Fears and Phobias
Most people have an irrational fear of something, but phobias are different. Phobias produce a fear so severe and intense, it affects everyday life. Phobia sufferers experience extreme anxiety and distress. But phobias can be cured. The most common phobias that we at MH-Hypnotherapy help clients with are spiders, social anxiety, flying, enclosed spaces, infections, germs and heights.
Phobias are irrational fears
A person with a phobia is more intensely afraid of something than what that something warrants. Sometimes there is little or no actual danger. You probably realise that your phobia is irrational, but that knowledge doesn’t help you to get over the phobia. Even thinking about the subject of your phobia might make you anxious or distressed. Being exposed to your phobia can be terrifying for you.
Fears are normal and helpful
Fear is a normal and appropriate response to a danger. We need to feel fear to get us away from potential danger. Our bodies become ready to act when threats present themselves. Being fearful of a snarling attack dog is one thing. Avoiding going to the park because a Yorkshire terrier might be there is another.
How you know whether you have a phobia
You’ll have physical and emotional symptoms when presented with the thing you fear when you have a phobia. Physical symptoms include difficulty breathing, racing heart, chest pain, trembling, churning stomach, sweating and dizziness. Emotional symptoms include panic, anxiety, a need to escape, loss of control, feeling as if you’ll pass out and feeling powerless that you can’t control this fear.
When to seek help
When phobias interfere with your daily life, you should seek help. If your phobia is that you’re afraid of snakes and you don’t encounter snakes often, you probably don’t need to do anything about that unless you want to. But if you fear flying, for example, and you have a job that requires you to travel, you should seek help to get over this phobia before you possibly lose your job. Also, if your phobias lead to panic attacks, you might want to seek help to prevent the attacks from leading to a general panic disorder where panic attacks become more frequent.
How we can help with phobias
If you are fighting with a phobia or a fear on a daily basis, we have good news: you can overcome your phobia no matter how out of control you might feel. Hypnotherapy with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) have an extremely good track record when used to help get rid of phobias.
How many sessions does this take?
We treat all our clients on an individual basis, particularly when the distress is long-standing and impacts the ability to cope with everyday life. During the initial free consultation, we discuss the problem in more detail. This enables us to assess how severe the problem is and to determine the number of sessions required. We regularly help clients overcome phobias and fears in as little as two to four sessions.
