Mind and Body Works

Common Fears and Phobias

One of the most common reasons for people to seek hypnotherapy is for help overcoming a phobia. The most common phobias are those such as fear of spiders and fear of flying, which can be easily cured using cognitive hypnotherapy techniques to help learn new behaviour patterns i.e. a calm reaction rather than a panic reaction.

Sometimes, if a phobia is deeper and more disruptive as can be the case with severe agoraphobia or social phobia, then it may be necessary to look at some of the issues surrounding the onset of the phobia and work to resolve them. Phobias are often rooted in childhood misunderstanding. A child doesn't necessarily have the logical tools and information to understand the meaning of a parent standing on a stool screaming at a small insect. They will almost certainly make a deep unconscious decision that the insect is dangerous.

Hypnotherapy can help with phobias in many ways including:

Teaching relaxation and visualisation techniques for systematic desensitisation.

Learning new habits such as being more relaxed and calm. Although it may seem obvious, these habits exist on the same unconscious level as the original phobia and hypnosis will help to create them quickly.

In coming to an internal understanding and acceptance of how the phobia may once have served a useful purpose, it shows how it has now become an unnecessary behaviour pattern. This issue can resolve itself under a conscious level of awareness. For evidence of this, look at the way children eventually learn to not be scared of monsters even though they never actually sit down and consciously make the decision. Hypnosis simply accelerates the internal ability we have to get over irrational fears.

Simple fears and phobias can usually be dealt with in just one or two sessions which are charged at £70 per session which includes a free Hypnotic CD recording for your relaxation.