Khukhlaeva O. V

Fear is a strong negative emotion that arises as a result of an imagined or real danger and poses a threat to the life of the individual. In psychology, fear is understood as the internal state of a person, which is caused by a perceived or real disaster.

Psychologists attribute fear to emotional processes. K. Izard defined this state as a basic emotion that is innate and has genetic and physiological components. Fear mobilizes the individual's body to avoid behavior. A person’s negative emotion signals a state of danger, which directly depends on numerous external and internal, acquired or congenital reasons.

Psychology of fear

Two neural pathways are responsible for the development of this feeling, which must function simultaneously. The first is responsible for basic emotions, reacts quickly and is accompanied by a significant number of errors. The second one reacts much slower, but more accurately. The first way helps us quickly respond to signs of danger, but often works as a false alarm. The second way makes it possible to more thoroughly assess the situation and therefore respond more accurately to the danger.

In the case of a feeling of fear in a person who is initiated by the first path, the functioning of the second path occurs, which evaluates some signs of danger as unreal. When a phobia occurs, the second pathway begins to function inadequately, which provokes the development of a feeling of fear of stimuli that are dangerous.

Causes of fear

In everyday life, as well as in emergency situations, a person is faced with a strong emotion - fear. A negative emotion in a person represents a long-term or short-term emotional process that develops due to an imaginary or real danger. Often this condition is marked by unpleasant sensations, at the same time being a signal for protection, since the main goal facing a person is to save his own life.

But it should be borne in mind that the response to fear is the unconscious or thoughtless actions of a person, which are caused by panic attacks with the manifestation of severe anxiety. Depending on the situations, the course of the emotion of fear in all people varies significantly in strength, as well as in its influence on behavior. Finding out the reason in a timely manner will significantly speed up getting rid of negative emotions.

The causes of fear can be both hidden and obvious. Often a person does not remember the obvious reasons. Hidden fears are understood as fears that come from childhood, for example, increased parental care, temptations, a consequence of psychological trauma; fears caused by a moral conflict or unresolved problem.

There are cognitively constructed reasons: feelings of rejection, loneliness, threats to self-esteem, depression, feelings of inadequacy, feelings of imminent failure.

Consequences of negative emotions in a person: strong nervous tension, emotional states of uncertainty, search for protection, prompting the individual to escape, save. There are basic functions of people’s fear, as well as accompanying emotional states: protective, signaling, adaptive, search.

Fear can manifest itself in the form of a depressed or excited emotional state. Panic fear (horror) is often marked by a depressed state. Synonyms for the term “fear” or similar terms are the terms “anxiety”, “panic”, “fright”, “phobia”.

If a person has a short-term and at the same time strong fear caused by a sudden stimulus, then it will be classified as fear, and a long-term and not clearly expressed one will be classified as anxiety.

Conditions such as phobias can lead to frequent and strong experiences of negative emotions by an individual. A phobia is understood as an irrational, obsessive fear associated with certain situation or an object when a person cannot cope with it on his own.

Signs of fear

Some features of the expression of negative emotions are manifested in physiological changes: increased sweating, rapid heartbeat, diarrhea, dilation and constriction of the pupils, urinary incontinence, darting eyes. These signs appear when there is a threat to life or in front of a characteristic biological fear.

Signs of fear are forced silence, passivity, refusal to act, avoidance of communication, uncertain behavior, the appearance of a speech defect (stuttering) and bad habits (looking around, stooping, biting nails, fiddling with objects); the individual strives for solitude and isolation, which contributes to the development of depression, melancholy, and in some cases provokes. People who experience fears complain of obsession, which ultimately prevents them from living a full life. Obsession with fear interferes with initiative and forces inaction. Deceptive visions and mirages accompany a person; he is afraid, tries to hide or run away.

Sensations that arise during a strong negative emotion: the ground disappears from under your feet, adequacy and control over the situation are lost, internal numbness and numbness (stupor) occurs. A person becomes fussy and hyperactive, he always needs to run somewhere, because it is unbearable to be alone with the object or problem of fear. A person is squeezed and dependent, stuffed with insecurity complexes. Depending on the type of nervous system, the individual defends himself and goes on the offensive, showing aggression. In essence, this acts as a disguise for experiences, addictions and anxieties.

Fears manifest themselves in different ways, but have common features: restlessness, anxiety, nightmares, irritability, suspicion, suspiciousness, passivity, tearfulness.

Types of fears

Yu.V. Shcherbatykh identified the following classification of fears. The professor divided all fears into three groups: social, biological, existential.

He included in the biological group those that are directly related to a threat to human life, the social group is responsible for fears and fears in social status, the scientist associated the existential group of fears with the essence of man, which is observed in all people.

All social fears are caused by situations that can undermine social status and lower self-esteem. These include fear of public speaking, responsibility, and social contacts.

Existential fears are associated with the intellect of the individual and are caused (by reflection on issues that affect the problems of life, as well as death and human existence itself). For example, this is fear of time, death, as well as the meaninglessness of human existence, etc.

Following this principle: fear of fire will be classified as a biological category, stage fright as a social category, and fear of death as an existential category.

In addition, there are also intermediate forms of fear that stand on the border between two groups. These include fear of disease. On the one hand, the disease brings suffering, pain, damage (biological factor), and on the other, a social factor (separation from society and the team, exclusion from usual activities, decreased income, poverty, dismissal from work). Therefore, this condition is referred to as the border of the biological and social group, fear of swimming in a pond on the border of the biological and existential, fear of losing loved ones on the border of the biological and existential group. It should be noted that in every phobia all three components are noted, but one is dominant.

It is common for an individual, and this is normal, to be afraid of dangerous animals, certain situations, as well as natural phenomena. People's fears about this are reflexive or genetic in nature. In the first case, the danger is based on negative experience, in the second it is recorded at the genetic level. Both cases control reason and logic. Presumably, these reactions were lost utility value and therefore quite strongly prevent a person from living fully and happily. For example, it makes sense to be careful around snakes, but it is foolish to be afraid of small spiders; One can be justifiably afraid of lightning, but not thunder, which is incapable of causing harm. With such phobias and inconveniences, people should rebuild their reflexes.

People's fears that arise in situations that are dangerous to health and life have a protective function and are therefore useful. And people’s fear of medical procedures can harm their health, since they will prevent timely diagnosis of the disease and initiation of treatment.

People's fears are varied, as are their areas of activity. A phobia is based on the instinct of self-preservation and acts as a defensive reaction in the face of danger. Fear can manifest itself in various forms. If a negative emotion is not clearly expressed, then it is experienced as a fuzzy, vague feeling - anxiety. Stronger fear is noted in negative feelings: horror, panic.

State of fear

Negative emotion is a normal individual response to the vicissitudes of life. In an implicit, expressed form, this state acts as an adaptive reaction. For example, an applicant cannot successfully pass an exam without experiencing excitement and any anxiety. But in extreme terms, the state of fear deprives the individual of the ability to fight, giving a feeling of horror and panic. Excessive excitement and anxiety do not allow the applicant to concentrate during the exam, he may lose his voice. Researchers often note a state of anxiety and fear in patients during an extreme situation.

They help relieve the state of fear a short time sedatives and benzodiazepines. A negative emotion includes a state of irritability, horror, absorption in certain thoughts, and is also marked by changes in physiological parameters: the appearance of shortness of breath, excessive sweating, insomnia, chills. These manifestations intensify over time and thereby complicate the patient’s normal life. Often this condition becomes chronic and manifests itself in the absence of a specific external reason.

Feeling of fear

The emotion of fear would be more accurate, but there is no clear boundary between these two concepts. Often, when there is a short-term effect, they talk about emotion, and when there is a long-term effect, they mean a feeling of fear. This is where the two concepts differ. And in colloquial speech, fear is classified as both a feeling and an emotion. Fear manifests itself in different ways in people: for some it constrains and limits, while for others, on the contrary, it intensifies activity.

The feeling of fear is individual and reflects all genetic characteristics, as well as the characteristics of upbringing and culture, temperament, accentuation, and neuroticism of each individual person.

There are both external and internal manifestations of fear. External refers to how an individual looks, while internal refers to the physiological processes occurring in the body. Because of all these processes, fear is classified as negative emotion, which negatively affects the entire body, increasing the pulse and heartbeat, accordingly increasing blood pressure, and sometimes vice versa, increasing sweating, changing the composition of the blood (releasing the hormone adrenaline).

The essence of fear is that an individual, being afraid, tries to avoid situations that provoke negative emotions. Strong fear, being a toxic emotion, provokes the development of various diseases.

Fears are observed in all individuals. Neurotic fear is observed in every third inhabitant of the Earth, but if it reaches strength, it turns into horror and this takes the individual out of control of consciousness, and as a result there is numbness, panic, defensiveness, and flight. Therefore, the emotion of fear is justified and serves for the survival of the individual, however, it can also take pathological forms that will require the intervention of doctors. Each fear performs a specific function and arises for a reason.

Fear of heights protects you from falling from a mountain or balcony; fear of getting burned makes you not go close to the fire, and, therefore, protects you from injury. Fear of public speaking forces you to prepare more carefully for speeches and take rhetoric courses, which should help in career growth. It is natural that an individual tries to overcome personal fears. If the source of danger is uncertain or unconscious, then the state that arises is called anxiety.

Panic fear

This condition never occurs without reason. For its development, a number of factors and conditions are necessary: ​​anxiety, anxiety, stress, schizophrenia, hypochondria,.

A depressed person’s psyche quickly reacts to any stimuli and therefore restless thoughts can undermine a person’s capacity. Anxiety and accompanying conditions gradually turn into neurosis, and neuroses, in turn, provoke the emergence of panic fear.

This condition cannot be predicted, since it can occur at any time: at work, on the street, in transport, in a store. A panic state is the body’s defensive reaction to a perceived or imaginary threat. Panic causeless fear is characterized by the following symptoms: suffocation, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, trembling, stupor, chaos of thoughts. Some cases are marked by chills or vomiting. Such conditions last from an hour to two for one or two times a week. The stronger the mental disorder, the longer and more frequent it is.

Often this condition can occur against the background of overwork and exhaustion of the body in emotionally unstable people. In most cases, women fall into this category as they are emotional, vulnerable, and react sharply to stress. However, men also experience panic for no reason, but try not to admit it to others.

Panic fear does not disappear on its own, and panic attacks will haunt patients. Treatment is carried out strictly under the supervision of psychiatrists, and relieving symptoms with alcohol only aggravates the situation, and panic will appear not only after stress, but also when nothing threatens.

Fear of pain

Since it is common for a person to periodically fear something, this is a normal reaction of our body, which reflects the performance of protective functions. Frequent experiences of this kind include fear of pain. Having previously experienced pain, the individual at an emotional level tries to avoid a repetition of this sensation and fear acts as a protective mechanism that prevents dangerous situations.

Fear of pain is not only useful, but also harmful. A person, not understanding how to get rid of this condition, long time tries not to visit the dentist or avoids an important operation, as well as an examination method. In this case, fear has a destructive function and must be fought against. Confusion about how to effectively get rid of the fear of pain only aggravates the situation and pushes towards the formation of a panic reaction.

Modern medicine currently has various methods of pain relief, so the fear of pain is predominantly only psychological in nature. This negative emotion is rarely formed from previously experienced experiences. Most likely, a person’s fear of pain from injuries, burns, or frostbite is strong, and this is a protective function.

Treatment of fears

Before starting therapy, it is necessary to diagnose what mental disorder the fears are manifesting. Phobias occur with hypochondria, depression, in the structure of neurotic disorders, panic attacks, panic disorders.

The feeling of fear occupies a significant place in clinical picture somatic diseases (hypertension, bronchial asthma and others). Fear can also be a normal reaction of an individual to the situation in which he finds himself. Therefore, the correct diagnosis is responsible for treatment tactics. The development of the disease, from the point of view of pathogenesis, should be treated in the totality of symptoms, and not in its individual manifestations.

Fear of pain can be effectively treated with psychotherapeutic methods and is eliminated with therapy that is individual in nature. Many people who do not have special knowledge on getting rid of the fear of pain mistakenly think that this is an inevitable feeling and therefore live with it for many years. In addition to psychotherapeutic methods of treating this phobia, homeopathic treatment is used.

People's fears are very difficult to correct. In modern society, it is not customary to discuss your fears. People publicly discuss illnesses and attitudes towards work, but as soon as you start talking about fears, a vacuum immediately appears. People are ashamed of their phobias. This attitude towards fears has been instilled since childhood.

Correction of fears: take a sheet of white paper and write down all your fears. In the center of the sheet, place the most significant phobia that interferes with your life. And be sure to understand the reasons for this condition.

How to get rid of fear

Every person is able to learn to overcome his fears, otherwise it will be difficult for him to achieve his goals, fulfill his dreams, achieve success and be realized in all directions of life. There are various techniques for getting rid of phobias. It is important to develop the habit of actively acting and not paying attention to the fears that arise along the way. In this case, a negative emotion is a simple reaction that arises in response to any efforts to create something new.

