You might think that anything that suggests it can treat phobias is too good to be true, and you would be right to be wary! No one should be claiming to cure your phobia for you, like everything in life the success rate of hypnotherapy will vary depending on several factors. However there is substantial research that suggest hypnosis can help you to overcome your phobia and start to experience that thing with significantly less fear and worry.
What is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis has a bit of an unfortunate representation in the media, it has been portrayed as spinning pocket watches and theatrical displays of mind control. Actual hypnosis on the other hand is a relatively simple technique that can be learnt and self administered. There is nothing magical or fantastical about it other than the outcomes that you can create.
When we are paying attention to external factors we are using our conscious awareness to scan the environment, assess information and make decisions on what to do or say next. When our mind is in a rest state however it becomes internally focused, a network in our brain called the default mode network becomes active and this is where we use our imagination and memories, the amygdala and hippocampus are involved in this process, both regions of our subconscious and automatic thoughts and behaviours.
Using a technique such as hypnosis we ask our mind to go inwards, lessening our attention on the outside world, and in this state our mind is free to wander and daydream.
How does hypnosis work for phobias?
Our fears are learnt, either through real experiences or via other people, when we have stored this information away (spiders are terrifying and dangerous) then our mind uses this again in the future. When we have no way of disproving this via a new and positive experience, we will default to that old belief when we imagine facing that fear in the future. So we strengthen that belief every time we re-imagine facing our fear, this leads to either avoidance, hypervigilance or an automatic fear response in the event we do experience the fear.
In order to overcome a fear we have to change this belief program, allowing us to replace that old pattern with a new one which tells us this fear is no longer a threat and we are safe and happy to experience it in the future.
Hypnosis uses our imagination and via suggestions and visualisation we can start to challenge that old thought and create cognitive dissonance. When our mind is presented with a new version that we are willing to accept down to facts that are believable then it is happy to discard the older thought and instead replace it with the newer one.
Because you can visualise a positive outcome your mind doesn't realise that this is not a real experience, it acts as if it was, and so we have new evidence without actually physically experiencing the situation. Then in future we now expect that the new positive outcome will happen (as we use our old memories to predict the future) and we do indeed have a positive experience which strengthens this belief.
Can hypnosis cure phobias?
There are many research articles that suggest that hypnosis is a suitable and effective way to overcome phobias.
It has been reported to successfully deal with situational phobias such as driving (Fischer et al., Citation2019; Hill & Bannon-Ryder, Citation2005), travelling as a passenger (Shirley, Citation2012), flying (Bakal, Citation1981; Lupu et al., Citation2019), eating food (Reid, Citation2016), drinking liquids (Ajinkya, Citation2015) and fear of poisoning someone (Fenton, Citation2013). It has also been successfully used with blood-injection-injury type phobias (Gow, Citation2006) and having injections (Cyna et al., Citation2007; Medd, Citation2001). Positive results have similarly been reported with animal phobias (Kraft, Citation2013) such as slugs (Gustavson & Weight, Citation1981), insects (Domangue, Citation1985), dogs (Shirley, Citation2012), cats (McEwen, Citation2013) and birds (Brann et al., Citation2012; Scott, Citation1970). These findings indicate the high applicability of hypnotherapy.
As with all therapy and success rates they will vary by individual and it is often the willingness of the client and the work after the hypnotherapy session that will contribute to the outcome. However there is little reason to believe that hypnosis isn't a good option seeing as it is typically much faster and less invasive than traditional therapies such as exposure therapy.
If you are interested in working with me to overcome a phobia that is effecting you then book a free discovery call to chat with me about how many sessions you might need and what is involved.
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