Now spider season’s here, Edinburgh zoo can help you overcome your eight-legged fear

AS the damp Scottish summer comes to an end, spider season is approaching.

Many of our eight-legged frinds are becoming more visible as they seek mates and ventures indoors.

While this may bring some people out in a cold sweat, RZSS Edinburgh Zoo is here to help.

“Spiders: Fight Your Phobia” workshops began last year and have already helped many people to overcome their fears.

They are held on five dates from September to November, and are designed to help people with arachnophobia to overcome their fear in a friendly, relaxed and supportive atmosphere.

Jo Paulson, Events and Experiences Manager at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo, said: ““People with a fear of spiders can really start to dread the Autumn when spiders start to become more visible.

So, we’ve designed a workshop to help them to understand the fear and to help them to deal with their phobia. We have had a very high success rate in helping people overcome their fears and many have made the choice to practise catching a house spider.”

The workshops take place over the course of an afternoon, where participants will hear from clinical hypnotherapist Morag Torrance and be given a chance to discuss their phobia to better understand its impact, before the zoo’s expert keepers share a little more information, showing how fascinating spiders can be and that there is nothing to be afraid of.

This is followed by a group hypnosis session with Morag to help participants relax, remove negative subconscious associations with spiders and reinforce positive associations.

Importantly, the zoo will not show any spiders or images of spiders during the theory part of the course.

After the group hypnosis session, participants will have the choice of whether to go with our keepers to a different room to meet some friendly spiders and have the option to practise calmly catching a British house spider.

Could you benefit from a workshop? Email experiences@rzss.org.uk to find out more.