Fear can arise from trying to do something against your beliefs. Understand that each person develops a personal worldview over a certain period of time, and when trying to change it, it is necessary to overcome fear.

Fear can be strong or weak, depending on the power of persuasion. A person is not born successful. We are often not raised to be successful people. It is very important to act despite personal fear. Tell yourself: “Yes, I’m scared, but I will do it.” While you hesitate, your phobia grows, triumphantly turning into a powerful weapon against you. The longer you hesitate, the more you grow it in your mind. But as soon as you begin to act, the fear will immediately disappear. It turns out that fear is an illusion that does not exist.

The cure for fear is to accept your phobia and, resigned, step towards it. You shouldn't fight it. Admit to yourself: “Yes, I’m scared.” There is nothing wrong with this, you have the right to be afraid. The moment you acknowledge it, it rejoices, and then it weakens. And you start taking action.

How to get rid of fear? Assess the worst-case scenario for the expected development of events using logic. When fear appears, think about the worst-case scenario if suddenly, no matter what, you decide to act. Even the worst case scenario is not as scary as the unknown.

What causes fear? Fear's most powerful weapon is the unknown. It seems terrible, cumbersome and impossible to overcome. If your assessment is really real and the terrible condition does not go away, then it is worth thinking about whether in this case the phobia acts as a natural defensive reaction. Maybe you really need to give up further action because your negative emotion is keeping you out of trouble. If the fear is not justified and the worst case scenario is not that bad, then go ahead and act. Remember that fear lives where there is doubt, uncertainty and indecision.

The cure for fear is to remove doubts and there will be no room left for fear. This state has such power because it causes negative images in the consciousness of what we do not need and the person feels discomfort. When a person decides to do something, doubts evaporate instantly, since the decision has been made and there is no turning back.

What causes fear? As soon as fear arises in a person, a scenario of failures and failures begins to scroll through the mind. These thoughts negatively affect emotions, and they control life. The lack of positive emotions greatly influences the emergence of indecisiveness in actions, and time of inaction ingrains the individual’s own insignificance. A lot depends on determination: whether you get rid of fear or not.

Fear keeps the human mind's attention on the negative development of an event, and the decision concentrates on a positive outcome. When making any decision, we focus on how wonderful it will be when we overcome fear and ultimately get a good result. This allows you to have a positive attitude, and the main thing is to fill your mind with pleasant scenarios, where there will be no room for doubts and fears. However, remember that if at least one negative thought associated with a negative emotion arises in your head, then multiple similar thoughts will immediately arise.

How to get rid of fear? Despite the fear, act. You know what you are afraid of, and this is a big plus. Analyze your fear and answer the questions: “What exactly am I afraid of?”, “Is this really worth being afraid of?”, “Why am I afraid?”, “Does my fear have a basis?”, “What is more important for me: making an effort?” over yourself or never achieve what you want?” Ask yourself questions more often. Analyze your phobias, since analysis occurs at a logical level, and fears are emotions that are stronger than logic and therefore always win. Having analyzed and realized, a person independently comes to the conclusion that fear makes absolutely no sense. It only worsens life, making it anxious, nervous and dissatisfied with its results. Are you still afraid?

How to get rid of fear? You can fight fear with feelings (emotions). To do this, sitting comfortably in a chair, scroll through scenarios in your head of what you are afraid of and how you do what you are afraid of. The mind is unable to distinguish imaginary events from real ones. After overcoming the imaginary fear in your head, it will be much easier for you to cope with the given task in reality, since at the subconscious level the model of events has already been strengthened.

The self-hypnosis method, namely visualization of success, will be effective and powerful in the fight against fears. After ten minutes of visualization, you feel better and it is easier to overcome fear. Remember that you are not alone in your phobias. All people are afraid of something. This is fine. Your task is to learn to act in the presence of fear, and not pay attention to it, being distracted by other thoughts. When fighting fear, a person becomes weaker energetically, since the negative emotion sucks out all the energy. A person destroys fear when he completely ignores it and is distracted by other events.

How to get rid of fear? Train and develop courage. If you are afraid of rejection, there is no point in fighting it by trying to minimize the number of rejections. People who are unable to cope with fear reduce such situations to nothing and, in general, do practically nothing, which makes them unhappy in life.

Imagine that training courage is akin to pumping up muscles in the gym. First, we train with a light weight that can be lifted, and then we gradually switch to a heavier weight and try to lift it. A similar situation exists with fears. Initially, we train with minor fear, and then switch to stronger fear. For example, the fear of public speaking in front of a large audience is eliminated by training in front of a small number of people, gradually increasing the audience several times.

How to overcome fear?

Practice normal communication: in line, on the street, in transport. Use neutral themes for this. The point is to first overcome small fears, and then move on to more significant ones. Practice constantly.

How to overcome fear using other methods? Boost your self-esteem. There is a certain pattern: the better your opinion of yourself, the fewer phobias you have. Personal self-esteem protects against fears and its objectivity does not matter at all. Therefore, people with high self-esteem are able to do more than people with objective self-esteem. Being in love, people overcome very strong fear in the name of their desires. Any positive emotion helps in overcoming fears, and all negative ones only hinder.

How to overcome fear?

There is a wonderful statement that the brave is not the one who is not afraid, but the one who acts despite his feelings. Take steps step by step, taking minimal steps. If you are afraid of heights, gradually increase the height.

Don't give too much importance to some aspects of your life. The lighter and more insignificant the attitude towards life's moments, the less anxiety. Give preference to spontaneity in business, since careful preparation and scrolling through your head provokes the development of excitement and anxiety. Of course, you need to plan things, but you shouldn’t get hung up on it. If you decide to act, then act, and do not pay attention to the trembling of the mind.

How to overcome fear? Understanding your specific situation can help with this. A person is afraid when he does not understand what exactly he needs and what he personally wants. The more we are afraid, the more clumsily we act. In this case, spontaneity will help, and do not be afraid of refusals or negative results. In any case, you did it, showed courage and this is your small achievement. Be friendly good location spirit helps in the fight against fears.

Self-knowledge helps in overcoming fears. It happens that a person does not know his own capabilities and is not confident in his abilities, due to the lack of support from others. When harshly criticized, many people's confidence drops sharply. This happens because a person does not know himself and receives information about himself from other people. It is important to know that understanding other people is a subjective concept. Many people often cannot understand themselves, let alone give others a real assessment.

Knowing yourself means accepting yourself as you are and being yourself. It is human nature to act without fear, when one is not ashamed to be oneself. By acting decisively, you express yourself. Overcoming your fears means learning, developing, becoming wiser, stronger.

As we grew up and gradually learned more and more about our surroundings, we became more familiar with the objects and phenomena that once frightened us and ceased to feel fear when confronted with them. We learned to cope with various unpleasant moments in our lives by choosing a way of behavior that would eliminate the discomfort or at least reduce it.

Life has taught many of us that we should not only show our fear to others, but even admit it to ourselves.

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Many people worry about the smallest things, even if nothing serious has happened. Such feelings bring nothing but anxiety, they destroy nervous system. People who worry a lot cannot live a full life. They are constantly tense and uncomfortable. By turning to psychology, you can understand the essence of these phenomena and get rid of them.

What is the difference between fear and anxiety

Fear and anxiety, both of these phenomena may seem the same at first glance. But in reality, they don't go hand in hand. If causeless anxiety destroys the nervous system, then fear, on the contrary, mobilizes the body’s strength.

Imagine that a dog attacks you on the street, a feeling of fear will force you to act, to take any action to protect yourself. But if you simply worry that the dog might attack you, it will make you feel bad. An excessive sense of fear also does not lead to anything good.

Feelings of anxiety can vary in degree, from mild to severe. This feeling of anxiety and fear for no reason may depend on the state of the body, on upbringing or hereditary factors. This is why there are people suffering from phobias, migraines, suspiciousness, etc.

Main Causes of Anxiety

In this condition, a person experiences an internal conflict that gradually grows and makes him feel bad. Certain factors contribute to this. Let's look at the causes of fear and anxiety:

• psychological trauma in the past,
• irritating actions,
• suspiciousness of character, when a person is not sure of anything,
• psychological trauma in childhood, when parents put too much pressure on the child, made excessive demands on him,
• sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet,
• the beginning of life in a new place, previously unfamiliar to a person,
• negative events in the past,
• character traits when a pessimistic attitude towards life becomes a lifestyle,
• disorders in the body that destroy the endocrine system and cause hormonal imbalance.

The destructive effects of anxiety and fear

A person only makes things worse for himself when he constantly lives in a state of anxiety and fear. Not only his psychology suffers, but also his health. When a person experiences a constant feeling of anxiety, his heart begins to beat faster, he lacks air, and his blood pressure jumps up.

Too strong emotions make a person very tired, and his body wears out faster. Trembling appears in the limbs, he cannot fall asleep for a long time, pain appears in the stomach for no apparent reason. Many body systems suffer in this condition, women experience hormonal imbalances, and men have disruptions to the genitourinary system. Therefore, you need to know how to get rid of fear and anxiety.

Identifying problems

There is no such person who would not be afraid of anything. It is important to realize how much this interferes with life. Each person has their own fears: some are afraid to speak in public, others have problems communicating with the opposite sex, others are simply embarrassed by their character, they do not want to show themselves too smart, stupid, etc. By recognizing your problem, you can begin to fight it and overcome your fear.

Combating Fear and Anxiety

There are many ways to get rid of anxiety and fear.

1. When you feel anxious, tension always arises. And if this tension is removed, then the negative feelings will dissipate. To stop constantly worrying, you need to learn to relax. Physical activity helps with this, so try doing exercises, or better yet, engage in physical activity as a team. Walking on fresh air, jogging, breathing exercises will also help fight excessive anxiety.
2. Share your feelings with loved ones you trust. They will help you dispel feelings of fear. To other people, other people's fears seem insignificant, and they will be able to convince you of this. Communication with loved ones who love you will relieve the burden of problems that are weighing you down. If you don’t have such people, then trust your feelings to a diary.
3. Don't leave problems unresolved. Many people worry about something but do nothing to change it. Don't leave your problems as they are, start doing at least something to cope with them.
4. Humor helps us get rid of many problems, defuse tense situations and make us relax. So hang out with those people who make you laugh a lot. You can also just watch a comedy program or read about something funny. Anything that makes you feel happy can be used.
5. Do something enjoyable for you. Take a break from your negative thoughts and call your friends, invite them for a walk or just sit with you in a cafe. Sometimes it’s enough just to play computer games, read an exciting book, you can always find something that gives you pleasure.
6. Imagine more often a positive outcome of events, and not vice versa. We often worry that something might end badly and imagine it in bright colors. Try doing the opposite and imagine that everything ended well. This will help you reduce anxiety neurosis.
7. Remove everything from your life that gives rise to an anxiety disorder. Typically, watching the news or crime programs, which often talk about something negative, creates an even greater feeling of anxiety. Therefore, try not to watch them.

Psychological tricks to help get rid of fear

Give yourself 20 minutes a day when you can completely surrender to your anxiety and think about what worries you most. You can let yourself go and even cry. But when the allotted time comes to an end, stop yourself from even thinking about it and get on with your daily activities.

Find a quiet place in your apartment where nothing will disturb you. Sit comfortably, relax, breathe deeply. Imagine that in front of you is a burning piece of wood, from which smoke rises into the air. Imagine that this smoke is your alarm. Watch how it rises into the sky and completely dissolves in it until the piece of wood burns out. Just watch it without trying to influence the movement of the smoke in any way.

Do some handicrafts. Monotonous work helps to distract from unnecessary thoughts and make life more serene.

Even if you can't get rid of anxious thoughts at first, over time you will learn to do it. The main thing is to follow the advice and you will gradually become less worried.

Getting rid of fear - advice from psychologists

Psychologists suggest using several tricks to get rid of fear.

1. Art therapy helps cope with feelings of fear. Try to draw your fear and express it on paper. Then burn the piece of paper with the design.
2. When you experience panic attacks, switch to something else to do so that your feeling doesn't deepen and make you feel bad. Do something else that will absorb all your thoughts and your negative feelings will go away.
3. Realize the nature of your fear, sort it out. Try to write down everything you feel and worry about, and then light the paper.
4. The breathing exercise “Inhaling Strength and Exhaling Weakness” will help you get rid of fear. Imagine that as you inhale, courage enters your body, and as you exhale, your body gets rid of fear. You should sit up straight and be relaxed.
5. Face your fear. If you push through it no matter what, it will help you worry less. For example, you are afraid to communicate with someone, go and communicate with him. Or, for example, you are terribly afraid of dogs, watch them, try to pet a harmless dog. This is the most effective way which helps get rid of fear.
6. When panic and anxiety have completely taken over you, breathe deeply 10 times. During this time, your mind will have time to adapt to the surrounding reality and calm down.
7. Sometimes it's good to talk to yourself. This way your experiences will become more understandable to you. You realize the depth of the situation in which you find yourself. Understanding your condition will help you calm down, your heart will no longer beat so fast.
8. Feeling angry will help you shift away from your fear, so find someone that makes you feel this feeling.
9. Find something really funny, it will neutralize panic attacks instantly. You will feel much better after this.

