What is a Phobia?
Phobias are an extreme reaction to a situation, event or object. If you have a phobia it will significantly effect your ability to enjoy and participate in these situations. You will likely be hypervigilant (constantly looking thinking of and looking for the cause of your phobia) and unable to relax, you may panic and notice physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, sweating, stomach churning. You will either completely avoid or feel extremely uncomfortable in that situation and that feeling won't pass until you are sure that the thing or situation is no longer a threat.
Phobias are very often irrational responses, you may be aware that it is very unlikely to cause you harm but you cannot control your reaction.
Types of Phobias
Specific
These phobias are related to a very specific situation, event or object and the reaction will only occur when faced with it. For example, a fear of flying is specific, you only fear flying if you are thinking about travelling on a plane or when you are actually on a plane. You wouldn’t live your everyday life In fear as the situation isn’t present, and you are unlikely to be looking for planes or worried you might have to go on a plane tomorrow if there was no need.
Common phobias of this type include:
Spiders
Rats
Birds
Snakes
Needles
Flying
Dogs
Cats
Dentist
Holes (trypophobia)
Phobias are often deeply rooted in our psyche, emerging from traumatic experiences that trigger intense anxiety. When such experiences occur, especially when our anxiety levels are already elevated, our minds tend to store these fears in our memory, creating a phobia. Interestingly, phobias can also be acquired through social learning, where individuals around us who have phobias inadvertently transfer their anxieties and associations onto us. This process of phobia transmission highlights the intricate ways in which our fears can be shaped by our experiences and interactions with others, ultimately influencing our perception and response to specific objects or situations. The complexity of phobias underscores the importance of understanding their origins and manifestations in order to effectively address and overcome them.
General Phobias
General phobias are a type of fear that is related to a broad situation or event, often with underlying implications. For instance, if someone has a phobia of being sick, it could lead to a more generalized health anxiety, encompassing fears of germs or falling ill whenever feeling unwell. This fear may extend to worrying about others becoming sick and potentially making them sick as well. Similar to other phobias, there can be exceptions. Take the fear of heights, for example. While someone may have a general fear of heights, they might still be able to ride in an elevator or sit on the upper deck of a double-decker bus.
General phobias can have far-reaching effects on an individual's daily life, influencing their behaviors, thoughts, and emotions in various situations. Understanding the nuances of these phobias is crucial in providing appropriate support and treatment to help individuals overcome their fears and lead a more fulfilling life.
How can solution focused hypnotherapy support phobia?
Phobias are an irrational fear where we lose the intellectual ability to rationalise, this thought pattern is learned and then referred to next time, therefore reinforced. Solution focused hypnotherapy explains how this process happens and that information helps to regain control of the situation. Trance also allows us to relax and access the subconscious which helps to reduce our anxiety, when we feel less anxious we have more control over our thoughts and can assess the situation with clarity.
What is a typical phobia hypnosis session like?
Phobia treatment with Solution Focused Hypnotherapy involves a consultation to discuss the goal - i.e. remove the fear you currently have and an explanation of why you have that phobia and what happens in your brain each time you are faced with that situation. Then a further 2 sessions, one where we just go over that information and use trance to relax you, help you remember the information and get you used to feeling completely relaxed. The next session involved rewinding the phobia which allows the brain to remove the negative association with the phobia in our memory, this is done in trance and is all visual no exposure or talking about the situations are every involved. Finally a reframe (describing and visualising your perfect day) allows us to create new positive thoughts to replace the existing negative ones, this allows us to learn new ways to think in that situation that are rational and controlled.
Work with me to remove the learned phobia response in as little as 2 sessions.
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