Change Phobia - First, Make It Safe

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A phobia is an irrational fear.

When Phobos, the god of fear strikes, you lose all ability to function like a rational human being and you regress to the most lizard part of your being.

Phobias arise from one of two things:

• A singular traumatic event that creates a link between a trigger and an overreaction where one did not previously exist.
• Or, a number of uncanny occurrences spaced unpredictability over time to the point where the lizard brain in you starts to overreact out of habit.

Resistance to change is a form of phobia.

This can be caused by a singular event of “help being inflicted”. Or, by constant randomly spaced “good intentions”.

The lizard brain of most people is over stimulated by the suggestion of change - because change is rarely a good experience for most people.

This is not the place from which to engage and interact with people because you are experiencing physiological overreaction. Since a phobia is irrational, it cannot be rationalised away and all attempts to do that will entrench it.

You cannot reason change into existence.

Meeting the lizard brain in its cave and effectively teaching it how the world is safe is a useful strategy. This requires, above all, a safe space from which to learn; a way to project away this fear, while watching from the cave how a different interaction could be possible.

You can show how change is possible. Meet the lizard brain where it is and prove how the world is safe to be in.

Safety first.