Stop being afraid of your fears

In fact, the feeling of fear helps us overcome life's obstacles and improve our lives. Many people have done great things out of fear. Great musicians were afraid that they would remain unrecognized and composed great music, athletes were afraid of defeat and reached incredible heights, scientists and doctors made discoveries out of fear of something.

This feeling actually mobilizes the strength of our body, makes us act actively and do great things.

You will never be able to overcome your fear by simply letting it go indiscriminately or not paying attention to it. But you can become happier. Try to live with joy, enjoying the current moment. Don't worry too much about past mistakes and constantly dream about the future. This will help you live comfortably and be happy with what you have.

Do something you enjoy and you will feel important to other people. This will help you cope more easily with all the fears and worries in your life.

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Introduction

1. Psychoanalytic direction

2 Existential logotherapy

3 Behavioral direction

1 Fears in childhood

2 Fears in teenagers

3 Fears in adults

4 Fears in older people

Conclusion

Bibliography

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Theme of the course work: “Psychology of fear.”

The relevance of the topic of the course work is determined by the fact that the feeling of fear is inherent in all higher animals and is even more characteristic of humans. An animal can only be afraid of specific dangers, but a person, thanks to his imagination, is also afraid of imaginary troubles, most of which he himself creates. It is easy to create a new fear, but it is difficult to kill it precisely because of its intangibility. Fear is an emotional state that any person can observe in himself almost every day. However, it is not at all easy to explain what fear essentially is.

The purpose of this course work: theoretical analysis of understandings and approaches to studying the psychology of fear.

In accordance with the set goal and objectives, the following were studied: definitions and types of fear, theoretical directions in research on the phenomenon of fear, age characteristics the occurrence of fear, factors influencing the occurrence of fear, methods for correcting fear.

Introduction

The phenomenon of fear is one of the most pressing problems that scientists are dealing with and will always remain so, since as long as a person exists, fear will exist along with him.

It is impossible to find a person who has never experienced a feeling of fear. Worry, anxiety, fear are the same emotional integral manifestations of our mental life, as are joy, admiration, anger, surprise, and sadness.

Fear is an emotion familiar to everyone. It has a much greater influence on us than it seems at first glance. This is an emotion that has a significant impact on perceptual-cognitive processes and the behavior of the individual. Intense fear creates the effect of “tunnel perception”, that is, it greatly limits the individual’s perception, thinking and freedom of choice. In addition, fear limits a person’s freedom of behavior.

The emotion of fear occurs when a person is in a situation that he perceives as dangerous to his peace of mind and biological or social existence. Fear is a signal, a warning about impending danger, imaginary or real, in principle it makes no difference, since our body acts the same.

Fear exists regardless of the culture, faith and level of development of a people; the only thing that changes is the objects of fear, as soon as we think that we have conquered or overcome fear, another type of fear appears, as well as other means aimed at overcoming it.

There are a lot of fears in our lives. According to psychologists, each person has his own “set of fears,” consisting of several components, many of which come from early childhood. Many people are ashamed of their fears and instead of learning how to deal with fear, they look for means to eliminate it, such as alcohol, drugs, and medications. In an effort to simply eliminate, ignore, drown out fear, a person inevitably falls into delusions and, by promoting such ideas, leads into dead ends those who want to learn how to deal with their fear.

Many scientists have studied this problem. These are Z. Freud, A. Freud, V. Frankl, E. Erikson, A. Zakharov, Yu. Shcherbatykh and many others.

The purpose of this work: theoretical analysis of understandings and approaches to studying the psychology of fear.

Subject of study: the phenomenon of fear.

To achieve the goal of the course work, the following tasks were developed:

1.become familiar with the definitions and types of fear;

2.get acquainted with theoretical directions in research of the phenomenon of fear;

.consider age-related characteristics of the emergence of fear;

.become familiar with the factors influencing the occurrence of fear;

.become familiar with fear correction methods.

Chapter 1. Definition of fear

Fear is (German Angst; French angoisse; English anxiety) a person’s mental state associated with painful experiences and causing actions aimed at self-preservation (Leibin V. 2010).

By now, there are many definitions of fear.

W. James considered fear as one of the three strongest emotions, along with joy and anger, and also as an “ontogenetic early” human instinct.

According to A. Freud and Z. Freud, fear is an affective state of anticipation of some danger. Fear of a specific object is called fear, in pathological cases - phobia (A. Freud, Z. Freud, 1993). In his work “Prohibition, Symptom and Fear,” S. Freud defines fear as, first of all, something that can be felt. This feeling is of the nature of displeasure. Fears are often the result of unsatisfied desires and needs (S. Freud, 2001).

According to A. Adler, fear comes from the suppression of aggressive instinct, which plays a major role in everyday life and in neurosis (S. Yu. Golovin. 1998).

According to G. Craig, fear is an emotion that a person tries to avoid or minimize, but at the same time, fear, manifesting itself in a mild form, can encourage learning (G. Craig, 2002).

E. Erickson describes fear as a state of apprehension focused on isolated and recognizable threats so that they can be soberly assessed and realistically confronted (E. Erickson, 1996).

D. Icke believes that fear is a mental phenomenon that any person can observe in himself almost every day. Fear is an unpleasant emotional experience when a person, to one degree or another, is aware that he is in danger (D. Icke, 1998).

K. Izard writes that fear is a very strong emotion, experienced as an alarming premonition, anxiety. “A person experiences more and more uncertainty about his own well-being; fear is experienced as a feeling of absolute insecurity and uncertainty about his own safety.”

The person has a feeling that the situation is getting out of control. He feels a threat to his physical and/or psychological self, and in extreme cases, even a threat to his life. K. Izard defines fear as the most dangerous of all emotions. Intense fear even leads to death: animals and humans can be literally scared to death. But at the same time, fear also plays a positive role: it can serve as a warning signal and change the direction of thought and behavior (K. Izard, 1999).

I.P. Pavlov defined fear as “a manifestation of a natural reflex, a passive defensive reaction with slight inhibition of the cerebral cortex.” Fear is based on the instinct of self-preservation, has a protective nature and is accompanied by certain changes in the higher nervous activity, is reflected in the pulse and respiration rate, blood pressure, and the secretion of gastric juice. In its most general form, the emotion of fear arises in response to a threatening stimulus. At the same time, there are two threats that are universal and at the same time fatal in their outcome. This is death and the collapse of life values, opposing such concepts as life, health, self-affirmation, personal and social well-being.

E.P. Ilyin considers fear as an emotional state that reflects a protective biological reaction of a person or animal when they experience a real or imaginary danger to their health and well-being. However, as the author argues, if for a person as a biological being the emergence of fear is not only expedient, but also useful, then for a person as a social being, fear can become an obstacle to achieving his goals (E.P. Ilyin, 2001).

According to A.I. Zakharov, fear is one of the fundamental human emotions that arises in response to a threatening stimulus. If we objectively consider the emotion of fear, we can state that fear performs various functions in a person’s life. Throughout the entire period of development of the human race, fear acted as the organizer of people’s struggle with the elements. Fear allows you to avoid danger, as it played and continues to play a protective role. Therefore A.I. Zakharov believes that fear can be considered as a natural accompaniment of human development (A.I. Zakharov, 2000). The emotion of fear, like many other emotions, is distinguished by its predisposition to fixation in memory.

It has been proven that those events that are associated with the experience of fear are remembered better and more firmly. Fear of objects and actions that have caused pain and trouble is useful because it encourages avoidance of them in the future. Fear is “a unique means of understanding the surrounding reality, leading to a more critical, selective attitude towards it,” writes A. Zakharov.

According to L.S. Vygotsky: “Fear is a very strong emotion that has a very significant impact on an individual’s behavior and perceptual-cognitive processes. Our attention sharply decreases when we experience fear, focusing on an object or situation that signals us about danger. Intense fear significantly limits an individual’s thinking, perception and freedom of choice, creating the effect of “tunnel perception”. In addition, fear sharply limits a person’s freedom of behavior. We can say that in fear a person ceases to belong to himself; he is driven by one single desire - to avoid danger or eliminate a threat” (L.S. Vygotsky, 1983).

Chapter 2. Classification of fears

There are several different classifications of fears.

Sigmund Freud divided fears into two groups: real fears and neurotic ones. Real fear is a completely normal emotional process. It occurs in a situation of danger and helps the body mobilize to avoid this danger. And neurotic fear is what we are used to calling a phobia; it occurs when confronted with situations and objects that are not actually dangerous.

Also, A.I. Zakharov, developing the ideas of S. Freud, distinguishes real and imaginary, acute and chronic fears. Real and acute fears are predetermined by the situation, and imaginary and chronic fears are determined by personality characteristics (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

Exploring states of fear, the famous Polish psychiatrist A. Kempinski identifies four types of fear: biological, social, moral, disintegration. He associates this classification with situations that cause fear. Naptrimer, situations associated with an immediate threat to life cause biological fear. The threat emanating from the outside is clearly recognized by the subject, causing fear, and it is stronger, the more helpless a person feels in a situation of danger. Fear also appears if the threat comes from within, but “the awareness of the threat is vague, vague. There is only fear, but its causes are unknown” (A. Kempinski, 2000).

Known for his research in this area, scientist and psychotherapist A.I. Zakharov believes that conditionally all fears can be divided into natural and social. According to Zakharov, “natural fears are based on the instinct of self-preservation, and in addition to the fundamental fears of one’s own death and the death of parents, they also include fears of monsters, ghosts, animals, darkness, moving vehicles, the elements, heights, depths, water, enclosed spaces, fire, fire, blood, injections, pain, doctors, unexpected sounds, etc.” (A.I. Zakharov, 2004). The author considers social fears to be the fear of loneliness, certain people, punishment, not being on time, being late, not being able to cope, not being able to cope with feelings, not being yourself, being judged by peers, etc.

Also, A.I. Zakharov believes that fears in the most general form are conventionally divided into situational and personally determined. Situational fear occurs in an unusual, extremely dangerous or shocking environment for an adult or child. It often appears as a result of mental infection by panic in a group of people, anxious premonitions on the part of family members, difficult trials, conflicts and failures in life.

Personally determined fear is predetermined by a person’s character, for example, his anxious suspiciousness, and can appear in a new environment or during contacts with strangers (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

Analyzing children's fears, A.I. Zakharov distinguishes between age-related fears and neurotic fears. He considers age-related fears as arising in emotionally sensitive children, as a reflection of the characteristics of their mental and personal development. Neurotic fears have the following significant differences: greater emotional intensity and tension; adverse impact on the formation of character and personality; painful sharpening; relationship with other mental disorders and experiences; avoidance of the object of fear, as well as everything new and unknown; a strong connection with the fears of parents and the relative difficulty of eliminating (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

Professor Yu.V. Shcherbatykh, in his classification of fears, divides all fears into three groups: natural, social and internal. Natural fears are associated with a threat to human life. Natural phenomena that instill fear in people: thunderstorms, solar eclipses, the appearance of comets, volcanic eruptions and accompanying earthquakes, which people associate with the fear of the end of the world. A special group of natural fears consists of animal fears. Among the animals that cause especially strong fear in people are undoubtedly snakes. The second group consists of social fears - fear of changing one’s social status. Social fears can stem from biological fears, but they always have a specific social component that comes first, pushing aside more primitive survival factors. The third group consists of internal fears, born only of a person’s fantasy and imagination and having no basis in reality. The researcher considers internal fears not only fears born of a person’s imagination, but also fears of one’s own thoughts if they run counter to existing moral guidelines. There are also intermediate forms of fear, standing on the verge of two sections, and the author includes fear of spiders among them. “On the one hand, there are poisonous spiders (karakurt, tarantula), whose bite is painful and even fatal, but the chances of encountering them in our latitudes are minimal, and people are afraid of all spiders, even completely harmless ones.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, people are afraid not of a specific animal they have met, but of the terrible image that they themselves created in their minds as a child” (Yu.V. Shcherbatykh, 2007).

A phobia is stronger and more persistent than just fear and the desire to avoid an object or situation is greater. Phobias are obsessive fears, intense and overwhelming fear that grips a person despite understanding the meaninglessness and trying to cope with it.

People with a phobia experience fear even when thinking about an object or situation that frightens them, but they usually feel quite comfortable as long as they can avoid the object and thoughts about it. Most of them are well aware that their fears are excessive and unfounded. Some have no idea about the origin of their fears.

Chapter 3. Theoretical directions in the study of fear

1 Psychoanalytic direction

In S. Freud's view, the development of fear is closely connected with the system of the unconscious, with libido. The transformation of libido into fear occurs through the process of repression. Repressed sexual desires seem to find their release in the form of fear, and neurotic fear. Thus, considering phobias, S. Freud identified two phases of the neurotic process. The first phase is characterized by the implementation of repression and the translation of sexual desires into fear, correlated with external danger. In the second phase, we observe the organization of a defense system that helps prevent a collision with this danger, when repression is nothing more than an attempt to escape the “I” from sexual desires. In other neurotic diseases, other defense systems are used against the possible development of fear (Freud Z. 2001). But in any case, according to Z. Freud, the problem of fear occupies a central place in the psychology of neuroses.

