Moving on from Phobias

What is a phobia?

A phobia is a fear that is so extreme that it impinges on your life negatively and to the point where thoughts become overwhelming, feelings are out of control or behaviour is disrupted. Perhaps you are unable to go about your daily life as easily as you would like.

Hypnotherapy is generally a fast and effective way to move on from your phobia. You can usually move on from specific phobias in just 1 – 3 sessions. With complex phobias 3 – 6 sessions could transform your life. See more below on complex and simple phobias. Contact Amy to find our more about how hypnotherapy can help you with your personal situation and your phobia.

We are only born with 2 fears:

• The fear of falling
• The fear of loud noises

All other phobias are acquired throughout your life. Most often phobias are developed in the early years of life, but it is also possible to acquire them in adult life. The majority relate to a particular incident or traumatic event. The subconscious mind wants to ensure that you are protected and if extreme anxiety or terror has been associated, and association is the key, with something then your subconscious mind will want to protect you from that stimulus. Essentially, we always want to feel safe and secure.

For example, imagine at the age of 5 you had been playing hide and seek with your sister. She jumps out on while you are hiding in the dark. She makes you so scared that your that your fight or flight mechanism kicks in and your adrenaline and cortisol levels rise. At this point do you become scared of your sister? Probably not.

You are more likely to be scared of the dark. You associate the dark with that terror that you felt (even if you cannot consciously link this) and, if further negative associations are then made this further compounds the fear. A subconscious decision is made to avoid all dark places as they are considered bad; unsafe.

Phobias can also be learnt vicariously from others in our lives. So, if you grew up with a family member who was terrified of mice then it is possible to acquire that same phobia as a behaviourally learned response.

There are two types of phobias:

• The most common which are called specific, or simple, phobias.

These are more likely to develop as a child and relate to a specific object. These include a fear of cows (bovinophobia), a fear of bananas (bananaphobia) or a fear of buttons (koumpounophobia).

• Complex phobias

These tend to be more disabling during day to day life and are more likely to develop as an adult.

The most common of these are

• a fear of open spaces called agrophobia
• social phobia, an anxiety disorder, where the sufferer struggles to interact with other people. This can include talking to others, meeting new people as well as activities such as shopping or socialising. It can also be so severe that it can result in behaviour that prevents a person from leaving their home.

 What are the most common specific phobias?

Animal phobias such as fear of spiders (arachnophobia), fear of dogs (cynophobia) or fear of birds (ornithophobia).

Environmental phobias such as fear of heights (acrophobia), fear of germs (mysophobia) or fear of small spaces (claustrophobia).

Situational phobias such as fear of the dentist (odontophobia), fear of driving (aviophobia) or fear of having injections (trypanophobia).

The phobias that present most frequently at The Power of Your Mind are:

• Fear of vomiting (emetephobia)
• Fear of flying (aviophobia)
• Fear of driving (Vehophobia)
• Social Anxiety

With specific phobias, hypnotherapy works to reframe that phobia within your subconscious mind so there is a change in your emotional relationship towards that object. With complex phobias we work on reducing your anxiety, increasing your self-belief and confidence as well as dealing with root causes.

As with all Amy’s hypnotherapeutic work, treatment is specifically tailored to you.

Fear does not exist anywhere, except in the mind. Dale Carnegi