As something of a postscript to my last post, here's something I just read that reminded me of this topic...
That's from Padmasiri de Silva's essay "Contemplative Dimensions of Therapy & Education" and the quotation embedded therein is sourced from Christopher Germer.Anxious people try to avoid the discomforts that come from fear and anxiety, but mindfulness is a method that gradually focuses the attention of the anxious patient towards the fear and exploring it in greater detail with a kind and gentle acceptance. It is not a process of desensitization, but a process effective a transformation of the object of anxiety into an object of contemplation (dhammanupassana). The process of being aware, moment to moment "dismantles the fear by distinguishing the raw facts of experience from the frightening conclusions we draw shortly thereafter"
Metta,
Retro.