In his work “Beyond the Pleasure Principle,” S. Freud stated that the concepts of “fear,” “afraid,” and “fright” are incorrectly used as synonyms. Distinguishing between fear, dread and fright from the point of view of attitude towards danger, Freud expressed the following considerations on this matter. In his opinion, fear means a certain state of anticipation of danger and preparation for the latter, even if it is unknown; fear presupposes a specific object that is feared; fear reflects a moment of surprise and is a state that occurs in the event of danger, when the subject is unprepared for it.

In his work “Inhibition, Symptom and Fear,” dedicated to the problem of fear, S. Freud emphasized that the danger underlying real fear comes from an external object, while neurotic danger comes from the demand of drive. But the requirement of attraction does not seem to be something far-fetched, it is real, and, therefore, it can be considered that neurotic fear has no less real grounds than real fear. This means that the relationship between fear and neurosis is explained by the defense of the “I” in the form of a fear reaction to the danger emanating from the drive. From Freud's point of view, the drive's demand often becomes an internal danger precisely because its satisfaction can lead to an external danger. At the same time, in order to become significant for the “I,” an external, real danger must turn into an internal experience of a person (Freud Z. 2001). In this work, Freud expressed such an understanding of the nature of fear, which indicated a clarification and revision of his previously put forward ideas about fear. The revision of the ideas about fear that he had previously formulated in lectures on introducing psychoanalysis was associated with the approach to the analysis of human mental life that was carried out in the work “I and It.” In it, Freud emphasized that the poor, unhappy “I” is exposed to danger from three sides and can be gripped by a triple fear - the real fear of the outside world, the fear of conscience of the “Super-Ego” and the neurotic fear of the “Id”. Indeed, the structuring of the psyche led Freud to the psychoanalytic understanding that the unconscious It does not experience fear, since it cannot judge situations of danger, and it is the “I”, and not the “It”, that is the place of concentration of fear. It is no coincidence that in his work “I and It” he emphasized that the “I” is a “true focus of fear” and, due to the threat of three dangers, develops an “escape reflex”, resulting in the formation of neurotic symptoms and defense mechanisms leading to phobias. “We welcomed as desirable the correspondence that the three main types of fear: real fear, neurotic and fear of conscience - without any stretch of the imagination are consistent with the three dependencies of the “I” - from the external world, from the “It” and from the “Super-ego” (3 Freud, 2011).

Some of Freud's ideas were further developed in the works of K. Horney, who introduced a lot of new things into the understanding of anxiety and the nature of fear in psychology.

“All types of fear arise from unresolved conflicts. But since we must be subject to their action if we still want to achieve the integrity of our personality, they look like a necessary obstacle in our movement towards ourselves. They represent, so to speak, a purgatory through which we must pass before we can achieve salvation” (K. Horney, 2007).

The cause of personality conflicts, according to K. Horney, is, first of all, the influence of social factors, cultural values ​​(rivalry, hostility from others, fear of failure, etc.).

As a result of these influences, a person finds himself faced with complex contradictions (a tendency towards aggressiveness and a tendency to give in; excessive claims and fear of never getting anything; the desire for self-aggrandizement and a feeling of personal helplessness.), preventing the satisfaction of necessary needs and desires, which gives rise to feelings of isolation, helplessness, fear and hostility.

3.2 Behavioral direction

At the beginning of the development of behaviorism, John Watson named several stimuli that cause fear: sudden loud noises, sudden loss of support, jolts and blows at the moment of falling asleep. Other stimuli that trigger fear reactions, from his point of view, are a combination of those already mentioned.

Based on innate (unconditioned) fear reactions, new stimuli appear throughout life that cause fear. In his experiments, Watson found that many stimuli, for example, animals, darkness, fire, do not cause fear in infancy.

While studying the emotions of infants, John B. Watson, among other things, became interested in the possibility of developing a fear response in relation to objects that had not previously evoked fear. Together with Rosalia Rayner (Watson, Rayner, 1920), Watson tested the possibility of forming an emotional reaction of fear of a white rat in an 11-month-old baby, who had previously tolerated the rat in his crib and even played with it. Albert, the son of a nurse who worked in the hospital, was a completely healthy boy, and before the experiment began (at the age of 9 months) he was not afraid of white rats, rabbits, dogs, cotton wool, monkeys and other animals. Three other children who were in the hospital at that moment were not afraid of these objects either.

The experiment was undertaken to answer three questions:

Can an infant be taught to fear animals if the animal is presented simultaneously with a fear-inducing stimulus (the sound of hitting a metal plate)?

Will this fear spread to other animals?

How long will conditioned fear last?

Loud sounds were used as an unconditional stimulus that induces fear (they hit an iron strip behind the baby's back with a hammer).

In the first episode, the plate was hit only twice each time Albert touched the white rat placed in his cradle. After just two attempts, Albert began to avoid contact with the rat. A week later, the experiment was repeated - this time the strip was hit five times, simply placing the mouse in the cradle. The baby began to demonstrate an avoidance reaction and cried only at the sight of a white rat.

After another five days, Watson decided to test whether the fear reaction would be transferred to other objects. Fear was recorded when presented with a rabbit, a dog, or a fur coat. Albert also avoided contact with cotton wool and the Santa Claus mask. Since these objects were not accompanied by loud sounds, Watson concluded that fear reactions were transferred to similar objects. As a control, Albert was given wooden blocks to play with. The cubes did not cause fear (Watson D.B., 1998). Watson suggested that, by analogy, many fears, aversions and anxieties of adults are formed in early childhood.

Further, Watson discovered that conditioned fears in humans are characterized by amazing persistence, ease of transfer to related situations and often require quite long-term therapy. This is due to the fact that conditioned fears easily extend to similar situations, but the extinction of fears achieved during therapy does not extend to similar situations.

With the development of B.F. Skinner's theory of operant conditioning introduced another (operant) model of fear conditioning. According to this model, fears can be initiated, maintained, and strengthened by reinforcement that occurs after fearful behavior.

Here it is customary to distinguish between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.

The possibility of fear arising as a result of positive reinforcement by pleasant consequences can be illustrated by the following example.

A child who is frightened by something and runs to his parents for protection receives care, affection and protection from them. In the event of any potentially scary or unpleasant events, he is now more willing to turn to his parents for support, demonstrating a persistent escape strategy.

Sometimes the child can even feign fear in this case in order to once again receive reinforcement. Fear acquires what in behavioral therapy is usually called a hidden benefit. This kind of fear is especially strong if being scared is the only way for a child to attract the attention of parents. The flight reaction reinforced in this way occurs more often in the future and is often generalized. A child, for example, asks to go to bed with his parents, citing fear of the dark.

Since fear itself is an unpleasant stimulus, a person strives to prevent fear. Each time this is successful, operant (negative) reinforcement occurs. Thus, fear begins to reinforce itself, which explains the resistance of fear to extinction in the absence of a conditioned stimulus.

3.3 Existential logotherapy

V. Frankl describes the mechanism of formation of the fear reaction as follows: a person develops fear of some phenomenon (heart attack, heart attack, cancer, etc.), an expectation reaction - fear that this phenomenon or condition will occur. Individual symptoms of the expected state may appear, which increases fear, and the circle of tension closes: the fear of expecting an event becomes stronger than the fears directly related to the event. A person begins to react to his fear by running away from reality (from life).

In this situation, V. Frankl suggests using self-detachment. The ability for self-detachment is most clearly manifested in humor. Humor allows you to distance yourself from anything (including yourself) and thereby gain control over yourself and the situation.

Fear is a biological reaction that allows you to avoid situations that seem dangerous. If a person himself actively looks for these situations, then he will learn to act “past” fear, and fear will gradually disappear, as if “atrophying from idleness” (Frankl V., 2001).

In corrective work with fears, V. Frankl uses the method of paradoxical intention. This method assumes that the psychologist directs the client to exactly what he is trying to avoid. Paradoxical intention helps to cope with your fears - a psychotherapeutic method that was proposed by Alfred Adler and then developed by Viktor Frankl. The term “intention” (from the Latin intentio - “aspiration”, “attention”) means an internal desire, the direction of consciousness towards some object or phenomenon, and “paradoxical” - literally “done the other way around”. (Frankl V., 2001).

Fears often arise when a certain incident occurs and unpleasant experiences associated with it. For example, someone is giving a public speech, he is very nervous and suddenly notices that his hands are shaking. When he once again has to perform, the fear that his hands will shake again is added to the usual excitement - and this fear comes true. Then the person begins to refuse to perform: he thinks about how his hands will shake again and how he won’t be able to hide it. If fear is not overcome in time, the situation may worsen. This is how a phobia is formed, which leads to the fact that the symptom is actually repeated, and as a result, the initial fears are even more intensified.

In such situations, paradoxical intention helps. V. Frankl described the following case: the parents of a nine-year-old boy turned to a psychotherapist, who, despite all the punishments and reproaches, wet the bed every night. The therapist surprised the child with an unexpected offer: every time the bed was wet, he would receive 50 cents for it. The boy was very pleased, hoping to make money from his disadvantage. But although he did everything possible to receive the award, nothing worked for him. The neurotic symptom disappeared as soon as the desire for its repetition came to the fore.

For example, if a person is afraid closed premises, he is asked to force himself to be in such a room. And as a result of a long stay, as a rule, fear disappears, and a person gains self-confidence and ceases to be afraid of what he previously avoided (Frankl V., 2001).

Chapter 4. Age-related characteristics of the experience of fear

1 Fears in childhood

Children's fears are children's emotional reactions to a threat situation (real or imaginary), or to an object that is dangerous in children's minds, which they experience as discomfort, excitement, a desire to run away or hide.

Young children have more fears and phobias than adults and experience the emotion of fear more intensely. Their fears can start and stop for no apparent reason as the child develops. Novelty, unpredictability and sudden change can cause fears in children. Adults teach children to be afraid of certain things before the child encounters them. Children can “take away” the fears of adults in the family (I M Marks, 1987).

First year of life

Increased anxiety in children in the first months of life most often occurs when vital physiological needs for food, sleep, activity, bowel movement, warmth, i.e., everything that determines the physical and emotional comfort of the baby are not satisfied. If physiological needs are not fully satisfied, the anxiety caused by them may persist for a long time, for example, at the time of falling asleep or eating (A.I. Zakharov, 2004).

Psychological needs as sources of anxiety do not manifest themselves immediately. The first manifestation of emotional contact is the baby’s reciprocal smile between the 1st and 2nd months, which speaks not only of the need for positive human emotions, but also of distinguishing the mother from the people around her, and soon other adults. At the age of 2 months. anxiety appears in the absence of the mother and being in a new environment (A.I. Zakharov, 2004).

At 7-8 months. anxiety in a new environment decreases, but the child’s ability to distinguish it from others increases. This indicates the formation of an emotional image of the mother.

The anxiety associated with separation from the mother and the fear that people experience in empty or crowded places are very similar. According to many psychiatric theories, it is this period of a child's life that is the decisive moment for determining whether that person will suffer from anxiety in the future. open places"or will be spared such a fate.

Age 7-9 months. - This is a period of increased sensitivity to the emergence of anxiety and fear, respectively.

From 14 months life, there is a decrease in anxiety in the absence of the mother and the fear of strangers practically decreases.

From 1 year to 3 years

By the age of 2, children can quite clearly distinguish between their parents’ sympathies. This is the age when they cry out of resentment and interfere in the conversation of adults, unable to bear the lack of attention. Concern over the unrequited feelings of the parents is fully reflected in the dream, filling it with the horrors of the mother’s disappearance.

Those parents who prohibit, limit the child’s independence, protect them, risk hindering the development of activity at the earliest stages, which further contributes to the emergence of fear. If you miss the time for the joining of the emotional and volitional sides of the developing psyche of a child, then they will exist independently of each other. The behavior of such a child is “quiet”, “downtrodden” at home and aggressive with peers or anxious. Night terrors are not uncommon (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

From 3 to 5 years

This is the age of emotional formation of the child’s “I”. A sense of community—“we”—is also formed. A feeling of guilt and empathy appears. Independence increases, does not require constant attention from adults and strives to communicate with peers. From about 3 to 6 years of age, the period of night terrors lasts: the darkness is teeming with terrible monsters and ghosts. The child is afraid of thunderstorms, lightning, fire, and the night. He doesn't want to be alone, he needs the light next to his bed to remain on and the door to be slightly open.

From 5 to 7 years

A feature of preschool age is intensive development abstract thinking. At this age, the experience of interpersonal relationships is formed, based on the child’s ability to accept and play roles, anticipate and plan the actions of another, understand his feelings and intentions.

6-year-old children typically have fears of devils, as violators of social rules and established foundations, and for one thing, as representatives of the other world. Obedient children who have experienced the age-specific feeling of guilt when violating the rules and regulations of significant authority figures are more susceptible to the fear of devils. And also overcome by anxiety and doubts about my future - “What if I won’t be beautiful?”, in a 7-year-old - suspiciousness - “Won’t we be late?” (A.I. Zakharov, 2004).

