DD fainting due to blood/needle phobia

[BreakfastClub80]

My DD13 fainted again yesterday due to her blood/needle phobia and I wondered if anyone has ever found a way of helping a teenager with this?

She started fainting due to this at age 10 and it has got to the point where she will faint over a discussion about blood (yesterday was a biology lesson where a random question came up) or needles (Epi-pen demo) or injuries/medical issues. She also cannot stand for long in a heated environment (eg cooking or in a ski lift) but I’m not sure low blood pressure explains the response to her phobias.

Apart from the risk of injury from fainting, I am worried about her future ability to access healthcare etc if her fears can’t be reduced. We tried a form of hypnotherapy at the beginning but this was curtailed due to Covid and didn’t help really.

I’ve been googling but don’t think she’d cope with desensitisation therapy yet so I thought I’d see if anyone has any advice or experience?

Thanks in advance.

My dd is almost 18 and is having therapy. It's graded exposure basically. She would also faint at the mere mention of blood and needles! Don't discount exposure therapy, it's done so gradually that the patient doesn't get overwhelmed, that's the whole point. "Flooding" techniques aren't used anymore. It's slow progress though.

Thanks @PangolinPie can I ask how you accessed the therapy? I’m not sure where to start, whether I need to try to access via NHS or privately who I’d approach.