Triumph Over Phobia (TOP UK)

TOP UK (Triumph Over Phobia) is a small specialist charity helping people suffering from OCD, phobias, and other related anxiety. Our Plymouth group meets weekly and is open to anyone aged 18 or over. You do not need to have a formal diagnosis to attend.

All our self-help therapy groups meet once a week and are run by trained volunteers, many of whom have overcome a phobia or OCD themselves. Our groups use a type of behaviour therapy that is based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles and the work of Professor IM Marks. In many cases, there is a long waiting list for therapy on the NHS, but you should be able to access a TOP group immediately.

We use a type of behaviour therapy to help people recover from their anxiety. If you are interested, please get in touch with TOP UK by emailing info@topuk.org or calling 01225 

What is a phobia?

A phobia is an irrational fear of a person, thing, or situation that most of us take in our stride. A person with a phobia will avoid the situation wherever possible. People can be afraid of anything!

Phobias generally fall into five main areas:

1. Agoraphobia: fear of being away from one's own 'safe circle' (this can be as small as one room or as large as one's hometown or even country).
2. Social phobia: fear of any kind of social situation that involves other people, e.g., walking down the street, standing in a queue, visiting a restaurant, attending meetings.
3. Claustrophobia: fear of enclosed spaces such as lifts, buses, trains, cinemas, and theatres.
4. Blood/Injury Phobia: fear of the sight of blood; injections; blood pressure measurement; surgery; fear of the doctor or dentist.
5. Simple Phobia: fear of animals; birds; insects; particular objects such as buttons, telephones, and bridges. This is not an exhaustive list! Other well-known phobias include fear of vomiting; fear of something about one's body looking or smelling wrong—probably an extreme form of social phobia; fear of heights; and fear of flying.

Some people experience more than one of the above phobias; for example, a social phobic may become agoraphobic because of their fear of meeting people. Someone with a fear of flying may be claustrophobic and not be able to use the train or the metro.

Anyone who wishes to attend a group will need to complete an application form; none of our groups (with the exception of Jersey) are drop-ins. There is also a small weekly charge to attend a group, but this is reduced for those on low incomes. Triumph Over Phobia does not receive any government funding, and we rely on donations to continue our valuable work.

To apply for a place in our Plymouth group, please click the link below. If you would like more information, you can use our contact page, telephone 01225 571740, email info@topuk.org, or write to us.

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