Fears & Phobias

There are two types of phobias.

The Common phobias (simple or specific phobias) are more likely to develop through childhood often as a result of a past experience that was traumatic in some way and wasn’t dealt with appropriately; These can include issues like animal phobias such as fears of spiders, dogs or birds. Others may experience environmental phobias such as a fear of heights or fear of enclosed spaces and some will have specific phobias around certain situations. These may be related to a fear of going to the dentists, a fear of injections or a fear of driving. Often clients understand that their fears are irrational and are often embarrassed about them but just can’t do anything about it. 

The second type are often described as Complex phobias which are more likely to develop as an adult and tend to be ones which affect people in their everyday life. Social anxiety phobias can lead to persistent and intense feelings of fear of being in situations where the person feels under scrutiny from others. Common situations can be speaking of performing in public, fear around job interviews or presentations, talking to groups of strangers, confidence in the workplace, eating and drinking in front of others.

The majority of phobias are generated by one of the following:

• The phobia is a result of a past experience that was traumatic in some way.
• The phobia is the result of a series of experiences which have built up over time causing anxiety.
• The phobia may have been transmitted to you by another person.
• The phobia is a result of a fear of fear.

Phobias reside in our subconscious thinking and despite our best efforts our conscious minds can’t overcome them. The job of the sub-conscious mind is always to look out for us and protect us and once we are programmed to think and act in a certain way the sub-conscious will always come out on top. Hypnotherapy, if successful, will wipe away the old messages and re-programme our thinking, allay our fears and break the cycle of an unhelpful habit so that the conscious mind can act in a different way. I’ll also help you to unhook yourself from the feelings we get trapped in.