Dealing with phobias

The understanding of phobias

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder where the individual experiences overpowering and a debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal. Phobias can be defined as having an irrational fear of something which stems from our subconscious. Phobias are conditioned into certain areas of the brain and through psychological studies of twins we have been able to determine that some phobias can be inherited by some people.

Phobias are more prominent than fears. They manifest when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic feeling of danger about a situation or object.

There are a variety of different phobias that an individual may suffer from ranging from simple phobias such as a fear of heights or ladders to more complex phobias where a number of stimuli are involved such as a fear of losing control or being lost. If not treated the individual may develop anxiety due to avoiding whatever is causing the fear.

Dealing with phobias

There has been a huge amount of published research on the effectiveness of hypnosis for the removal of fears and phobias. Hypnotherapy is used to induce the client into a state of complete relaxation, known as the hypnotic trance.
It is during this state that I will be able to access the unconscious part of the mind which is highly susceptible to suggestion and bring about the desired change.

Through hypnotherapy it is possible for both inherited and learnt fears to be reversed. The use of hypnotherapy to treat phobias is based around the client experiencing in their imagination the situation that makes them feel fearful but with a sense of control in a safe and calm environment. Hypnotherapy enables the client to put their fear into perspective by allowing them to experience the reality and not the irrationality of the situation. The client learns to achieve a sense of internal control over the stimulus that is creating the irrational fear. There is, however, no guarantee as change depends on the individual’s motivation to want it.