Children aged 5-7 are often afraid of terrible dreams and death in their sleep. Moreover, the very fact of awareness of death occurs most often in a dream. It is not uncommon for children of this age to dream of separation from their parents, due to the fear of their disappearance and loss.

From 7 to 11 years

By the age of 7, the child’s fears change: from terrible and vague fears, the child moves on to more specific ones - this is a period of anxiety about school and studying at school, relationships with peers and with the teacher. These fears may result in the child refusing to go to school.

This manifestation of fear may have two components. Firstly, there is anxiety due to separation from the mother, from the maternal, home environment, fear of leaving his mother, fear that something will happen to her during his absence. Secondly, there is fear of the school itself and everything that can happen there. The child begins to complain about school and, in the end, refuses to go there. If he is forced to return to school, he becomes anxious, loses his appetite, and experiences nausea, vomiting, and headaches. All these illnesses allow him not to openly express his refusal to go to school: he simply “gets sick”, more and more often.

In some cases, fear of school is caused by conflicts with peers, fear of physical aggression on their part. This is especially true for emotionally sensitive, often ill and weakened boys, and especially for those of them who have moved to another school.

The leading fear at this age is the fear of “not being the one” who is well spoken of, respected, appreciated and understood. In other words, it is the fear of not meeting the social requirements of the immediate environment. Specific forms of the fear of “being the wrong person” are fears of doing the wrong thing, the wrong thing, the wrong thing, the wrong thing, the wrong thing. They talk about growing social activity, about a strengthening sense of responsibility, duty, obligation, i.e. about what is united in the concept of “conscience”. A complete lack of sense of responsibility is typical for children of parents with chronic alcoholism, who also lead an antisocial lifestyle. There is also a delay in the development of a sense of responsibility in cases of mental infantilism and hysteria (Zakharov A., 2004).

The vast majority of fears are, to one degree or another, due to age-related characteristics and are temporary. Children's fears, if we treat them correctly and understand the reasons for their appearance, most often disappear without a trace. If they are painfully sharpened or persist for a long time, then this serves as a sign of trouble, speaks of the child’s nervous weakness, incorrect behavior of the parents, their ignorance of the mental and age characteristics of the child, the presence of fears themselves, and conflictual relationships in the family.

There are always fewer fears in the first years and they disappear faster if the mother is next to the child, the father dominates in the family, the parents do not wage a “war” with stubbornness, they develop, and do not suppress or drown out the child’s emerging “I” with anxiety, the parents themselves are confident in themselves and are able to help children overcome imaginary and real dangers (Zakharov A., 2004).

Since fear is one of the defensive reactions, ensuring the avoidance of potentially dangerous objects, the teaching of fear often takes the form of intimidation of children, as a result of which fears are generalized and acquire a chronic form, that is, they pass into the category of pathological phenomena - phobias. Thus, regular intimidation of a child in the context of the struggle for personal hygiene can lead to a phobia of infection and insects and be accompanied by the development of obsessive-compulsive neurosis (Breslav G., 2004).

2 Fears in teenagers

“Adolescence is a crucial period in the formation of a teenager’s worldview, system of relationships, interests, hobbies and social orientation. Self-esteem undergoes significant development, which is inextricably linked with a sense of self-esteem and self-confidence in the context of real interpersonal relationships” (Zakharov A., 2004).

It is always difficult for a teenager to withstand collisions with the adult world. With one hand he still holds on to his parents, and with the other he grabs his future.

A.I. Zakharov in his book “Day and Night Fears in Children” writes that if natural fears predominate in early adolescence, then these fears decrease, and social fears increase with a maximum increase at 15 years. Compared to boys, girls have a greater number of not only instinctive fears, but also interpersonal (social) fears. This not only confirms that girls are more fearful, but also indicates that their anxiety is more pronounced. The increase in anxiety and social fears is one of the criteria for the formation of self-awareness in adolescents, increasing sensitivity in the sphere of interpersonal relationships.

“The unstable teenage psyche greedily snatches from the context of the surrounding life the scares prudently offered by society (death, illness, poverty, pain, cruelty, maniacs, rapists, crisis, war, mafia, isolation, condemnation, inability to succeed, ugliness, unattractiveness...). There are a lot of scares. Almost every decade creates new monsters and reconstructs old ones. And at different times they sprout in different ways in the minds of growing children” (Zakharov A., 1995).

Teenagers' fears are usually carefully hidden. The presence of persistent fears in adolescence always indicates an inability to protect oneself. The gradual development of fears into anxious concerns also speaks of self-doubt and lack of understanding on the part of adults, when there is no sense of security and confidence in the immediate social environment. Thus, the teenage problem of “being yourself among others” results in both self-doubt and uncertainty in others. Self-doubt, which grows out of fears, is the basis of wariness, and uncertainty in others is the basis of suspicion.

Wariness and suspicion turn into mistrust, which further turns into bias in relationships with people, conflicts or isolation of one’s “I” and withdrawal from reality.

4.3 Fears in adults

Adults are also concerned and troubled by many fears, anxieties and phobias.

“Many people try to hide their fears, since social conditions condemn people who show their fears, especially for men. Therefore, many people prefer not to tell anyone about their fears, so as not to damage their reputation” (Shcherbatykh Yu. V., 2011).

For example, among male manufacturing workers, the most common fears are related to the economy, happiness in their personal lives, and political events. Women - both with high and low socioeconomic status - most often indicate concern about relationships with others, fear of natural phenomena (thunderstorms, dark places) and political conflicts, and fears related to the economy are also often mentioned.

Educational fears are also of secondary importance during the college years, when men and women are most concerned about personal relationships, political events, and fear of growing old. Fears associated with learning relate to perceived financial costs rather than academic achievement. College professors asked to rank their fears ranked fears about the country's economic situation and political conflicts ahead of concerns about mediocre students, the burden of publishing regularly, looming re-election, and a lack of academic freedom. Advocates also put economic and political fears first, followed by concerns about too many immigrants and foreigners buying land in USA. Doctors rank their fears like lawyers, except that they rank fear of litigation first (Raymond Corsini, Alan Auerbach 1996).

“Stanley Hall interprets his data on a significant predominance of the number of fears in the female part of the population in all age groups (for girls on average - 5.46, and for boys - 2.58) - because boys unconsciously reproduce the examples of their ancestors - fearless hunters and fishermen "(Breslav G., 2004).

4.4 Fears in older people

One of the main sources of fear in elderly and senile people can be considered the lack of a clear rhythm of life; narrowing the scope of communication; withdrawal from active work; empty nest syndrome; a person withdrawing into himself; a feeling of discomfort from a confined space and many other life events and situations. The most powerful fear is loneliness in old age. Loneliness in old age may be associated with living separately from younger family members. However, more significant in old age are psychological aspects: isolation, self-isolation, reflecting the awareness of loneliness as misunderstanding, indifference on the part of others. Loneliness becomes especially real for a person who lives a long time. The heterogeneity and complexity of the feeling of loneliness is expressed in the fact that an old person, on the one hand, feels an increasing gap with others and is afraid of a lonely lifestyle; on the other hand, he strives to isolate himself from others, to protect his world and the stability in it from the invasion of outsiders. One of the very serious reasons for the disruption of communication with others lies in the disruption of connections between old people and young people (Kraig G. 2005).

In late adulthood, the level of fears increases, this is due to the fact that, on the one hand, they accumulate throughout life, and on the other hand, the threat is posed by the approach of the end. The problem of fear of death is quite difficult to discuss. Individual differences in relation to death are determined by their life values, adaptation to life, and state of health. People who have not accepted old age as an inevitable stage of life and who have not adapted to it are afraid of death.

Fear of death has several sources. Death can be associated with insurmountability, hopelessness, suffering and deprivation are attributed to it; death is also associated with the action of all negative emotions, for which images, words, signs, and rituals of death become stimuli.

Solving the problem of waiting for death presupposes the ability to say “goodbye” to everything that happened in life. This skill is far from obvious; a person’s old age can last from one year to fifty years; not everyone can feel the time allotted to them with accuracy.

Chapter 5. Factors influencing the occurrence of fear

“Not all contemporaries shared John Watson’s idea of ​​the innate emotion of fear; most considered fear an acquired property” (Breslav G., 2004).

The first experience of fear in a person occurs at birth, which objectively means separation from the mother, and therefore the state of fear is considered as a “reproduction of birth trauma.” Some followers of the psychoanalytic trend also made attempts to connect various phobias with “birth trauma.” Some, for example, considered the disruption of a happy intrauterine existence during childbirth as the root cause of fear. Others have focused on the early bonds between mother and child and the possibility of a mother's anxiety passing on to her child (Rank O., 2001).

“Tomkins cites physiological drives, emotions, and cognitive processes as causes of fear. Some researchers consider the development of the emotion of fear as a function of the quality of the child's attachment to the mother. Other researchers, speaking about the causes of fear, highlight specific events and situations” (Izard K., 1999).

Drive acquires psychological significance when its intensity reaches a critical level, when it signals a person about an acute physiological deficit. In these cases, the drive activates an emotion, and that emotion may be fear. The need for oxygen is one of the vital needs of a living organism, and the powerful affect that accompanies the feeling of suffocation guarantees immediate concentration on satisfying the need, and therefore is one of the most important safety factors.

Any emotion can activate fear through the principle of emotional contagion. According to Tomkins, the reactions of fear and arousal, due to the similarity of their neurophysiological mechanisms with the mechanisms underlying the emotion of fear, are often activators of the latter. He believes that the basic relationship between the emotions of interest, surprise and fear is due to the similarity of their neurophysiological mechanisms. Tomkins believes that "sudden and complete release from prolonged and intense fear activates joy, while partial release from fear causes excitement." We observe the inverse relationship between fear and excitement when the emotion of interest-excitement develops into fear (Izard K., 1999).

“Research of the 20th century showed that the formation of fears is socially determined. A small child may be terribly afraid of a doll with unprecedentedly black eyes, but not at all afraid of a train or fire, and parents need to make a certain effort to teach him to be afraid of truly life-threatening objects” (Breslav G., 2004).

Fear (like any other emotion) can be the result of a cognitive assessment of a situation as potentially dangerous. Tomkins calls this reason “cognitively constructed.” Indeed, cognitive processes constitute the most common class of fear activators. So, for example, fear can be caused by a memory of a certain object, a mental image of the object. These cognitive processes quite often reflect not a real threat, but a fictitious one, as a result of which the person begins to fear situations that do not pose a real threat, or too many situations, or life in general. The memory of experienced fear or the anticipation of fear itself can be an activator of fear. Thus, a person, object or situation can become a source of fear as a result of:

a) forming hypotheses (imaginary sources of harm);

b) expectations of harm;

c) direct collision with a constructed (imaginary) object of fear.

Mechanisms that prepare a person to perceive a possible threat are extremely useful from the point of view of adaptation and survival.

Psychiatrist John Bowlby says that certain objects, events and situations tend to evoke fear, that is, they are “natural signals” of danger. Bowlby names only four factors as natural danger signals, namely: pain, loneliness, a sudden change in stimulation and the rapid approach of an object. These factors are not necessarily innate, internal fear activators, but we appear to be biologically predisposed to respond to them with fear.

J. Bowley identified two groups of causes of fear: “natural stimuli” and “their derivatives.” He believes that innate determinants of fear are associated with situations that actually have a high probability of danger. Derived stimuli are more influenced by culture and situational context than natural stimuli. Bowley considers loneliness to be the deepest and most important cause of fear. He attributes this to the fact that both in childhood and in old age, the likelihood of becoming ill when alone increases significantly. In addition, such natural stimuli of fear as unfamiliarity of stimulation and its sudden changes are much more frightening against the background of loneliness (Ilyin E.P., 2001. Emotions and feelings).

Pain is the first and most important natural activator of fear. Any object, event or situation associated with the experience of pain can become conditioned stimuli, the repeated encounter of which reminds the individual of a past mistake and the experience of pain. However, numerous experiments show that when a dangerous object is repeatedly presented, animals successfully avoid it without showing signs of fear (Ilyin E.P., 2001).

Many scientists also call the darkness factor as one of the activators of fear. For most people who experience fear in the dark, this feeling is associated with a sense of danger emanating from something scary and invisible. Based on the “objective danger” that people have been exposed to at night for many centuries, humanity has endowed darkness with a “subjective danger”. And thus, fear in the dark gradually turned into a more general concept of fear of the dark. True, there are also objective reasons explaining why people are so afraid of the dark. Our senses are poorly adapted to life in low light conditions: sensitive visual cells - cones - turn off in the evening.

“J. Bowlby considers sudden approach to be natural activators of fear. Important factors of fear in this situation are the appearance, size and speed with which the object approaches the person. Thus, the rapid approach of an object under certain conditions can serve as a natural danger signal. Such conditions may include: the unusualness of the object, the high speed of its approach, the size of the object, as well as the factor of surprise and suddenness” (Izard K., 1999).

