Authors: Victoria Cunningham, Ph.D. and Lee Sechrest, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Arizona; Morty Lefkoe, Lefkoe Institute, Fairfax, CA.

Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy  13, 183–193 (2006)

Abstract

This study examined the ability of a novel psychological treatment to eliminate anxiety using fear of public speaking as a test case.

The treatment was designed specifically to eliminate beliefs and de-condition stimuli that are responsible for dysfunctional behaviors and emotions.

A random half of the subjects received treatment immediately while wait-listed control subjects were treated three to four weeks later.

After having engaged in an actual public speaking experience, subjects’ self-reported ratings showed significant reductions in fearfulness, physical sensations and cognitive difficulties often associated with speaking in public.

The evidence strongly suggests that fear of public speaking was virtually eliminated and we propose that it holds promise as an intervention that might be effective in treating many other disorders.

Introduction

Several surveys indicate that Americans rank speaking in public as their number one fear (Bruskin Associates, 1973; Motley, 1988; Richmond & McCroskey, 1995).

This fear can be socially debilitating, and is often cited as a primary reason why someone is unable to advance in his or her career.

Fear of public speaking may be related to a more general social anxiety, but it is not coterminous with it as many people appear to have quite specific fear of public speaking in the context of otherwise normal social relationships.

Different therapeutic approaches have been developed to help people overcome or deal with such fears as of public speaking.

One such approach is The Lefkoe Method (TLM).

The Lefkoe Method, developed by the second author, aims to eliminate, quickly, long-held beliefs and “de-condition” the stimuli that produce fear and other negative emotions, e.g., the fear of speaking in public.

Lefkoe has discovered that the fear of public speaking is typically caused by a) specific beliefs, such as "Mistakes and failure are bad" and "If I make a mistake, people will laugh at me" and b) conditioning, such as automatically experiencing fear whenever one is, or perceives oneself to be, in a position to be criticized or judged.

Two processes in TLM, the Lefkoe Belief Process and the Lefkoe Stimulus Process, are used to address fear of public speaking.

Many, if not most, psychologists contend that long-held beliefs can be totally eliminated, if at all, only after extensive time, effort, and specific retraining.

TLM challenges that assumption and contends that even beliefs formed early in childhood can be permanently eliminated in a matter of minutes. The basis for this claim is clients who state that a belief that was experienced as true is no longer experienced as true and that the behavior and emotions that result from the belief are permanently eliminated.

Moreover, TLM contends that emotions that result from conditioned stimuli, for example, fear that is always experienced when one makes a mistake or is rejected, can be quickly and permanently stopped by de-conditioning the stimuli.

That also can be accomplished in a matter of minutes. Those are bold claims, but they can be empirically tested. Because of the extensive clinical experience with TLM, we have elected to test it in clinical settings rather than a laboratory.

This article reports on the results of application of TLM to reduction of fears associated with public speaking.

> To see they rest of this article, visit the Undo Public Speaking Fear - The Lefkoe Method site and click on "Research." Also see the site to order the program.

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