Fear of Spiders Treatment: Overcome Arachnophobia in One Day
Treatment for a fear of spiders at Creature Courage takes just one day. Working one-to-one with a therapist, using gradual exposure to real spiders, until the fear response stops firing. Most clients arrive unable to look at a photograph but leave holding a live tarantula. It's a one-session treatment - the clinical standard for arachnophobia - providing lasting results!
Endorsed by the British Tarantula Society · Featured on ITV Good Morning Britain, Sky News and BBC Radio 2 · Animal Activity Licence #2019/041827 · Fully licensed, insured and DBS checked
How do you Overcome a Fear of Spiders?
Overcoming a fear of spiders is best through graded exposure, which means a repeated, controlled contact with real spiders until the fear response stops firing. Avoidance of the fear is what keeps the phobia alive. Contact is what ends it.
This is the mechanism behind every evidence-based phobia treatment. Öst, Salkovskis and Hellström found that exposure guided by a therapist produced clinically significant improvement in 71% of patients, against 6% for people working through the same material alone at home. Therapy really is the difference maker in overcoming phobia.
That gap is the clear answer to "can't I just do this myself?" You can, and we encourage you to try and get into that mindset, but it very rarely works, because the instinct to stop at the hardest moment is exactly the instinct the treatment has to override. A therapist's job is to hold you at each step until the anxiety drops on its own, then move you up.
Creature Courage prides itself on being able to compresses that ladder into a single day.
Can Arachnophobia be Cured?
The simple answer is: Yes. A single extended session of exposure therapy resolves spider phobia for almost everyone who completes it. This is not a shortened version of longer treatment but a distinct clinical protocol with its own evidence base.
The approach is called one-session treatment, developed by Professor Lars-Göran Öst in the 1980s and tested in dozens of controlled trials since. Reviews of that literature report clinical improvement rates of 80–90%, against 75–85% for other specific phobia treatments. Öst's own trials found that longer, spaced-out treatment produced no better outcome than a single intensive session - this is exactly what Creature Courage has found over years of dedicated practice curing arachnophobia.
In our practice, the "years of therapy" model most people assume they need isn't supported by the research for specific phobias like arachnophobia. Creature Courage has run this format for over a decade across thousands of clients. The day runs for about eight hours rather than the three used in the original trials, which allows time for preparation and supported progression through each exposure stage - and for real-world practice at the end.
Does Exposure Therapy Work for a Fear of Spiders?
Exposure therapy has the strongest evidence base of any treatment for specific phobias, and ti will likely come as no surprise that spider phobia is the condition it has been tested on most.
It's called extinction learning, meaning that each time you stay in contact with a spider and nothing bad happens, the brain updates its threat prediction - everything has gone well, without threat or harm, there's no need to be scared. Avoidance prevents that update, it fact it reinforces the fear, which is why a phobia can persist for decades without weakening.
This is why the day is built specifically around sustained exposure and live contact rather than sitting in a classroom and having a chat. You'll meet English house spiders and tarantulas, at a pace you feel comfortable with.
What Treatment Is Available for a Fear of Spiders in the UK?
Three routes are available in the UK: NHS referral for CBT with graded exposure, private hypnotherapy, and private one-session exposure therapy. Waiting times, cost and evidence quality differ sharply.
NHS guidance recommends exposure-based CBT as the first-line treatment for specific phobias, usually delivered over 5-15 one hour sessions, spanning around 8-12 weeks. Whilst, this can lead to good long-term results, the research states far quicker timelines, with one-session treatments producing comparable outcomes - in one day with Creature Courage you can achieve what the NHS guidelines suggest takes about 3 months.
| Route | Format | Typical wait | Evidence base |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS CBT referral | 5–15 weekly sessions | Months | Strong |
| Private hypnotherapy | 1–6 sessions | Days | Limited for phobia specifically |
| One-session exposure therapy | One day | Days | Strong — 80–90% improvement |
Who Delivers the Therapy?
Sessions are delivered by Britain Stelly, who has run exotic phobia treatments, including spider phobia, for well over ten years.
Creature Courage is fully licensed, fully insured and DBS checked, and holds Animal Activity Licence #2019/041827. The Spider Courage Experience is the only spider phobia therapy endorsed by the British Tarantula Society.
Peter Kirk, Chairman of the British Tarantula Society, attended several sessions before putting it to the BTS Committee — the first time the Society had endorsed an event of this kind.
Arachnophobia Treatment Testimonials
Endorsed By The British Tarantula Society
After attending one of our workshops Peter Kirk, Chairman of the British Tarantula Society was really impressed and instantly personally endorsed our services and has now gotten us officially endorsed by the British Tarantula Society.
