From Aaaaah To Ahaa! – Treating Phobias Through Hypnotherapy For Phobias

Are you one of those who mortally fears flying in airplane or getting into an elevator; are you one of those people who would rather live on take out food for days if you found a rat in your cupboard while cleaning? Then it seems to me you have a phobia. But before you start hassling yourself with it, let me make it clear that a phobia is very different from fear. Fear is a rational feeling, which is driven by the instinct of survival; let’s say fear of falling or fear of touching sharp things. You are afraid of them because you know you might hurt yourself with them. However a phobia is an irrational feeling, it is a grave fear attached to an object or situation, which in reality might not harm us after all! Something like a fear of water, dentists, blood, driving etc. they might not harm us but we are mortally scared of them in any case. Can you identify yourself with any of the phobia situations? Then its time you looked at hypnotherapy for phobias to help your situation.

Imagine this, you have been offered a lucrative position of a hotshot executive at a premier company; the profile looks irresistible, the pay is exceptional and it has the makings of the perfect job you imagined. There is only one hitch…the profile requires you to jet set around the world at frequent intervals, and you are petrified of flying. What would you do; would you give up a dream job because of your phobia? In most cases, a phobia is a negative emotion; your mind tells you that what you are scared of might not be rational and plausible, but your subconscious will just not allow you to override the fear. In such cases, you end up losing on a lot of opportunities which you might regret later; worse still your phobia might adversely affect your career, family and love life. This is where hypnotherapy for phobias comes in. A hypnotherapist will ideally work with you to discover the issues which led to the formation of such a phobia. Most of these phobias are born in our childhood, and our subconscious mind detaches the fear from the situation. What it carries on in the adulthood is the irrational fear, with no recollection whatsoever of the situation which instilled this fear in us. Hypnotherapy for phobias will let you reconnect with the past and identify the root cause of your phobia.

Now that we have established the cause of the phobia, there are different ways on which it can be approached. For example, there is a method we hypnotherapists call Cognitive hypnotherapy, which helps your mind realign the reactions to the fearful situations. In other words, these techniques help you to form a behavior pattern when faced with the situation or object you fear. Let’s say if you are water phobic or are scared of driving, this method of hypnotherapy for phobias will teach you to have a calm reaction when faced with a situation, and teach you to relax with the help of visualizations.

In some other cases, hypnotherapy for phobias works on the theory of making the subconscious mind realize that the phobia is irrational. This is done with the help of auto suggestions and positive enforcements. The subconscious is made aware that though the fear might have served a specific purpose in your childhood, it holds no relevance in your life as an adult; by being fed these suggestions on a regular basis, your subconscious will learn to distance itself from the fear and eventually discard it for good.

There is a common factor between phobias and hypnotherapy; they are both related to the subconscious. However, while one is irrational and undesirable, the other is all about self discovery and self innovation.

Using Hypnosis To Cure Phobias

The big question is "Can hypnosis cure phobias?".

When the hypnotist you are asking answers with a resounding "yes", the next thought is usually along the lines of "yeah, right".

But you'd be amazed at the high success rate that hypnosis has with phobias.

Top athletes regularly use hypnosis in all areas of their career. One of these areas that they may not be quite as public about is a fear of flying. After all, how can something as common place as flying be something to be afraid of? Surely almost every plane that takes off lands again safely?

Yet fear of flying is a biggie.

Hypnosis to the rescue!

By getting to the core of the fear, hypnosis can turn round the fear of flying and let you face an airport without turning into a quivering wreck.

The same goes for any other fear or phobia you've got.

For instance, if you've been afraid of heights since childhood, you can listen to a hypnosis MP3 and watch the fear melt away. This won't mean that you will lose the natural fear that kicks in when you are about to do something stupid from a height. But it will mean that you can climb a tower or tall building and admire the view, without your knuckles turning white while they are gripping the nearest safe object.

Public speaking is another very common fear. Truth be known, most of the audience probably don't care what you are saying in your presentation. They're just glad that it's you who drew the short straw rather than them. You can use hypnosis to boost your confidence in public speaking so that you don't break out into a cold sweat the next time you are asked to speak in public.

Fear Of Public Speaking

Social Phobia is an irrational anxiety brought forth by exposure to certain social situations, leading to avoidance behaviour.

Specific Phobia is a persistent and irrational fear in response to some specific stimulus, which commonly results in avoidance of/withdrawal from that stimulus. It could be triggered by an insect or animal (zoophobia), by a situation like being trapped in an enclosed space (claustrophobia) or it could be a fear of disease (pathophobia).

Though it feels real, the fear of public speaking or Glossophobia is what psychologists call "social construction". This means that it is not a natural phenomenon, but the result of something society has created. We expect it to cause fear and therefore, it causes fear.

Unfortunately it is this "fear of the fear" which causes the problem to perpetuate, creating a vicious cycle.

It is possible for a sufferer to change their attitude to public speaking and thus reduce their fear. If you can figure out exactly what it is about public speaking that scares you, then you can begin to see what you might be able to do about it. This analysis will help you to change your feelings.

For example, if you regard the thought that people might laugh at you to be an important factor in your fear, you should ask yourself when they have laughed at you before. If they only laughed when you wanted them to, then your fear is unreal. Such reflection can make a positive change in your attitude to public speaking.