9 yo with spider phobia....how to help her?

[catinhell]

my 9yo dd is terrified of spiders. she gets hysterical if one surprises her. she regularly wakes in the night an imagines them in bed, on the walls, evreywhere. and cant get back to sleep. if she thinks one is on her she rips off her clothes shrieking. she regularly checks the house for spiders. she wont play in places where they might be eg on our'new'second hand lovely new climbing frame.

how do i help her? so many treatments out there, its hard to know where to start.

any advice?

should i see her GP?

Fast phobia cure from a good NLP practioner should work. I cured my friend of a phobia of (I kid you not) used tea bags.

It is quite simple and not distressing.

London Zoo do a Friendly Spider Course. I did it a few years ago - I wasn't as bad as your daughter, but it was beginning to affect my life, and I remember having 'spider dreams' where I'd jump out of bed, convinced there was one in the room.

The course involved hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy and was about £100 ish. It was fantastic - I can now put a spider outside in a glass (even massive ones!) or just leave them to get on with it. I'm not sure if there is an age limit, but it was really good. There were people there with far worse phobias than mine and by the end of the day we had all picked up a house spider in a glass and held a mexican spider (similar to a tarantula).