Height, as a fear activator, can also be considered a natural danger signal. Under certain conditions, and at a certain stage of individual development, children begin to be afraid of heights. The results of experiments by the American scientist Campos showed that already at the age of four months, children are capable of perceiving depth. What is known to date is that although children begin to crawl at different ages (from seven to eleven months), they only develop a fear of heights and falling from heights after three weeks of crawling experience.

Thus, the main factors influencing the emergence of fear are due to biological (heredity) and social (associative learning and social borrowing) influences.

Chapter 6. Methods for correcting fear

Overcoming fear, including correction of fear, is a very complex process. Ignoring fear will most likely give a negative result. It is more correct to recognize that a person has fear and help him overcome it.

The main method of correcting fear is psychotherapy. Gestalt psychology, cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, hypnosis, and NLP are used here. During the conversation, the specialist determines which method of work is more suitable for this particular person. He can also combine them with other methods of psychotherapy.

Gestalt psychology is not very suitable for people who like to “dig into themselves” (neurotics). This type of psychology calls the accumulation of unfinished situations one of the reasons for the formation of neuroses. Its main idea is the ability of the psyche to self-regulate, to creatively adapt the body to environment and the principle of human responsibility for all his actions, intentions and expectations. The main role of the therapist is to focus the person’s attention on awareness of what is happening “here and now.”

The main idea of ​​behaviorism is that the behavior of an organism, including emotional behavior, is a learned reaction. Consequently, the body can be unlearned, or taught differently. For example, a phobia, from the point of view of behavioral therapy, is a pathologically conditioned reaction that arose as a consequence of a situation threatening a person. The cause of the disorder is sought in the patient's present, and the goal of behavioral therapy is to replace the patient's inappropriate behavior with adequate behavior. This type of psychotherapy is usually used for obsessive actions; for obsessive thoughts it is practically useless. In the immersion (exposure) method, a person is introduced several times into a situation that causes obsessive actions or anxiety, while they are asked not to perform actions that, in their opinion, they are obliged to perform in this situation.

Psychoanalysis believes that fear is not a disease, but a guide to real problems, to a person’s true concerns. Treatment of phobia in this case consists of finding its true cause. When talking about a symptom, a person perceives it as part of his being. During psychoanalysis and work around this being, the signs of phobia are deprived of their status.

The symptom becomes a partner for later life and even helps to cope with the true causes of mental pain.

Cognitive psychotherapy has developed a system of highly effective technologies, techniques and exercises aimed at restructuring maladaptive thinking and developing the ability to think more realistically and constructively. The most important advantage of the cognitive approach to treating fears is the development of self-regulation skills, i.e. teaching a person some techniques that will allow him to independently cope with newly emerging negative experiences and life problems.

Ways to overcome fear in children have their own specifics. One of the effective methods is game correction of fears. In the game, one gains a new experience of social interaction, develops imagination and expands one’s social circle, and acquires new knowledge and skills. Children themselves, in spontaneous play, overcome their fears when they play battles, hide and seek, climb trees, barns, attics, and pretend to be “Cossack robbers.” In a big city they are often deprived of this. Active play is replaced by intellectual activities; moreover, if the child is the only child, then, as a rule, he is overprotected and cannot, through restrictions and prohibitions, express himself emotionally in play, as he would like. Parents with whom they also did not play in childhood play little or not at all with their children. Character traits such as unsociability, internal tension and conflict, power and authoritarianism also deprive people of live communication. Parents of nervous children can be advised to play with their children as much as possible.

Another effective method of correcting fear in children is drawing. Drawing, like play, is not only a reflection in the minds of children of the social reality around them, but also its modeling, an expression of attitude towards it. Therefore, through drawings, you can better understand the interests of children, their deep, not always disclosed experiences, and take this into account when eliminating fears. Drawing provides a natural opportunity for development, flexibility and plasticity of thinking. Indeed, children who love to draw are distinguished by greater imagination, spontaneity in expressing feelings and flexibility of judgment. They can easily imagine themselves in the place of this or that person and express their attitude towards him, since this happens every time in the process of drawing.

With the help of drawing, it is possible to eliminate fears generated by the imagination, that is, what has never happened, but can happen in the child’s imagination. Then, in order of success, come fears based on real traumatic events, but which happened quite a long time ago and left a not very pronounced emotional trace in the child’s memory. There is no need to be afraid of some revival of fears that occurs in the process of drawing, since this is one of the conditions for their complete elimination. It is much worse if they remain with the child, ready to appear at any moment.

Modeling will also help in overcoming childhood fears. Modeling, as a method of correcting children's fears, is used mainly in older preschool age. A specific feature of modeling is its close connection with play. The volume of the completed figurine stimulates children to play with it. The teacher offers different topics: “a good person”, “parents”, as a complication of “blind the whole family”. As a correction method, “blind and break” is used, the goal of which is to overcome fear by “physically destroying” what has been done. The child is offered the topic “make something that scares you, or what you are afraid of”; at the end of the sculpting, the child is asked a series of questions about the made figure, then he is asked to crumple the figure into one with both hands big piece.

Conclusion and conclusions

An analysis of the literature review showed that the problem of fear, although rooted in the distant past, always remains relevant, because as long as a person exists, fear will exist with him. As society and civilization develop, it will take on new forms, and people will invent new ways to combat it.

Fear is not only inevitable, but necessary. As you know, fear is a positive quality when it mobilizes us to take some action or stops us. Another thing is that fear can also have negative qualities and direct people's actions in a destructive direction. For example, one of the most effective techniques for repressing fear is aggressiveness. If a person finds the strength to move from a passive state of fear into an attack, then the painful feeling of fear disappears. This is how wars arise, murders occur, etc.

Fear is one of the basic human emotions that has a strong impact on various aspects of his life. Formed at the earliest stages of ontogenesis, this feeling subsequently accompanies a person throughout his life. Fear is a part of our life. A person experiences fear in a variety of situations, but all these situations have one common feature: they are felt and perceived by a person as situations in which the peace and safety of him and those close to him are threatened. In human social development, fear acts as one of the means of education: thus, the formed fear of condemnation is used as a factor in regulating behavior. Since in society the individual enjoys the protection of legal and other social institutions, an increased tendency to fear is deprived of adaptive significance and is traditionally assessed negatively.

It should be noted that quite voluminous works on studying the emotion of fear have been done by K. Izard, Ch. Spielberger, G. Kaplan and B. Sadok, and other American psychologists. Much attention was given to this issue in the works of S. Freud, S. Kierkegaard, F. Riemann, D. Eike, O. Rank, P. Tillick, C. Rycroft, K. Horney, H. Heckhausen, A. Kempinski.

During this course work, it was possible to become familiar with various definitions and types of fear. In my work, I referred to K. Izard’s definition of fear: “Fear is a very strong emotion, experienced as an alarming premonition, anxiety. Fear is experienced as a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty about one’s own safety” (Izard K., 1999).

An analysis of the literature showed that there are several different classifications of fears. These are real and neurotic fears; natural and social fears; situational and personality-related, age-related fears.

The course work examined theoretical directions in research into the phenomenon of fear. Psychoanalytic direction: S. Freud's ideas about the nature of fear gives an understanding that the development of fear is closely related to the system of the unconscious. Behavioral perspective: John Watson describes fear as a set of reactions that occurs to a number of external stimuli. Existential logotherapy: V. Frankl on the development of fear and the use of the method of aparadoxical intention in corrective work with fears.

Age-related characteristics of the experience of fear and factors influencing the occurrence of fear were reviewed and studied. The first experience of fear in a person occurs at birth, which objectively means separation from the mother, and therefore the state of fear is considered as a “reproduction of birth trauma.”

Thus, the goals and objectives of this course work have been fulfilled.

fear age emotion

Bibliography

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18. Makarova E.G. (1996). “Overcoming fear or art - therapy” - M., “School-Press”.

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Author	Psychological feature that determines the specificity of fear	Specifics of fear (new type of fear)
D. Selley	Awareness of "experience"	Social fear born from experience
3. Freud	Super-ego	Fear of the Superego
A. Freud	Super-ego	Fear of the Superego as the first “internal” fear
G. S. Sullivan	The self-system gains the ability to self-control	The fear of violating prohibitions and subsequent sanctions becomes regulated by controlling behavior; fear becomes an element of the child’s sign (syntactic) relationship with the world
V. I. Garbuzov	Awareness of death	Fear of death
A. I. Zakharov	Awareness of death, active socialization, “magical” thinking	Fear of death, fear of “being the wrong one,” fear of mythological creatures

In addition, the existence of fear in children is described, associated with the symbolic structures of consciousness, with the mythological nature of thinking - the fear of various mythological characters. It is this approach that draws attention to these substitute fears, which may be a superstructure over all other childhood fears and which are associated with the cultural and historical development of society.

Having examined the basic theories of children's fears, let us turn to the description correctional program aimed at reducing the level of fear.

The theoretical basis of the program can be called the views of I.B. Grinshpun that the cause of fear is the deprivation of specific search-transformative activity, which “turns the child’s creativity into the area of ​​​​a kind of passive imagination, performing the function of psychological protection.” In this case, the imagination is aimed at constantly producing new images of fear instead of finding ways to “overcome” them. Accordingly, when fear takes a neurotic, painful form, the child’s imagination “deviates” from normal development. From free fantasy it turns into autostimulation, building a “circular” and rigid movement of images - thus the imagination becomes enslaved. Accordingly, the basic task, on the solution of which the success of all assistance will depend, will be the activation of fantasy and the winding up of the neurotic autostimulation chain - the destruction of habitual patterns of fantasy that lead to neurosis.

These ideas are consonant with the opinion of A.I. Zakharov that “repeated experience of fear when depicted in a drawing leads to a weakening of its traumatic sound.”

In addition, it is necessary to be based on the concept of overcoming children's fears and anxiety with the help of images, developed by A. Lazarus. It consists of using images in the process of psychotherapy that can evoke positive emotions and a feeling of freedom from anxiety.

Let's move on to the description of the correctional program itself.

The goal of the program is to activate, optimize and normalize imagination processes associated with fear. It is aimed at ensuring that the imagination develops and acts not according to the “laws” of fear, but, on the contrary, so that a healthy imagination “masters” fear and subjugates it.

Realization of the goal is ensured in the process of solving the following tasks.

Symbolic contact with the object of fear and response through enactment and identification with fear.

Activation through imagination of the resources of the unconscious associated with archetypal experiences reflected in traditional folk culture.

“Mastering” fear through changes in the focus of the relationship and restructuring of interaction with the object of fear.

The program consists of eight classes held weekly for 2 months. Each lesson takes from 1 to 2 hours. Group composition: 10-15 children aged 6-9 years.

The program is built according to the following plan.

Lesson 1. Introduction.

Primary psychological contact, stress relief, primary diagnosis.

Lesson 2. “It’s okay to be afraid.”

Removing the “fear of fear” through awareness of its social acceptability and usefulness.

Lesson 3. Archetypes of fear.

Activation of unconscious resources associated with archetypal experiences reflected in traditional folk culture.

Lesson 4. “Cheerful fear.”

The primary elements of learning to reframe are overcoming fear through a change in attitude towards it, while leaving the intrinsic value of “fearful” experiences.

Lesson 5. Real fear.

Working on problems related to specific real fears.

Lesson 6. Not afraid of fear.

The second stage of learning to reframe is learning and gaining experience in constructively interacting with fear.

Lesson 7. Fear in dreams.

Working through sleep-related fears and using sleep as a mechanism for “penetrating” the internal dynamics of fear.

Lesson 8. Conclusion.

Results. Generalization of the experience gained, awareness and verbalization of the results. Creating a festive atmosphere to create an optimistic direction of development.

Lesson 1. Introduction

General goal: primary psychological contact, stress relief, primary diagnosis.

1. “Lost!”

Target. Name representation in game form. Relieving primary stress.

Material. Blindfold.

Content. We are all walking through the forest, and suddenly we see that one of us is missing. This child is blindfolded. We begin to call him in unison, for example: “Hey, Sasha!” But in fact, he was not lost, but hidden. When he feels like it, he responds and says: “I’m here!” Everyone is happy.

2. “Ugh, clean it up!” (based on a folk game)

Target. Activation of energy potential. Relieving motor tension.

Content. The children are told that now we will build a house. A clenched fist is one floor. Children stand in a circle and put their fists on top of each other - it turns out to be a house. Then the presenter says: “The wind will blow, and the fire will burn. Ew, clean it up." At the last word, children should withdraw their hands as quickly as possible and sit in their seats.

3. “Turning into scary people”

Target. Actualization of images of fear, game diagnostics. Primary reaction.

Material. As many different masks as possible.

Content. The presenter asks: “Who can be scary? What could he be like? The children tell the story and the presenter writes it down. Then the children all together portray all the scary ones they came up with. The author (the child who came up with a specific scary one) whenever possible shows everyone how scary it should look like and commands: “Let’s turn into...”. The exercise should be carried out in an active motor form, with the presenter maintaining a cheerful and optimistic gaming atmosphere with humorous remarks.

