Hypnotherapy for Phobias
...understanding and tackling your fears
What is a Phobia?
A phobia can be defined as an irrational fear – a fear that is beyond our control. Often this ‘irrational fear’ is symbolically attached to an object (such as moths or birds) or the fear can be linked to a situation (such as being in a lift or social occasions). Everyday objects or situations which in reality cause no ‘real’ danger whatsoever.
The uncontrollable, intense fear associated with a phobia can produce intense physical and emotional reactions such as sweating, shaking, feeling sick, blushing, anxiety and extreme panic. This often results in the person avoiding the cause of their phobia at any cost, which can be detrimental in all areas of their life. When the person with the phobia is in or even anticipates being in such a situation this produces an immediate anxiety state. They may experience heart palpitations, tightness in their chest area, extreme sweating, trembling or even feeling faint.
How do phobias develop?
Phobias develop when someone experiences an incident in their life that causes them to have a severe intense emotional reaction. These very strong emotions are ‘bottled-up’ – hidden deep in the mind. Repression of these strong emotions is a very effective, natural inbuilt coping mechanism. Phobias often stem from childhood, but they can also develop after a traumatic experience. Your mind creates a phobia as a warning to avoid that experience, or even anything symbolically similar to the original experience! To complicate matters further, nearly all phobias are not even related to the actual cause of the emotion – they are only symbolic of it.
The majority of phobias are about us feeling out of control.
Fear of flying is a perfect example of this. Millions of people are afraid of flying (aviatophobia) and yet the majority of these people have never been involved in an air accident. Their actual fear is not associated with flying, crashing or plummeting to their death – it is the fear of being out of control!
Call New Horizons Hypnotherapy on 01555 893413 or send us an email.