Now that you’ve learned how to come up with a Plan of Action, let’s see how George uses his plan to overcome his fear of germs. George’s fear of germs sometimes causes him to wash his hands frequently. It even makes it hard for him to touch things around his home and at school, hang out with friends, or use public restrooms. George has created a list of exposure activities in his plan of action to help him overcome this fear. He tries practicing them with some help from his mom, starting with the ones he is ready to do.
George has challenged himself to not wash his hands immediately after touching something he thinks is dirty. One of the activities he came up with was to touch an unwashed shirt from the laundry hamper at home. George’s mom encourages him to touch a shirt on top of the basket, which is something that George usually avoids doing. George takes a deep breath, and then reaches for a shirt that he wore yesterday. Afterwards, George’s mom lets him know how amazing it is that he challenged his fear of germs, even though it was scary and uncomfortable for him. Usually, George immediately runs to the sink to wash his hands after touching something that might be dirty, but now he is facing his fear. George waited a while without washing his hands. He realizes that his anxiety gradually goes away, and it wasn’t too bad. George’s mom tells him how proud she is of him for challenging his fear of germs and they celebrate his success together. George receives 4 points for completing this exposure activity, and now he’s one step closer to buying a new medieval novel he’s always wanted.
George then decides to practice a harder exposure activity at school. This is more difficult for him since his mom is not there to support him, but he tells himself that he can do it. George has video gaming club after school today. He challenges himself to play a game with his friends using the school's shared video game controllers. He usually wipes the controllers before touching them and washes his hands afterwards, but this time he won’t do either of those things. Before going to school, George tells his mom about his plan, and she is excited. She tells him that she is proud of him for taking another step to overcome his fear of germs. When he gets to gaming club, George starts to feel very anxious about his plan, but he knows that he has what it takes to face his fear. Finally, he takes a deep breath, picks up the controller, and begins gaming with his friends. After gaming club, he started walking home without washing his hands. At home, George tells his mom about how well his practice went. For completing this activity George receives a motivation booster. He gets 30 minutes of extra screen time today for his favorite medieval tv show.
As George completes each of the exposure activities in his plan of action, he is getting closer to overcoming his fear of germs, one step at a time. And you can do this too!