4. Drawing fear

Target. Relaxation. Reacting through visual activity. Diagnosis of “basic fear”.

Material. Paper, paints, pencils, markers.

Content. The presenter asks the children to draw “a scary picture, something scary.” If refused, the child draws what he wants (this is an additional diagnostic factor).

Lesson 2. “You can be afraid”

General goal: removing the “fear of fear” through awareness of its social acceptability and usefulness.

1. "Confusion"

Target. Motor emancipation, formation of working capacity.

Content. Children stand in a circle, holding hands and forming a ring. The leader confuses the ring, allowing some children to pass under the hands of others. The children’s task is to “unravel” without releasing their hands.

2. Fairy tale “How fear helped Misha and Masha”

Target. Learning to understand relativity in assessing feelings. Awareness of the social acceptability of fear. Restructuring consciousness from fighting fear to using and controlling it.

Content. 1st stage. A story is read to the children.

In one place in beautiful house A family lived with a flower garden: father, mother and two children - Masha and Misha. Mom and Dad loved their children very much and were proud of them, but one thing upset them - both children were very afraid of everything: they were afraid of the wolf, they were afraid of the dark, they were afraid of being left without light, they were afraid of being left alone at home, etc.

When they went to bed, Misha put a toy pistol next to him, which, despite the fact that it was a toy, fired very loudly.

And Masha is a big toy knife. And every time, falling asleep in their cribs, they spun for a long time, listening to every rustle, so that in the morning, straightening their sheets, mother groaned every time.

One evening, mom and dad put the children to bed and went to visit grandma for a while. “Maybe they forgot to close the door,” Misha whispered to his sister, because soon in the garden, and then next to the door into the corridor, some too loud rustling sounds and footsteps were heard. The children slowly opened the door and immediately slammed it shut. There was a big black dog walking around with its tail hanging down. The children moved chairs and boxes to the door and crawled under the bed. But suddenly a terrible thought came to them: “What about mom and dad? What will happen to them when they see the dog? Maybe she’s mad and will bite them?” The children shook with fear and began to cry quietly. Then somehow Misha immediately took his pistol, and Masha took a rubber knife. “I’ll scare her,” Misha said. “And I’ll beat her,” said Masha. The children cleared away the rubble near the door and went out into the corridor. Misha rattled his pistol, and Masha slammed her knife on the wall, then on the door. "Go away!" - they shouted in unison. And the dog jumped out, and the children locked the door behind it. Soon the parents arrived. They were very alarmed. A neighbor warned that a large black dog was running from their house. The children told them everything that happened. The parents were delighted: they were proud of such children. “But how did you manage to drive away such a terrible dog?” - they asked. And the children answered: “We were just very afraid for you.”

2nd stage. Under the guidance of the presenter, the fairy tale is played out by all children in the form of a small performance. The roles are assigned by the presenter depending on the individual characteristics of the children.

3rd stage. Discussion of a fairy tale. It is concluded that fear can be useful both to the person himself and to others. Children independently come up with situations when fear interferes and when it helps.

3. “Masks of Fear”

Target. Responding to negative experiences. Preparing material for lesson 4.

Material. Pieces of thick cardboard for masks, A4 size. Scissors, paints, markers, pencils. Long thin elastic bands.

Lesson 3. Archetypes of fear

General goal: 52. Vibrational fields and noise pollution">activation of unconscious resources associated with archetypal experiences reflected in traditional folk culture.

1. “Kolobok” (a game based on a folk tale)

Target. Responding to personal fears. Material. Various masks.

Content. The fairy tale “Kolobok” is played out with children. However, the characters that Kolobok meets are replaced by those whom the children drew in lesson 1. At first Kolobok is one child, after “leaving” the first character, the child who portrayed this character joins him. After the final meeting, during which Kolobok is eaten, “a miracle happens” - the stomach bursts and Kolobok turns into ordinary children. The tale is played twice. First, the roles are distributed so that the “authors” of fears meet them as part of the Kolobok. Then children become representatives of their own fears.

2. “Wolf-wolf, let him spend the night” (based on a folk game)

Target. A motor form of fear response using the archetypal potential of folk games. Removing excess excitation and inhibition associated with fear.

Material. Wolf mask.

Content. One child - Wolf - sits in his house. All the other children - Hares - walk through the forest. The hares walked for a long time, they were tired, they needed to rest. Suddenly they see the Wolf's hut. It’s scary to knock on the door, but there’s nothing to do. They knock on the Wolf’s door and say: “Little Wolf, let him spend the night.” The wolf replies: “I’ll let you in, but only until the evening, in the evening I’ll eat it!” The hares go to bed in the Wolf's house. They should lie down pretending to be asleep, the leader checks that all the children are relaxed, helping those who are not doing well. Periodically, the host announces how much time is left until the evening. When evening comes, the Hares jump up and run to their houses (chairs). The wolf runs after the Hares.

3- “Puff” (based on a folk tale)

Target. Response to archetypally significant psychological “themes” with the involvement of folklore material that has cross-cultural significance.

Material. Large opaque thick blanket.

Content. One child, Pykh, sits separately from everyone else. The rest of the children are animals who are visiting one of them. They are having lunch, but suddenly the food runs out. Someone goes down to the basement to get food, despite the fact that he is not allowed to go there, saying that there is Puff there. Pykh scares him and sits him down on a chair next to him, covering him with a blanket (“eats him”). After this, if desired, a second one comes, and so on, until only those who do not want to be “eaten” remain. You can let the children escape from the basement. The game should be played humorously, on an emotional upsurge.

Lesson 4. “Happy Fear”

General goal: The primary elements of reframing training are overcoming fear through a change in attitude towards it while maintaining the intrinsic value of “fearful” experiences.

1. "Hares and Scary"

Target. Children gain experience in a multifaceted relationship to fear in the process of playing with the polarity “fear - fun, joy.” The formation of the foundations of voluntary control of this polarity is a change in the content of fear through a change in attitude towards it.

Material. Double-sided white mask, cut out of cardboard, on a stick (so you can hold it). Markers.

2nd stage. The child, holding the mask with the scary side, first depicts the Scary One, whom we are afraid of. Then he suddenly becomes Cheerful, making us laugh. This is repeated several times. It is said with children that when he is Scary, we are afraid, when he is Cheerful, we laugh.

3rd stage. Now, when the Scary One scares us and we are tired of being afraid, the children are asked a question - what should we do then? Then we laugh. As soon as we laugh, Scary becomes cheerful.

2. “How to make fear disappear?”

Target. Formation of the foundations of voluntary control of this polarity of fear - fun. Learning to control fear through changing your attitude towards it. Material. Scary masks.

Content. A story is played out in front of the children in which the hero is one child. He walks through the forest and suddenly - Baba Yaga. What can be done? The children's answers follow. How to make it, conjure it, so that it disappears? You have to smile at her and laugh. The child smiles and laughs - Baba Yaga disappears. This is repeated several times with different children and different images of fear.

3. "Transforming Fear"

Target. Consolidate what has been achieved in previous exercises. Material. Masks of fear drawn by children in lesson 2. Paints, markers, pencils.

2nd stage. Dances are held to the music, where children play with double-sided masks, becoming either Scary or Cheerful.

4. Modeling on a free theme

Target. Relaxation and response to accumulated experiences. Process diagnostics.

Material. Plasticine.

Lesson 5. Real fear

General goal: working out problems associated with specific real fears.

1. Fairy tale “Saving Parents”

Target. Psychological processing and response to fear of punishment.

Once upon a time there lived a family of animals. Everything was fine with them, but sometimes mom and dad punished one of the children (the children are asked - who, for what, how? Several episodes are shown). But one morning mom and dad went to get food. It’s getting dark, it’s time for them to return - but they’re still not there. At first the children thought: it’s good that there are no parents - there will be no one to punish. Time goes by, it gets darker and darker - the children became sad, they were afraid for their parents and decided to go save them. After overcoming a number of obstacles, the children freed their parents, who had been bewitched by an evil wizard.

In conclusion, it is concluded that the children understood: despite possible punishments, parents are the most necessary for them, and they, in turn, are the most important and necessary for their parents.

2. “Who’s lurking in the dark?”

Target. Reacting and relieving tension associated with the fear of the dark. Understanding the “deceptiveness” of fear.

Materials. Horror masks.

Content. One child lies down on the bed, the lights go out, he falls asleep - “night”. The light turns off in the absence of resistance and obvious reluctance. Suddenly the child wakes up from some sounds and sees a terrible monster (played by another child). He trembles with horror, overpowering himself, turns on the light and sees.... a small kitten who came to cuddle him. When the group is sufficiently “advanced,” the saying “fear has big eyes” is discussed (by T. Shishova).

3. “I can!”

Target. Awareness of the possibility of adequately living and experiencing fear. Learning ways to overcome real fears.

Materials. Depending on the content-.

Content. First, it is told, then discussed, and then a story is staged, which is specially compiled for each specific group, depending on the characteristics of the children’s fears. Its main structure is as follows: the child first finds himself in a situation associated with fear and desire and the need (need) to overcome it. The impossibility of overcoming fear, depending on the specifics of the situation, is replaced by the refrain “I can!” – finding internal forces. An important element of this exercise is discussion, since it is necessary for children not only to assimilate the method of overcoming fear proposed by the leader, but also to modify it, changing it and offering their own options.

4. Drawing on a free theme

Target. Relaxation and response to accumulated experiences. Process diagnostics.

Material. Paper, paints, markers, pencils. Content. Children are allowed to draw whatever they want.

Lesson 6. Not afraid of fear

Overall Goal: The second stage of reframing training is learning and gaining experience in interacting constructively with fear.

1. “Winter quarters of animals”

Target. Changing the focus of fear-related imagination with elements of reframing. Learning to interact constructively with fear.

Content. A fairy tale with the following plot is played out with the children. All children are animals, two children are Wolf and Monster. The animals meet each other and go “to search for summer from winter.” Then everyone builds a house. Winter is coming. The Wolf arrives. We figure out what we can do: laugh (remember lesson 4), everyone hold hands. All initiatives are carried out, and in the end everyone says in chorus 3 times: “We are not afraid of you!” The wolf, disappointed, leaves. The same thing is repeated with the Monster. After some time, the animals hear strange sounds. They sent one or more animals to look. They return and say that they saw the Wolf and the Monster sitting, trembling and crying. Why? They are cold, lonely and sad. What to do? You can feel sorry for them, talk to them, make friends and let them into your home.

2. Talking to fear

Target. Contact with hidden feelings associated with specific fear, their psychological elaboration. Learning to interact constructively with fear.

Content. The children are told that “we have already become powerful wizards and can do a lot. Now we will try to talk to fears.” One child represents some Fear sitting here on a chair in the center. The child can place an assistant there who acts out Fear, a toy, a drawing, etc. Then a dialogue begins. It is advisable for the child to play both his role and the role of Fear. In case of difficulties, help from the group or the leader is possible (in last resort) - hints about what the child and Fear might say and what they might hear in response; it is possible to speak for one of them. The important thing is that any options must be agreed upon with the child himself (“Did he say that? Could he answer that?”).

When the exercise is successfully completed, personal experiences associated with fear come to the surface. In case of serious psychological problems(experience of serious stressful situations, etc.) individual psychological work should be carried out outside the framework of the training.

j?. Modeling on a free theme

Target. Relaxation and response to accumulated experiences. Process diagnostics.

Material. Plasticine.

Lesson 7. Fear in dreams

General goal: working through sleep-related fears and using sleep as a mechanism for “penetrating” the internal dynamics of fear.

1. Group sleep

Target. Emotional preparation for working with “personal” dreams. Removal of psychological defenses and the ability to safely express personal experiences through projection. Primary psychological elaboration of terrible dreams by responding to the experiences contained in them, completing unfinished situations.

Material. The ability to create a relaxing “half-light” effect in the room. Record player. Cassettes with calm music.

Content. A short conversation about dreams - who dreams, who doesn’t, who loves, etc. Then the children are read A. Vvedensky’s poem “Dreams.” Then the children, sitting in a circle, hold hands, close their eyes, the music is turned on, and the children are asked to imagine “as if we had fallen asleep together and were seeing one big dream for all of us.” After a while, the children open their eyes and begin to take turns telling the common dream. The presenter structures the content, maintains semantic consistency and, most importantly, asks provocative questions (about the content of the dream) related to fear. After this, the dream is played out.

If the story causes difficulties, then a spontaneous dramatization of “what we saw” begins, and this can arise as answers to the presenter’s questions.

2. Personal dream

Target. Psychological processing of terrible dreams by responding to the experiences contained in them, completing unfinished situations. Integration of significant parts of the personality in the process of working with dreams.

Material. Same as in Exercise 1.

Content. The child tells a scary dream (possibly made up). Afterwards he is asked to play the role of one of the elements, the characters of the dream, to tell about himself, to show himself, to arrange a dialogue between this character and the group. Further work can be carried out in several directions: a) replaying the narrated dream with the help of other children; b) playing all the roles in a dream, choosing the most significant ones, which are often in opposition, and organizing a dialogue between them using an “empty chair” or “understudy”; c) replaying one, the most significant part of the dream.

