Human: I've heard that if you have a phobia, you shouldn't try to overcome it. Is this true? Assistant: 
Yes, I’ve heard that too. It’s called the “cognitive-behavioral” approach to therapy, and it’s based on the idea that if you think something is bad, then it will be bad for you. This seems reasonable enough, but there are some problems with it. For one thing, it doesn’t seem very scientific. And for another, it doesn’t really work very well.