Opening times
The Friendly Spider Programme is fully booked for 2023
Type of place
Indoor
Area
Orange zone
Status
Bookings suspended
Facilities
This experience is wheelchair accessible.
Do you have a spider phobia?
Millions of perfectly rational people are terrified of spiders. No matter how much they try to calm themselves, the response remains the same: sweating, nausea, panic, rapid heartbeat and worse. But spiders are harmless and extremely beneficial invertebrates whose survival depends on avoiding such large, lumbering threats as ourselves. Join us for a session with a hynotherapist and zookeeper, and let us help you overcome your fears.
Curing spider phobia experience
- An afternoon course designed to ease or eliminate the condition of arachnophobia.
- The course is a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnotherapy.
- Opportunity to speak to our spider expert and an expert hypnotherapist.
- If necessary, you can bring someone with you for support, free of charge. Please note, however, that they will not be able to participate.
Register your interest
The 2023 dates for the Friendly Spider Programme are fully booked.
Please register your interest to be notified when dates for 2024 are available:
What to expect on the day
The Friendly Spider Programme begins with an explanation of how phobias can become established, by hypnotherapist John Clifford, followed by a series of questions to the participants designed to comprehensively clarify just what it is about these animals they don't like. The Zoo's spider expert, Dave Clarke, then provides the facts on these animals (addressing all the comments raised in the earlier Q&A session) proving there really is nothing to be afraid of.
After refreshments, participants will take part in a group hypnosis session designed to remove any remaining negative subconscious feelings about the animals and support the newly-acquired positive feelings. The Friendly Spider Programme concludes with an optional visit to the invertebrates at Tiny Giants. Here participants can, at their leisure, practice calmly catching British house spiders and even meet one of their cousins, our friendly Mexican red-knees. Great care is taken to ensure that the programme is as stress-free as possible.
The course takes place in our meeting rooms. No animals, photographs or illustrations are used until the end part of the course.
Schedule of events for the Friendly Spider Programme
- 2:30-3:00 pm Participants arrive
- 3:00 pm What are we afraid of? How phobias become stuck in our subconscious mind. Group Q&A session with hypnotherapist John Clifford of the Centre of Clinical Hypnosis.
- 3:50 pm Talk and Q&A session presented by Dave Clarke, Head of the Invertebrate Conservation Unit.
- 4:30 pm Break
- 4:50 pm Group hypnosis session by John Clifford.
- 5:30 pm Visit to the Zoo's invertebrate collection to see our display spiders.
- 5:45 pm Meeting with British spiders, training in catch-up, and presentation of certificate of completion + chance to meet their Mexican cousins.
- 7:30 pm Programme finishes.
Price and dates
- £150 per person, Friendly Spider Programme takes place on select dates between April and September
- A 30% concession rate is available for senior citizens, registered students, persons on income support and under sixteens.
Things to Know Before You Book
Important information before booking your Friendly Spider Programme place:
- Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult, adult guardians must sign the consent form included in the guest pack. Accompanying adults do not need to pay for a place.
- One non-participating support person allowed free entry.
- General admission to London Zoo, if you wish to visit before the Programme commences, is not included and must be purchased seperately
- We recommend wearing loose comfortable clothing
- Please arrive on time, we advise guests to arrive at least 15 minutes before the programme begins
- Please see our full terms and conditions for more information
Please note that admission to the Zoo is not included
Get sponsored to face your fear…
Why not ask friends and family to sponsor you for taking part in the Friendly Spider Programme?
By asking friends and family to support you in overcoming your phobia of spiders, you could also be helping ZSL to ensure the survival of many threatened species.
As an international wildlife conservation charity, we work in over 50 countries around the world to protect wildlife and their habitats. With your support we can do even more.
Set up your fundraising page now by going to www.justgiving.com/zsl . Setting up a JustGiving page is a great way of maximizing every opportunity of sponsorship. To find out more about sponsorship please email [email protected].
