From the author: My methods in working with aerophobia Case from practice. A mother brought her 7-year-old daughter with a request for fear during a flight. Let's call the girl Alice) For a year now, flying on airplanes has been accompanied by panic attacks attacks, and they fly quite often, since they have a house abroad, a business, and their older brother studies in London. The flight takes 10-15 hours. Alice loves to go to Disneyland and travel, but fear has recently deprived her of such an opportunity, since Each flight emotionally drains the body and self-doubt grows, she looks at other children who easily endure the flight and blames herself for her fear and inability to cope with it. First session I ask you to draw a plane and yourself in it. Alice hesitantly takes a pencil and the first outlines appear the plane, having finished drawing it, shows it to me and we begin the discussion) Alice: Here, I drew it. This is me on the plane and I’m very afraid. Me: What are you afraid of? Alice: That it will fall and crash. I saw on the news how the plane crashed. Me: Yes, this really happens and it’s a little like the accidents that we see on the roads. What do you think? Alice: Yes.... but I’m not afraid to drive a car, because I’m on the ground, and the plane is high in the sky and I’m scared .Me: How much do you feel your fear from 1 to 10? Alice: 10 Me: Please look at your drawing. What would you like to add so that you are not scared? Alice thought about it and after a while begins to draw. Having finished, we begin the discussion. Alice changed the plane, having completed the bottom floor, it turned out to be a two-story plane) Alice looks at her drawing with a smile and is very pleased) I : Please tell me about your plane) Alice: This is a two-story, very durable plane, it’s a lot of fun, there are different games and goodies) This plane is very, very durable. Me: Please tell me how much fear you feel now? Alice : at 5 (smiles) Unfortunately or fortunately, I can’t show you the drawing, since Alice took it home) On this note, we ended the first meeting. Second session In this meeting, Alice sat on the sofa and listened to a fairy tale about Kiryusha, who was afraid to fly. The therapeutic tale was found on the wonderful website http://maminiskazki.ru/. “The first flight of Kiryusha” - author Maria Shkurina. The first flight of Kiryusha Once upon a time there was a boy, his name was Kiryusha. He lived with his mother and father in a big city. And in another big city on the seashore lived Kiryushin’s grandmother. Every summer the boy and his mother went to visit their grandmother. They usually traveled by train, and Kiryusha loved these trips very much: he loved to look out the window and fall asleep to the sound of the train wheels. That year when this story happened, Kiryusha’s mother told Kiryusha that they would fly to their grandmother on a plane. - Why on a plane? - asked the boy. He had never flown on an airplane before, and therefore was a little worried. “It’s a very long ride by train, and I have a very short vacation this year,” my mother explained. The closer the day of the flight approached, the more worried Kiryusha became. He looked at the birds in the sky and kept thinking about how such a huge iron machine, like an airplane, could fly in the sky like a bird. And finally that very day has come. Dad took mom and Kiryusha to the airport, helped them check in their suitcases and check in for the flight. Then he hugged Kiryusha and said: “How I envy you, cowboy!” I, too, would like to fly somewhere on a plane! And Kiryusha pressed his father’s cheek and thought that he was jealous of his father. He no longer wanted to fly anywhere, there was something in his stomach, his heart was pounding. But he, like a real cowboy, didn’t want to tell anyone about it. “Are you worried?” “- his dad asked, pulling away. “No,” the boy shook his head. “But I was worried when I flew on a plane for the first time,” dad admitted. - Everyone is worried. We are used to walking on the ground, and not flying, so we are worried. Soon Kiryusha and his mother were sitting in their seats on the plane. Kiryushin’s seat was near the porthole, that’s what the window on the plane is called. The boy looked outside at the workers fussing with luggage, at the buses,who were transporting people to airplanes or to the airport building. The plane drove onto the runway and began to pick up speed. Mom took Kiryushin’s hand in hers. The plane picked up speed and took off into the sky. “Well, we took off!” We’ll be at grandma’s in two hours,” mom smiled. -Can I sleep a little? I was packing my suitcases at night. “Of course, mommy,” the boy nodded. Mom fell asleep, and the boy kept looking and looking at the receding earth. The excitement he felt before the flight still hasn't gone away. - Hello! – Kiryusha suddenly heard a thin, cheerful voice. The boy looked around and saw in front of him a little man, dressed in a blue suit and cap, like a pilot’s. The little man sat on the back of the chair, dangled his legs and smiled. The cap slid a little to one side, and unruly blond curly hair was sticking out from under it. “Who are you?” – Kiryusha asked, his mouth open in amazement. “I’m Venya, the airplane one,” the little man smiled with his wide smile. They say about this one “mouth to ear.” - What does airplane mean? - Well, brownies live in houses, and airplanes live in airplanes. Each plane has its own aircraft. We make sure that everything on the plane works properly: the engine, the propellers, all the buttons and levers on the control panel in the pilot’s cockpit. — So, you know everything about airplanes? “Kiryusha looked expectantly at the airplane man. “Well, I know everything about our plane,” Venya nodded. “Isn’t he wonderful?” “Well, he’s beautiful,” the boy agreed. - And so huge! Heavy! I just can’t understand how he can fly through the air like a bird. For this we must thank the design scientists who came up with our plane. They thought through everything down to the smallest detail so that you, your mother and other passengers could safely fly on our plane without fear of anything. The plane has specially shaped wings and a tail, and a mechanism inside. Do you want me to show you? Kiryusha nodded. Before he had time to look back, he became the same height as the airplane Venya. The man clapped his hands three times, and they found themselves near a huge working mechanism that made a very loud noise. “This is the Engine,” Venya explained. – He is the most important person on our plane. He growls menacingly, but we are great friends. Before every takeoff, he allows me to check it. I make sure that he works properly and does not get sick. The engine consumes special aircraft fuel, like a car consumes gasoline. — Why does the Engine work? – asked Kiryusha. “The engine works to make the blades that are on the wings of the plane rotate.” The blades spin and the plane picks up speed. When the speed is high, the air seems to harden and prevents the plane from falling. - Wow! – Kiryusha exclaimed. “And you, I suppose, were worried about how the plane didn’t fall?” – the plane man winked. “Well, it was a little,” Kiryusha admitted, and he immediately felt better. “How does the plane know where to fly?” “I’ll show you now.” Venya clapped his hands three times, and they ended up in the pilot’s cockpit. There were two pilots - the captain of the ship and his assistant. In the cockpit there was a control panel with many buttons, levers, dials and lights. “The plane seems to have a memory where it is written down how to fly,” Venya began his story. “But the pilots make sure that the plane does not go off course, that it does not descend, or that it does not rise higher than it should.” To do this, pilots have a steering wheel, like the steering wheel of a car. Only it's not round. You see, these two levers connected together are the steering wheel. Kiryusha nodded. “And there are also pedals here, they also help the pilots control the plane.” “And you also make sure that all this works?” – asked Kiryusha. “Of course, I always check everything before every flight,” Venya nodded. – This is my job, and I love it very much. So you don’t have to worry - our plane is in perfect order! - What a great guy you are! – the boy exclaimed. Soon Kiryusha was in his place near the porthole. “Thank you very much, Venya!” Now I don’t worry anymore,” he thanked the planeman. “When mom wakes up, I’ll definitely tell her everything I learned about the plane.” And you know, I decided -.