A suburban Dallas woman's well-meaning attempt to help her future husband overcome his fear of heights went horribly wrong when a bungee ride they were in got stuck 50 feet off the ground for three hours because cables got tangled.

Irving, Texas residents William Mancera and Thalia Rodriguez were not injured during their ordeal. Dallas firefighters eventually used an aerial ladder truck to help get the couple safely to the ground.

Mancera told KXAS-TV that his fear of heights "won again" and he is "never riding anything of that sort ever again." But he also says the ordeal has brought him and his fiancee closer together. They plan to marry in February.

The ride remains closed as the company that operates it investigates why the malfunction happened.

Contrary to popular belief, overcoming certain phobias is not like taking aspirin for a headache and then finding you're miraculously healed, a few hours later. Most our fears and aversions are psychological and would probably be better remedied through traditional therapy, counseling or hypnosis.

In other words, if you're afraid of heights, jumping out of an airplane won't really help, especially if the parachute fails to open! Why risk getting seriously hurt when you can lie back on a couch and talk about your particular situation with a trained and licensed specialist?

One type of treatment is called cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, which is a very practical kind of therapy. CBT views your symptoms not as clues to the secrets locked in your tormented subconscious, but as a set of learned behaviors and bad habits that you can be trained to give up. Often you can cure any phobia in about 12 sessions by reprogramming your thinking and gradually exposing yourself to your feared situation in small increments. Going gung-ho is similar to going cold turkey, which usually has no lasting effects and can leave you miserable!

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