“I have attended a number of Spider Courage sessions run by Britain and her team. Honestly, I thought they were excellent. Very professionally run, full of accurate information about arachnids and extremely successful, tried and tested Neuro-linguistic programming and hypnotherapy techniques.
The spider-handling aspect of the therapy is carried out under carefully controlled and closely monitored conditions with the well-being of the spiders being of primary consideration. I have witnessed first-hand individuals so phobic about spiders that the mere thought of them reduced these people to tears. I have seen the same individuals walk away from the course with that element of their lives changed beyond their wildest imagination!
I have been so impressed with this course that not only have I given it my own personal endorsement, but put it to the BTS Committee who have also, for the first time ever, agreed to endorse this event too.”
Watch Peter share his thoughts in a short video
- Peter Kirk, Chairman of The British Tarantula Society
What Our Spider Phobia Treatment Offers:
- 99% success rate for overcoming spider phobia in one day! Our arachnophobia treatment has been tried and tested and is based on neuroscience.
- Lasting results! No need for years of expensive therapy for a spider phobia.
- Run by the UK’s #1 spider phobia treatment provider: Specialised in arachnophobia therapy with over 10 years of experience, choose the experts!
- Exposure therapy: Because we understand that hypnotherapy alone is not going to cure your spider phobia.
- We use a holistic approach to improve overall mental health and more effectively get you over your spider phobia in a lasting way.
- Affordable! Best value for your money! Working out at only around £50 an hour for life-changing spider phobia therapy! You will not find a better price!
Compassionate and caring therapists: We understand how difficult a spider phobia is to overcome. Expect to be guided through this process with compassion and sensitivity.
Try our free online assessment to see if you are a good fit for our fear of spiders treatment.
Limited spaces are available. Call 0330-043-7731 for a free, no-obligation consultation.
How Our Spider Phobia Therapy Works:
Changing Thousands of Lives For The Better
Our multifaceted Spider Courage Experience will help you overcome your spider phobia surprisingly in just one day. Dynamic and effective, this one-to-one therapy uses various complementary proven phobia fighting techniques such as:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
- Hypnotherapy
- Art therapy
- Education
- Immersive exposure
Uniquely, we provide immersive exposure therapy, which is a crucial component to overcoming your fear. Consequently, this is the only way our survival part of our brain can learn and make lasting changes.
Moreover, this multifaceted approach helps you to restructure your negative thought patterns and reprogram your subconscious response to spiders. These techniques will strengthen and prepare you for the immersive therapy to enable you to face your fears courageously!
Whilst on our therapy you can meet many different types of friendly spiders. This includes English house spiders and tarantulas during our exposure therapy. It is important to understand that the exposure therapy is always done at your pace and therefore always in your control. A kind and caring therapist will assist you while you are on this journey.
With a remarkable 99% success rate among thousands of clients in just one day, we are confident that you can also find freedom. No matter how extreme your fear of spiders is, there is hope; we can get you there if you are determined!
Holistic Approach:
Improve Overall Mental Health!
Furthermore, our techniques empower you to gain control over your mind and emotions beyond just spiders.
Based on the power of neuro-science, our therapy will help to improve over all mental health by giving you the necessary awareness and tools to enable you to break bad-habits around all anxiety while also building overall courage. Creating healthier ways of dealing with stress is essential to lasting spider phobia recovery.
Therefore we have worked hard to assure that the value of our workshop goes far beyond just addressing a fear of spiders. Your mental health is our top priority and we will go the extra mile for you to have life-changing results.
Arachnophobia Client Quotes
How Much Does it Cost?
Creature Courage has incredible value with most of our therapy working out at £50 per hour.
Currently the Spider Courage Experience is a one-to-one private therapy session, completely tailored around your needs. However, we can cater for groups of up to 3 people, please get in touch for availability.
Prices for The Spider Courage Experience:
- One person: £349 with our mailing list discount
- Two people: £650 with our mailing list discount
- Three people: £970 with our mailing list discount
All these prices are for a one day animal phobia therapy workshop, which includes 8 hours of therapy. PayPal pay in 3 instalments plans are available if needed.
Please call us on 0800 970 4417 or send us a message on our CONTACT page to arrange a date.
Location: Southwest London, close to Cheam rail station.
Timing: Runs from 9:15 am to around 6pm – dependent upon your experience through the day.
Change your life today with the most effective spider phobia therapy in the UK; the Spider Courage Experience!
A Brand You Can Trust!
Creature Courage and the Spider Courage Experience have been featured on Sky News, ITV Good Morning Britain, BBC Radio and in the national press regularly. It has helped celebrities cure their fear of spiders and is the only spider phobia therapy endorsed by The British Tarantula Society! You can see video endorsements and some of the filming with Strictly Come Dancing’s James Jordan, who cured his fear of spiders on Good Morning Britain. Be warned that there are spiders in this final video with Good Morning Britain.