J?. Drawing a dream

Target. Relaxation and response to accumulated experiences. Process diagnostics.

Material. Paper, paints, markers, pencils. Content. Children are asked to draw the dream the way they want.

Lesson 8. Conclusion. Results

General goal: generalization of the experience gained, awareness and verbalization of the results. Creating a festive atmosphere to create an optimistic direction of development.

Materials. Music. Plasticine. Preferably carnival comic clothes.

2nd stage. Spontaneous dramatization is played out with children, filled with content depending on the specific group. Its structure is similar to that fairy tale according to V. Ya. Propp: animals encounter some kind of problem, set off on a journey, encounter obstacles (fears), which turn out to be their assistants, helping them overcome the path. Children play all the characters and constantly change roles. At the end, the goal is achieved and the lesson smoothly flows into the 3rd stage.

3rd stage. The culmination is a comic masquerade ball and general amusement using all the materials made (masks, etc.) and all the roles played, plot moves, etc. At the end, for relaxation, the children sculpt from plasticine a country in which everyone would like to live.

5. Parental counseling

So, we have examined the features of individual correctional work with children at the assimilative-accommodative level, the main goal and success criterion of which is their psychological health. However, we must also touch on the specifics of working with their parents. As we have already said, the most likely area of ​​conflict for younger schoolchildren is their relationship with their parents. And the content of the conflict, determined by the peculiarities of the child’s experience of the stages of his maturation, is also largely determined by the child’s family.

Theoretical analysis of the literature shows that the most optimal form for organizing effective interaction between parents and children is classes in the form of trainings. However, it can be argued that the use of training forms of working with parents in modern Russian conditions is unreal. The socio-economic situation determines the lack of time among parents, and the low level of psychological and pedagogical culture entails a lack of request for psychological help. Therefore, the main form of work with parents is psychological counseling.

Today, counseling psychology is a fairly developed scientific and practical field, including various theoretical concepts and quite diverse and effective methodological tools. Family counseling is described in most detail as the most important area of ​​application of consultations. Very interesting are works that consider the problem-oriented approach as an integrative one, summarizing the accumulated achievements of various psychological schools (P. P. Gornostay, V. K. Vaskovskaya, V. K. Loseva, A. I. Lunkov).

However, it is necessary to modify, and sometimes somewhere in a new way, define the structure of the advisory conversation and the content of its stages in relation to the psychological health of children as the main goal of the work.

Thus, after establishing contact, one of the first stages, traditionally identified by all authors, is the formulation of a request, i.e. specification of the expected psychological help. The structure of the complaint is determined: locus, self-diagnosis. Methods of working with its hidden and explicit content are discussed.

However, a fundamental feature of the counseling process within the framework of developing the psychological health of children is the absence of complaints. As we noted earlier, all children undergo diagnostics aimed at determining the level of their psychological health. Individual correctional work should be carried out with children at the assimilative-accommodative level. But starting it without parental consent is unethical. In addition, as we know, almost any psychocorrection of children is ineffective without the understanding and support of parents. Therefore, parents are invited to a consultation based on diagnostic results or children’s problems identified during group or individual work, rather than coming themselves. And this significantly changes the initial stages of consultation. The first stage is the teacher-psychologist informing parents about the child’s problem. And the task of this stage is to encourage parents to formulate complaints, and then a request. The complexity of this stage lies, on the one hand, in overcoming the fear of self-disclosure of parents, on the other hand, in the need to take into account the attitude of parents that they had regarding the school in the period preceding the consultation. Fear of self-disclosure and inadequate attitude can interact with each other and form quite powerful psychological defenses that interfere with counseling.

We believe that the most optimal is to separate two parts in the psychologist’s message: a brief description of the child’s difficulties and “throwing into the future” - a vivid description of the child’s problems arising from these difficulties in adulthood, which can prevent him from being successful, healthy and happy, i.e. i.e. threatening his self-realization and health. A message structured according to this scheme can encourage parents to cooperate with the psychologist. Thus, next stage consultations are a parent’s complaint, largely initiated by a message from an educational psychologist, both from the point of view of its locus and from the point of view of its plot.

Let us turn to the consideration of the second fundamental feature of counseling in the framework of the formation of psychological health - the short duration of counseling, i.e. the availability of a fairly limited time for a counseling conversation. The short duration is due to the real conditions of the school psychological service: a large number of students per educational psychologist, as well as the typical attitude of parents to resolve all issues in one meeting.

The short duration of counseling places special demands on the following stages: diagnostic conversation and hypothesis development, interpretation of the hypothesis and reorientation - the search for new ways of action.

Since the primary hypothesis about the content of the child’s internal conflict, the zone of conflict and the method of his behavior in the conflict is formulated before the meeting with the parents, the hypothesis is clarified during the diagnostic conversation. In this case, the main methodological techniques are:

requests for clarification, for example: “I really want to understand, please explain...”, “there is a lot of material, help me figure it out...”;

the use of means aimed at establishing connection, for example, open-ended sentences like: “and this is the fear that...”;

using presumptive questions, for example: “it could be that...”.

Since the conversation assumes a fairly active position of the consultant, to ensure the emotional comfort of parents, some of the questions are formulated in an indirect form:

in the form of inserted questions, for example: “I am very interested in the fact that you...”;

in the form of polite commands, for example: “could you tell us about...”.

To avoid the psychologist’s misinterpretation of the interlocutor’s feelings, paraphrasing the parents’ thoughts and feelings is used, for example: “if I understood you correctly, then...”.

Important for ensuring the speed of the consultation is constant summarizing - summing up the thoughts expressed by the parents, for example: “what worries you most, as I understand it, is ...”.

Quite important, in our opinion, is to pay attention to the prevailing psychological defenses of parents that manifest themselves during the consultation process. Most often you can encounter protection based on the type of projection or fusion. Projection is a neurotic mechanism, the main content of which is the desire to make the environment responsible for what comes from the person himself. Projecting parents, as a rule, tend to see the child’s shortcomings inherent in themselves, and attribute their own fears, desires, and judgments to the child. Merger is characterized by the absence of a boundary between a person and the environment, in particular between a parent and a child. Such a parent, when talking about a child, tends to use the pronoun “we”, for example: “We have learned our lessons.” In a conversation with such a parent, topics of fear, anxiety, or mention of certain psychosomatic symptoms of the child often appear. And this is understandable, because in the presence of a merger in a child, most often the main content of the internal conflict relates to the second stage of maturation of the “I”, inherent in the second and third years of life: “independence - indecision.” And the typical manifestations of this internal conflict include various kinds of social fears: doing something wrong, accepting independent decision and so on.

During the consultation process, you can also encounter the mechanism of deflection or intellectualization, which outwardly looks like “a conversation about nothing.” The parent, as a rule, shows great interest in the conversation inner world child, with pleasure analyzes the smallest manifestations of the child's soul. However, in reality, the child attracts attention with his defenselessness, vulnerability, desire for support, warmth and attention from any adult, since his own parents are emotionally cold. Accordingly, the most important need for love and acceptance remains insufficiently satisfied. The main content of the conflict in such children most often refers to the first stage, relating to the first year of life: “trust - distrust in the world around us.”

A significant feature in school counseling is also the stages of interpreting problems to the parent and reorienting - developing ways to solve the problem. The most difficult stage for a novice consultant is the interpretation stage. Some are tempted to skip it altogether and rather move on to reorientation, which novice consultants sometimes understand as giving advice. The difficulty of this stage lies in the need to inform the parent about the child’s problem so that he can hear it. Hearing a problem means accepting it, agreeing with it, and not rejecting both the problem and the consultant himself. In order for the parent to hear the problem, the consultant must feel which part of the problem (maybe not all) and in what verbal form should be presented to this particular client here and now. If the parent does not accept the problem and does not agree with it, then the consultant was unable to find a sufficiently gentle way to present it.

If the parent heard the consultant, then the question arises about the causes of the existing problem. Here you can offer the client a list of “commonly existing reasons” for such a problem, and ask him to try to determine the cause himself. There are situations when the client does not choose everything from the fan, but only those reasons that he is ready to accept today. It makes sense to agree with the client at this consultation; perhaps next time he will go further.

An essential feature in counseling focused on preserving psychological health is the stage of reorientation or search for the optimal actions of the parent in a given situation. It is clear that the result of the consultation should be that parents become ready to change, first of all themselves, and not the child. This is the most delicate moment in the work of a consultant. Sometimes, in order to bring parents to the need for self-change, it is enough to convincingly tell them K. Jung’s observations about the unity of the child’s psyche with environmental conditions, especially with the psyche of parents. Therefore, according to K. Jung, neuropsychic disorders in children up to middle school age are based on disorders of the mental sphere of their parents. Difficulties in the relationship between the parents themselves have a particularly strong impact on the child’s psyche. Moreover, the content of young children's dreams relates more to the parents than to the child himself. K. Jung gives the example of an eight-year-old boy who in his dreams experienced his father’s love and religious drama. Since the father himself did not remember his dreams, his treatment was carried out through the analysis of his son’s dreams. Thus, it is necessary for parents to turn their “pedagogical enthusiasm” towards themselves and their relationships.

However, here one can encounter such a difficulty. Currently, a child often becomes a means of realizing the parents’ need for social prestige. In this case, parents make demands on him that sometimes exceed the child’s capabilities: early and rapid reading, assimilation foreign language, music lessons, etc. Let's give an example. At a consultation, a mother asks whether her seven-year-old daughter should continue playing music if she doesn’t want to. During the consultation process, the following is revealed. The father believes that his daughter should definitely study music and languages, and his son should study languages ​​and sports. It is easy to guess that the father himself has never been involved in sports or music, and does not know foreign languages.

The most difficult situation is when the mother does not work and can only realize her social ambition through the child. Accordingly, the child simply must be successful in order to fulfill the mother’s expectations. It turns out that he is forced to live by the wishes of his parents, and not by his own desires.

Similar in essence, although outwardly different, is the situation in families where parents have achieved high social success. Here the child not only has to be successful, but has no right to be different. Therefore, one of the most pronounced fears of such children is the fear of not meeting the expectations of their parents.

In a conversation with parents who are focused on mandatory success, you have to be creative, explaining, for example, that for success in the future you need not only school knowledge, but also personal qualities: determination, self-confidence. Then move on to consider the child’s uncertainty and increased anxiety, the need to overcome them as a step to future success.

Summarizing the discussion of individual work with children at the assimilative-accommodative level, we can conclude that both correctional work with the child himself and counseling of parents are aimed primarily at initiating the child’s own activity in searching for ways and possibilities to resolve a difficult situation.

Questions for self-control

1. 
   What is the organizational structure of psychological support for kindergartens and primary schoolchildren?
2. 
   What main directions can be identified in group psychoprophylactic work?
3. 
   What are the main methodological tools used in group work?
4. 
   What are therapeutic metaphors?
5. 
   Where and how are reflective technologies used?
6. 
   On what principles is individual correctional work with children based?
7. 
   How can you see the dynamics of correctional work?
8. 
   How do domestic and foreign psychologists describe the specifics of children's fears?
9. 
   How to organize group help for children with fears?
10. 
    What are the specifics of parental counseling aimed at preserving the psychological health of children?

Self-Reflection Questions

1. 
   What qualities do you think a specialist working with children should have?
2. 
   Do you know how to play with pleasure?
3. 
   Can you perform the role-playing exercises suggested in the manual in front of a mirror?
4. 
   How easy is it for you to praise yourself in front of people? Another man?
5. 
   Do you think you have a need for self-development? In what direction would you like to develop?
6. 
   6 How do you reflect on your own actions: occasionally, every evening, keep a diary, or in another way?
7. 
   If you were working with a group of children, how would you handle the problem of discipline in class?

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Butterworth D., Harris M. Principles of developmental psychology. – M., 2000.

Zakharov A.I. Neuroses in children and adolescents. - St. Petersburg, 1998.

Kulagina N.V. Symbol as a means of world perception and understanding of the world. – M., 1999.

Caduson X., Schaefer C. Workshop on play psychotherapy. – St. Petersburg, 2000.

LandrethG.L. Play therapy: The art of relationships. – M., 1994.

The world of childhood and traditional culture: Collection of scientific works and materials / Comp. S.T.Ayvazyan. – M., 1994.

Mukhina V.S. Child psychology. – M., 1999.

Oklepder V. Windows into the child’s world: A guide to child psychotherapy. – M., 1997.

Family in psychological consultation/ Ed. A. A. Bodaleva, V. V. Stolina. - M., 1980.

Freud A. Psychology of the “I” and defense mechanisms. – M., 1993.

Freud 3. Childhood sexuality and psychoanalysis of childhood neuroses. – St. Petersburg, 1997.

Khukhlaeva O.V. Ladder of joy. – M., 1998.

Khukhlaeva O.V., Khukhlaev O.E., Pervushina I.M. Small games for great happiness. - M., 2001.

Khukhlaeva O.V. The path to my “I”. – M., 2001.

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