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title: "Medical, Dental and Needle Fear"
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[![Reclaim Trauma Therapy](/__l5e/assets-v1/19256a02-c93a-4fb7-827c-85c90113de5b/reclaim-logo.png)](/)

[Meet Charle](/meet-charle)[How ART Works](/how-art-works)

[What I Treat](/what-art-treats)

-   [Acute and Complex Trauma](/what-art-treats/acute-and-complex-trauma)
-   [PTSD](/what-art-treats/ptsd)
-   [Single-Incident Trauma](/what-art-treats/single-incident-trauma)
-   [Phobias](/what-art-treats/phobias)
-   [Medical, Dental and Needle Fear](/what-art-treats/medical-and-dental-fear)
-   [Car Accidents and Driving Anxiety](/what-art-treats/car-accidents-and-driving-anxiety)
-   [Grief and Sudden Loss](/what-art-treats/grief-and-sudden-loss)
-   [Anxiety](/what-art-treats/anxiety)
-   [OCD](/what-art-treats/ocd)
-   [Emotion Regulation](/what-art-treats/emotion-regulation)

[Who I Work With](/who-i-work-with)

-   [First Responders](/who-i-work-with/first-responders)
-   [Veterans](/who-i-work-with/veterans)
-   [EMTs, ER and Healthcare Workers](/who-i-work-with/healthcare-workers)
-   [Therapists](/who-i-work-with/therapists)
-   [Doctors](/who-i-work-with/doctors)
-   [Corporate Leaders](/who-i-work-with/corporate-leaders)

[ART Intensives](/art-intensives)

[Locations](/locations)

-   [Kentucky](/locations/kentucky)
-   [Ohio](/locations/ohio)

[Rates](/rates)[For Clinicians](/for-clinicians)[Contact](/contact)[Schedule a consultation](https://calendly.com/reclaimtraumatherapy/freeconsultation)

What I Treat

# Medical, Dental and Needle Fear

For adults whose care has been on hold for years because of what happens in their body when the appointment gets close.

## The Appointment You Keep Moving

Bloodwork ordered in the spring, still not done in November. A dentist you have canceled on three times, twice on the morning of. A scan your physician has now asked you about twice, in a tone that is getting less casual.

The pattern is familiar: you book it, you feel fine, and then two days out your sleep goes. You sit in the lot with the engine running. Sometimes you get as far as the chair and your arm will not stay still. Afterward you feel foolish, which makes the next call harder to make.

-   Needles, blood draws, IVs, injections and infusions 
-   The dental chair, the drill, being unable to speak or swallow 
-   MRI, CT and other scans that require you to be enclosed or still 
-   Surgery, anesthesia, or waking during a procedure 
-   Follow-up care you have quietly stopped scheduling 

## Why This Responds to ART

There is nearly always a scene underneath, and it is often older than people expect. A procedure that went wrong. Being held down as a child while adults said it would be over in a second. A dentist who kept going after you raised your hand. Watching someone else go through something you have not been able to unsee.

Two things are running at once: that scene, and the anticipation your body starts rehearsing days before the date. ART works on both, the original image and the build-up, so the dread has less to feed on. The goal here is deliberately practical: keeping the appointment and getting the care your medical team has recommended.

## What a Session on This Involves

We map the timeline of your body: what happens at the reminder text, in the waiting room, at the moment of the tourniquet or the chair going back. Then we target the earliest and strongest images while I guide the eye movements.

Toward the end we rehearse the actual upcoming appointment in imagination, step by step, and see what is left. If something still spikes, that becomes the next target.

Sessions are 60 minutes by secure video, which means you can do this from your kitchen table rather than in another clinical building that smells like the last one.

## What This Is Not, and When It Is Not the Fit

-   Not medical or dental advice. Decisions about procedures, sedation and medication stay with your physician or dentist. 
-   Not a guarantee about any appointment, and never a promised number of sessions. 
-   Not treatment for children or teens who are afraid of the dentist. 
-   Not a substitute for talking to your care team about accommodations, which is often worth doing alongside this. 
-   Adults only, by secure video in Kentucky and Ohio. 

This is not a crisis service.

If you are in crisis, please call or text 988, call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room. ART is not appropriate during active psychosis or acute crisis. Individual outcomes vary.

## A free fifteen-minute consultation, before you book anything.

Tell me which appointment is sitting there and how long it has been sitting. I will tell you what I would target and how the work runs. It is a conversation, not an exposure, and there are no needles anywhere near it.

[Schedule a free consultation](https://calendly.com/reclaimtraumatherapy/freeconsultation)[Back to What I Treat](/what-art-treats)

![Reclaim Trauma Therapy](/__l5e/assets-v1/19256a02-c93a-4fb7-827c-85c90113de5b/reclaim-logo.png)

Reclaim Trauma Therapy

Focused, practical trauma therapy for adults. Accelerated Resolution Therapy and extended ART intensives, by secure video in Kentucky and Ohio.

Charle Peck, LCSW, LISW, M.Ed.

Practice

-   [Meet Charle](/meet-charle)
-   [Rates & Policies](/rates)
-   [For Referring Clinicians](/for-clinicians)
-   [Contact](/contact)

Treatment

-   [How ART Works](/how-art-works)
-   [ART Intensives](/art-intensives)
-   [Is ART Right for Me?](/is-art-right-for-me)
-   [Frequently Asked Questions](/faq)
-   [Writing](/blog)

What I Treat

-   [Acute and Complex Trauma](/what-art-treats/acute-and-complex-trauma)
-   [PTSD](/what-art-treats/ptsd)
-   [Phobias](/what-art-treats/phobias)
-   [Anxiety](/what-art-treats/anxiety)
-   [OCD](/what-art-treats/ocd)
-   [All Conditions](/what-art-treats)

Who I Work With

-   [First Responders](/who-i-work-with/first-responders)
-   [Veterans](/who-i-work-with/veterans)
-   [EMTs, ER and Healthcare Workers](/who-i-work-with/healthcare-workers)
-   [Therapists](/who-i-work-with/therapists)
-   [Doctors](/who-i-work-with/doctors)
-   [Corporate Leaders](/who-i-work-with/corporate-leaders)
-   [Who I Work With](/who-i-work-with)

Serving

-   [Kentucky](/locations/kentucky)
-   [Ohio](/locations/ohio)
-   [Where I Practice](/locations)

This practice is not a crisis or emergency service, and messages are not monitored around the clock. If you are in immediate danger, experiencing a mental health emergency, or having thoughts of ending your life with intent or a plan, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room for an assessment. Veterans can press 1 after dialing 988.

Contacting this practice does not establish a client relationship. Individual outcomes vary. Nothing on this site guarantees a specific clinical result.

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