I can never again go into my garden

Have you not heard of an electric banana? Ha ha

Myself I would go for hypnotherapy as they get you into a relaxed state, talk through your problem and then suggest how you can change it. Also ask your Dr he might well be able to point you in the right direction

I would ask what type of therapy they provide, is it hypnotherapy, behavioural, cognitive or what? Be careful you don’t land yourself with some hippy charlatan with no qualifications. The one you describe sounds a bit cheap to me. The most effective therapy for phobias would be hypnotherapy and / or behavioural therapy.

If it’s so bad that you still can’t go into the garden you may well get some help from your GP. Definitely worth a try and they should be able to suggest someone if not.

please try to overcome this.amphibs like bees are our environmental gaurdians.if they all disappear we are in trouble.
like some species of fish when the water,land are polluted too much they either die or hibernatefor years.
frogs toads lizards even snakes eat mosquitos,flies,roaches.and most bugs.
where i live amphibs are a part of daily life.tiny thumbnail sized toads,big frogs,small lizards on my plants eating the aphids and grasshoppers and roaches,blackracer snakes to keep away poisonious snakes and woodrats from sheds and porches.and if you are really lucky you get to see a mini dinosaur(alligators and crocs)when on the water.
also theres a swallowtail kite here that lives off of the tree frogs.its thier primary food source.
as to your question could your gp recommend someone?

I've decided! I'm going to go for counselling/therapy/whatever it's called.

So what is it I'm looking for. I can't for one minute think this will be available on the NHS so I'm not going to bother the GP.

I have googled "phobia therapist" and found several in my area. One just describes herself as a counsellor, and her fees are: Consultations are £20 for 30 minutes
Sessions are £35 for 50 minutes

Does this sound reasonable? I've absolutely no clue how much to expect to pay.

Another calls herself a "Humanistic Integrative Practitioner" which sounds like a right old mouthful, but means diddly squat to me. There's no mention of fees on her website.

Any ideas as to what type of therapist I should be looking for?

Ghost train! That's what I meant at 15.45. I could not remember what it's called!! Senior moment.

My fear was heights and I was a hill walker and loved mountains. There were times when I couldn't get over my fear and I would have to turn back. So I hypnotherapy, it took 9 sessions and it worked. Worth a try. I don't like frogs either.

@hurdygurdy I am also terrified of frogs and toads and refuse to set foot outside on evenings when it is damp or wet as they come out to party where we live. I had to run from my garden lady week shrieking as whilst enjoying a drink on my patio a leaf fell into the low wall next to where we were sitting. The leaf then moved and move again I then realised it was a frog! My drink and I were back on the house in seconds

One day last week, I opened my front door only to find a small frog sitting under the overhang thingy on the bottom of the door. I don't like frogs because they jump, often unexpectedly and quite high. They also look slimey.
I hurriedly shut the door after stepping outside and with a long garden cane, gently prodded it's bum to make it jump away. After several prods it went next door.
I won't make further comment... just in case. I don't want to push my luck.

I wouldn't call it a phobia but I really really don't like the dark. The scariest ride at the fairground was the one when you sit in a little car and whiz round in the dark and scary things pop out at you like skeletons and cobwebs. I find it terrifying and have to cower and shut my eyes till it's over. Don't mind the big dipper and the other high fast ones !

I have a horrendous frog phobia, have to dash indoors and shut the door! Big brother used to chase me with them!

I also have a phobia about frogs HurdyGurdy, and I think it was passed on by my mother.
We used to live on a farm, and when young frogs didn't bother me, but the fear of them jumping suddenly gradually resulted in a phobia.
I do go in our garden, but my husband has to make sure there are no frogs about.
There are a couple of people who do regular sessions on 'This Morning', and they seem to help people enormously with phobias. At the end of the sessions, people can often pick up the animal, insect etc they are frightened of, but I couldn't see myself voluntarily picking up a frog.

My 'phobia' is rats, and I have been for weeks without going into my garden without making lots of noises and foot-stamping before I can hang my washing out. I would willingly swap the rats for frogs!

How funny Jennil23, my phobias are dentists and water too! I can't manage to have a dental x-ray taken without gagging furiously, and I panic with instruments stuck in my mouth for more than 30 seconds, so even having a filling is a nightmare, makes me edgy just typing this! I can get into a pool for about 10 minutes, but am petrified of my head going underwater, so any attempt to learn to swim has me hyperventilating.

My one other phobia is snakes, one about 4' long emerged out of a hedge beside me on our last holiday, it was as panicked as I was, flipping on its back and writhing around trying to get back in the hedge, but for the whole of the rest of the holiday I stamped loudly whenever going anywhere near that hedge and walked past it very quickly, could not relax anywhere in the garden. I can't even bear earthworms in the garden. If it has legs I am okay, so spiders not a problem, and I have a fondness for bats. There was a scream from next door on one occasion and my neighbour had found a baby bat flapping on the ground and was hysterical, I scooped the little creature up and took it into our garden, hung it on a bush, and by morning it had gone.

my real phobia is dentists.. If I have to phone one it can take me days to be able to pick up the phone to call. I'm also with Tamayra I wish I wasn't afraid of the water, I can't say a phobia because I have been able to get into the water, albeit at the edge hanging on to the side of the pool, but I can't swim, can't get my feet off the bottom. Also yes, like many people I also hate spiders and could not sleep if I saw a large one in my flat, I would have to kill it, even tho I usually try not to harm anything.

Face up to your phobia and get help, easy as that.

I have a spider phobia. No logic to it whatsoever. But fortunately it doesn't interfere with day-to-day life. But your phobia is affecting your life quite badly. You do need to seek help to cope. Otherwise you will miss out on so much.

I feel for you. If is a dead bird in my garden m, I can’t open the back door or look out of the window. My girls have inherited my phobia. It keeps my non-phobic DH busy! If we didn’t have him we seriously wouldn’t cope.

I totally sympathise. I also have a phobia about frogs. I had one in the kitchen once so will never leave the back door open. Another time I saw one sitting on my front door step and had to knock for my neighbour to come and move it so that I could get indoors. Like you, I know it's irrational but I really can't help it.

Try NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming. Sounds technical but there are therapists all over the country. I had the same phobia with cockroaches. i can't hold them but now I can look at them without hyperventilating ( and sometimes passing out!)

We had frogs in our very wet garden so put in a pond to welcome them. They love it. I think that frogs return to their birthplace to breed so it's likely you will see more. Frog 'song' at night is lovely so I do hope you manage to overcome your phobia. It would be such a shame not to enjoy your garden.

I am sure if you have the right therapy from a qualified person, you will be able to enjoy your garden again.Good luck .

I can sympathise with you HurdyGurdy.
I was out in the garden clearing weeds and suddenly this creature jumped out unexpectedly...a frog. Strange little creatures and don't think I could pick one up!
Having said that, many years ago while at the Isle of Wight zoo when visiting with my children, people were invited to hold a snake and have a picture taken. I toyed with the challenge and somehow I managed to have the courage to have a go. To my amazement, when I held it (draped around my neck) it felt quite warm blooded, yet you could feel the strength it had in that rather long body.
On the other hand, I still don't like spiders and couldn't pick one up!

Please don't attempt to rid your garden of frogs (or other wildlife.) Frogs need all the help they can get because they're declining in numbers. Much better to face your phobia and to seek support to deal with it - as wisely advised here by other GNS.