including shallow or rapid breathing
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Muscle tension or tightness, especially in the chest, neck and jaw
- Psychological Symptoms of a Phobia
- Anxiety or Panic
- Feelings of powerlessness
- Anticipatory anxiety, where you feel anxiety at the thought of encountering the phobia, even if it is not currently present
- Feeling detached or disconnected from yourself or your surroundings
Behavioural Symptoms of a Phobia
- Avoidance
- Limiting activities
- Interference with daily life
- Seeking reassurance
These are just some common examples. There are other ways that your fears may manifest. If you are experiencing any adverse reactions to any object, place, situation, feeling or animal that affect your day-to-day life then professional help is available.
Meet Dr. Megan Davis: Your Phobia Treatment Psychologist
Dr. Megan Davis is a HCPC registered Psychologist with over 8 years experience working in inpatient and community mental health settings. This has included helping people with a variety of different mental health conditions, personality disorders, and neuro diversities in line with their own goals. She has received extensive training in a number of therapy models, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and Open Dialogue Approach (ODA).
When she is not offering psychological therapy, Dr Davis enjoys spending time with her ever-growing collection of animals, which includes 3 cats, 4 fish, 2 snakes, 7 geckos, and 4 frogs. She also enjoys spending time with her daughter, with friends, and playing board games,
How Therapy with Dr. Davis Can Help You Overcome Animal Phobias
Dr Davis uses evidence based practice according to Matrics Cymru, which is managed by Public Health Wales. Evidence tables indicate that CBT and EMDR have been demonstrated to be most effective for treating phobias. Through discussion of your phobia with Dr Davis, an integrative personalised approach drawing on many therapy models can be used to allow for any individual needs that arise. In addition, collaboration with Reptile Cymru allows for the unique combination of talking therapies and graded exposure to the focus of your phobia in a controlled and safe environment with experienced animal handlers.
An initial assessment session will help you and Dr Davis collaboratively create a treatment plan most suited to supporting you to achieve your goals in relation to your phobia. This will then be followed by one to one therapy sessions as determined by you with no minimum or maximum commitment. Assessment and therapy sessions can be arranged in person or online to suit your needs, and can be facilitated outside normal working hours at evenings and weekends. Therapies with other focus areas are also available with Dr Davis on request.
Experience Phobia Therapy in a Controlled Environment with Reptile Cymru
Reptile Cymru is an exotic pet shop owned by Ben and Christy Bruckner, working with snakes, lizards, tortoises, amphibians, tarantulas and invertebrates in Cardiff for 17 years. There is a public toilet on site and a small seating area at the front of the store. It is located at Unit 10 Freemans Parc, Penarth Road, Cardiff, CF11 8EQ. There is a large free car park.
Graded exposure therapy is a form of behavioural therapy often used to treat phobias, anxiety disorders, and PTSD. It involves gradually and systematically exposing a person to the source of their fear in a controlled and supportive way. The goal is to help them reduce their fear response over time, learn to manage anxiety, and eventually become desensitized to the feared object or situation.
In collaboration with Reptile Cymru, Dr. Davis can provide graded exposure exercises which can involve visiting Reptile Cymru. The shop is open 7 days a week to the public, but dependant on staff availability, visits can be undertaken outside shop opening hours if privacy is needed.
Get Started with your Phobia Treatment Now
If you are ready to start treating your snake phobia, spider phobia, reptile phobia or require assistance with any phobia or other mental health problems, contact Dr Davis via email on Dr.m.davis@outlook.com on to book in your initial assessment session and answer any questions you might have about this process.