Phobias are problems that can have a very detrimental effect on an individual’s well-being. They are often irrational in nature though some do stem from a bad experience in the past with the object of the phobia.
The response to a phobia can be overwhelming and promote anxiety when an individual is exposed to the trigger whatever that may be. This occurs when perhaps there has been a negative experience associated with the phobic object in the past which your brain has logged, and in order to avoid it happening again your unconscious mind then associates all subsequent exposures to the object to be the same as the first to keep you safe.
The most common phobias that people present with and which I have sound experience in treating are arachnophobia (a fear of spiders), claustrophobia (a fear of enclosed spaces), acrophobia (a fear of heights), and pteromerhanophobia which is a fear of flying. So what can be done about this? Well quite a lot really: here is how I work with phobic clients.
In certain situations where the anxiety is very high, I may use what is called an anchor and this is a term you may hear if you come along to an appointment and it is a technique to invoke a feeling of reassurance. For example, before formally beginning the hypnotherapist may get you to imagine a time when you felt very safe and calm and get to touch your thumb and forefinger and anytime you feel nervous you will be asked to touch your thumb and forefinger to elicit those feelings of well-being.
In my hypnotherapy practice, I often use a technique called systemic desensitisation. This basically means gradually exposing a person to the thing which they are phobic about and after giving re-assurance and encouragement and congratulations in having the courage to fear their fears bringing the object closer to them. For example, if it is someone with a spider phobia I may get them whilst in a trance to see themselves watching a television programme with spiders then having a spider on the far side of the room, then finally have the spider a few feet from them. This is done at a very gradual pace and with regular reassurance in the trance state.
So if you have been suffering for a while , please realise that with Hypnotherapy it is a very treatable problem. Feel free to drop me a line or give me a call to discuss further if you would like to.
