The Surprising Therapy Helping People Overcome Their Fear of Failure

Fear of failure can make ordinary mistakes feel like evidence of personal inadequacy, encouraging procrastination, avoidance and excessive self-criticism. For some adults, these reactions may be connected to childhood memories of being criticised, rejected or humiliated after making mistakes.

A randomised trial suggests that imagery-based psychotherapy can reduce the emotional power of those memories. The most distinctive technique, imagery rescripting, does not erase the past but changes how a distressing event is mentally experienced.