Yes it's a type of exposure therapy.

You'd think he'd tell op that's what he was doing

Technically it is. But they are supposed to learn deep relaxation techniques first, then they build up a hierarchy of what they think would be frightening situations. They work up the hierarchy and use the relaxation techniques and they are gradually put in scarier positions. I don't think instantly shoving a spider in OP's face is a professional way of going about the job.

OP didn't really state whether or not there had been any formal therapy for it. I hope so, because starting it off that way = terrible idea

Systematic Desensitization

Your supposed to start off slow like a picture or a toy spider.

#47, there are several methods, but it is generally agreed that sudden exposure to the 'target' of a phobia is the fastest way to get rid of the phobia. It is the most distressing but an efficient method and also the fastest method to do it. The stress it causes the client, however, is why many therapists opt for the slower, gradual buildup process instead. It's a valid technique, but OP's therapist should have informed her first what she was going to do.

It's been pretty much discredited though, because it can make you even more afraid of the thing than you already were.

You're supposed to do it in steps. Talking about it, looking at pictures, then the real thing at a distance, then closer up, learning more and more about them as you go (and learning what parts of the fear are valid - aka what spiders in your state COULD **** you up - but also why you don't have to worry (ie: they are rare, they can't bite through human skin, etc)).

Shouldn't happen on the first meet... (Although I don't know the details) but the way the OP is talking, if they were still terrified of them it was probably because they were in their first meets...

Nope that's really how phobias are dealt with.

Wow OP I would call the police and report your therapist. What he did is attempted murder you could get a heart attack due to the severity of your fear. I'm so sorry OP I know the feeling I'm also scared of spiders it's a known fact

#59 Between your comments on this page and the ones on the FML about Fifty Shades of Grey, I'm really starting to think that you're a troll.

I'm not I'm just giving my perspective and opinion. The whole point of this site is to give your opinion.

56 is right thats the only way to face the fear. Op will eventually get used to the spider and see there is nothing to fear.

The patient is generally WARNED about it first, though. Simply nearly throwing their fear in their face without warning can make the phobia much worse; it depends on the patient and how they deal with their fears. Which is why there should be multiple sessions before anything of the like is attempted. Exposure therapy IS legitimate, but, as people have already said, most tend to do a gradual build up. Personally, it would definitely not have helped me. I am terrified of heights, even though I've been in many situations where I've been exposed to that fear. It really just depends on the client.

Perhaps that is the therapist's angle lol. 150 bucks an hour?! Why not!

That's what I'm saying! I think OP should report him to the police for not only attempted murder but also for being a false therapist. She could also file a lawsuit

Well doing what the therapist did is actually a credited way to get over certain fears

First of all that is an actual technic, you are supposed to start far away then stop to do some relaxing exercises and repeat this process again until you can touch it.

All these years I thought facing your fears was just an expression! I didn't know you literally had to have your fears shoved in your face...Oddly enough, I seem to have spontaneously developed an irrational fear of large breasts.

Gynecomastia isn't all that bad. Just walk up to a guy and ask for some free therapy.

Daddy-Long Legs aren't spiders though...awk. They're harvestmen, a whole lot nicer and less dangerous than a spider. :)

He wasn't trying to be an 'ass.' That's a valid technique that therapists use for you to face your fears.

There is a gradual way to do it. Shoving a huge spider in OPs face the second they met obviously didnt help. And I dont care if daddy long legs are considered spiders or not. In my eyes, it is a spider. And I still dont appreciate them crawling all over me while I was sleeping.

Here's a fact for you. That in one year, we eat 8 spiders in our sleep. The Daddy long leg was just trying to provide you with fiber.

That's like saying "I'm my eyes a dolphin is actually a bird." It can still creep you out, but it isn't a spider so don't consider it a spider.

I hope you aren't serious about that being a fact, 38.

40, that's got to be the most ridiculous analogy I've ever heard. Although a daddy long leg is not a spider, it certainly resembles one and so it's not crazy for people to think they are a spider. And I agree with 33 that the therapy method should have been done more gradually. If that therapist had shoved that spider in my face just like that, I probably would have punched him in his face!

58 - then compare dolphins to fish. Some people are dumb enough to think that dolphins are fish when they're really mammals.

#38 That statistic is grossly inaccurate. 8 per year? Try 8 per NIGHT. At least. Spiders love warm, moist places. They're in your mouth as you sleep, dozens of spiders. Don't be misinformed!

Retard...a bird and a dolphin look completely ******* different. A daddy long leg and another spider look similar.

No that is actually a valid technique and very effective. He went about it wrong. He probably should have started with a picture, something completely harmless and then worked his way up from there

I don't know about you, but the small spiders creep me out the most. Take your eye off them for a second and you lose 'em. A big spider that I can see from across the room is also a spider that I can throw a shoe at from across the room.

No, it's not. Aversion therapy is the process of associating something that is usually pleasurable and destructive to your well being with something overwhelmingly negative. For example, blocking opioid receptors in the brain as well as creating an emetic reaction (vomiting)when opiates are consumed is a common heroin addiction treatment.

10 was talking about systematic desensitization.

Yes, thank you #48. Sorry I got my terms mixed up:) #35 was also right