Helping people overcome their aquatics anxieties, fears and phobias for over 30 years.
The SOAP (Strategies for Overcoming Aquatic Phobias) Program is a unique approach to an age-old problem, fear of being in or around water. Many individuals of all ages, genders, ethnicities, educational backgrounds and life experiences suffer from anxieties in varying degrees associated with water. Although, in many cases, fear is a most valuable and necessary resource in order for people to continue to survive and learn effective and safe behaviors, phobics react abnormally to normal experiences and, as a result, their fear becomes an obstacle in their life. Similar to anyone who suffers from a fear of heights that would prevent them from climbing atop a two-foot step stool on level ground, an aqua
phobic might aggressively avoid stepping into a two-foot kiddy pool or putting their face in the water. In either case, the reaction is excessive, considering the situation, and can result in very powerfully negative feelings and behaviors.
"After a traumatic experience in the water when I was four ears old I developed a serious fear of the water. I did not believe that anybody would ever be able to help me. After participating in Jeff's SOAP Program, I have not only overcome my fear of water, but I now swim recreationally three days a week with another former SOAP graduate."
Ellen Bittner, Hartsdale, NY
"Thomas was four when we first enrolled our son in group swimming lessons. To say that he was reluctant to get into the water is a major understatement. He would put the death grip on my husband and I and refused to even try. We were then approached by Jeff Krieger and introduced to his SOAP Program. Immediately following the first week in SOAP, we noticed an immediate improvement. By the end of the program Thomas was diving into twelve feet of water and swimming the full length of the pool. Not only did SOAP enable our son to develop very important life long skills, but a real love for the water as well."
Maureen Donovan, Bronxville, NY
The SOAP Program combines aqua phobic-specific water adjustment techniques with group and individual counseling dynamics and skills, technical information and traditional learn to swim activities, all allowing participants to ease into an aquatic environment and to be able to enjoy the many emotional and physical benefits of aquatic activities.
Why is this program so important for drowning prevention?
• Every competent swimmer is one less risk for drowing.
• Every competent swimmer is one more potential life saver.
Helping these individuals deal with these issues is extremely complex and requires a great deal of insight, compassion, knowledge, patience, instinct, experience, creativity, ability and foresight. There are different reasons why people suffer from aqua phobia, but fortunately, regardless of what led an individual down that path, the strategy required to help them overcome their fear is very similar and available. Unfortunately, historically, neither mental health practitioners nor aquatic professionals have adequately addressed this problem or have offered effective tools directed at assisting the aqua phobic's efforts to remove this powerful obstacle that prevents them from feeling and behaving comfortably when confronted with water.
Traditional counseling/therapeutic efforts, designed to treat a wide variety of phobic behaviors, largely ignore the ever increasing numbers of a widely diverse group of aqua phobics. Generic strategies exist that utilize behavior modification, self actualization and relaxation techniques. Yet, none of those traditional techniques actually get the therapist in the water with their clients in order to physically and emotionally share that overwhelming experience with them. In the aquatic environment, the aqua phobic perceives, feels, reacts, and processes in a completely different manner than non-aqua phobics. Aqua phobics lose the ability, and more importantly, the will to truly comprehend the reality of the situation that surrounds them and their role in that process. They quickly and unavoidably lose their ability to judge, to reason and to react appropriately. Furthermore, they lose significant command over their emotional state and many of their motor skills.
(727) 741-3088
