I got over my fear of spiders by gradually working my way up to holding them. I did not really like the idea of being afraid of spiders as a child because some kids would use that against me...so, I started with daddy long legs because i knew that their bite could not puncture human skin. I would let them crawl on my arms for brief periods at a time and gradually increased the amount of time that I could stand it. Then I went for other spiders once I'd gotten used to the daddy long legs. We have black widows all over the place here (in our flower garden, under the porch, etc) and while i will not be touching them I am not afraid of them because i know that people rarely die from the bites anymore. I have a pretty good respect for spiders.