Do I have a phobia?
What is a phobia or what some refer to as a phobic response? When I have an enquiry about hypnosis for phobia's its really important that we establish if this is really a phobia or is it something else. Anxiety and phobias go hand in hand, one of the first questions I ask my clients to quickly establish this is 'is this something that impacts you so much it prevents you from living a 'normal' life? If the answer is yes then this really is a phobia.
What is a phobia?
We have established a phobia is an irrational response to something relatively normal. Most of my phobia clients open a conversation with me by saying 'I know this is stupid but I have this phobia....' Lets be clear, no phobia is stupid. Phobias can be so debilitating and if you or someone you know genuinely has a phobia then the bodies chemicals will respond in a very real way, as if a life threatening crisis is happening, for the sufferer they will feel out of control. The heart rate will increase dramatically whilst the body is flooded with hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin amongst other fight or flight chemicals. The stomach will churn and they will likely go all sweaty, shaky, feel sick and in some extreme cases even pass out. This response is often happening around other people that simply don't understand it which makes it even harder. I have a deep rooted memory of my uncle pretending to throw a spider at my spider phobic mum, he thought it was hilarious! It was a piece of black fluff but it took my poor mum ages to calm down.
Why do I have a phobia?
We have a very primitive part of our brain, lets call it the survival part. This part of our brain is fast, it has to be, its there for our survival. This primitive part has three key areas that play a part in phobias. The first is the amygdala (I refer to this as your safety officer or your night club door man if you like) constantly scanning everything around you to check you are safe. The next is your hippocampus which stores all of your behavioural responses in the body and mind and it does this through a process called pattern matching. The hippocampus is not a part of our intellectual brain so it will generalise things. For example the pattern match with regards to driving might start with a bad experience on a motorway but this may be generalised as driving on any kind of road not just a motorway.
Then you have your hypothalamus which is your chemist in your brain, the part that is responsible for releasing the hormones that create the physical reaction of the phobia. So your hippocampus will store behavioural responses for pretty much everything such as - don't put your hand into boiling water you will get burned. This can be a learned behaviour from childhood, such as being told by an adult not to plunge your hand into boiling water you will be burned or created by a situation where you plunged your hand into hot water and learned the hard way. On occasion, particularly in times of stress the hippocampus can pattern match something incorrectly for example, if at a young age you see a relative screaming because they have seen a spider then the hippocampus will store that as a crisis or life threat. Once that pattern match is installed in the hippocampus every time a spider is present you will feel as if you are in genuine crisis. Because the pattern match is not specific, it will generalise, hence the response will come from a bit of black fluff or cotton on the floor. So here is how it all pans out in the brain, the amygdala will scan for danger, register the fluff, or it could well be a spider, then send a message to the hippocampus to check for a pattern match, hippocampus registers yes there is a match and immediately send a message to the hypothalamus to begin fight flight chemical response. The body will be flooded with cortisol, adrenalin and so on which throws the person into fight flight or panic response.
Therapy for phobia?
There are many techniques to deal with phobia's but in my opinion hypnosis is one of the fastest, kindest and most effective. Alternatives include therapies such counselling, CBT or exposure therapy, a gradual introduction of the item or situation that creates the phobic response so that over time the pattern match gets over ridden. Some approaches are more brutal yet still effective such as emersion completely into the phobia, a face your fear approach, not pleasant for the sufferer but still no less effective.
How to get over my phobia?
In hypnosis for phobia's we use a technique called rewind and reframe. I ask my client to chose a scenario around the phobia ideally the first time they noticed it, the worst time they noticed it or the most recent. Then we pick the strongest of those three. I take the client into a nice state of calm relaxation, I use a technique called progressive relaxation induction, I then take them into an even deeper state of relaxation so that I can access the part of the brain that the phobia is stored. This is all very pleasant and calming for the client. We then work on a process called rewinding and reframing the phobia. We do this through visualisation and replaying of the scenario in the mind, we repeat, repeat, repeat, numerous times to the point where the phobia becomes quite repetitive and boring. We then switch things up a bit and make the phobia really daft, almost cartoon like and by replaying that over again until eventually the brain it just clicks in that it doesn't need to store that phobia any more because its just a bit daft.
Hypnosis for phobia's
Its important that your therapist is highly skilled in what to look for through the sessions to ensure its dealt with. Unbeknownst to the client who is enjoying a nice relaxing session I am watching every breath, every micro movement, every twitch of the face or hands as this is how a skilled therapist can get a good measure on if the process has been effective. It's so rewarding for me to see as eventually the breath slows and everything just seems to calm right down. That is when I know I have done a great job and the phobia sufferer will be able to go off and live a normal life.
How many sessions will I need?
Most phobias are worked on between 4- 6 sessions this can be discussed in your free consultation. Sessions start at £80 and you get a free session when you book 6. First consultation is completely free and can be done on zoom or face to face in my practice.
Should I test if my phobia has gone after hypnotherapy?
The temptation is strong to test if the therapy has worked. I always advise my clients 'Don't poke the bear!' Just go about life normally, give the neuropathways a little space to settle down and bed in. Just relax, that's the best advice for what to do next. Just carry on and live your life knowing you don't have to be afraid any more. Its liberating, enjoy it. I am proud to boast that I have a client who's therapy with me was so effective he is absolutely convinced he didn't have a phobia to begin with, he doesn't remember his phobia even being a problem, that is until his wife reminds him of the day they did a U turn at the airport and came home, missing out on the family holiday! And do you know what? That's fine with me. I enjoy looking at the family holiday pictures they post on social media and think 'yes! I helped make that happen' and for that reason I love working with phobia's. Also know that no matter what your phobia is, its not your fault, its not stupid and it can be helped.
Get in touch
If you would like to talk about your phobia then you can contact me by clicking here to book your free consultation. I am a qualified psychotherapist and master hypnotherapist and my practise is a supervised and fully insured practise. If you would like to get in touch visit my website or simply fill out this form.
As a qualified master hypnotherapist I am a member of the National Council for Hypnotherapists. I also treat people for low self esteem anxiety sleep disorders and many other things. #hypnosis #phobia #therapy #pschotherapy #fear
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