How to Successfully Identify and Overcome Phobias

I decided to use a phobia that I suffer from. I suffer from coulrophobia, a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of clowns that compels avoidance, despite the understanding by the phobic individual and reassurance by others that there is no danger.
And my fear extends to circus music, clown outfits, clown voices, etc.... My mother claims I have been coulrophic since birth, but for this essay I need to pinpoint a moment in my life that could have caused my phobia. So I will use my earliest memory of not only clowns, but of fear and sadness.
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