HYPNOTHERAPY FOR PHOBIAS
Hypnosis has been shown to be an effective treatment for many people with phobias. A phobia is an irrational fear of a particular stimulus. This stimulus can be a situation, a thing, or an activity. For some people, a phobia can trigger panic attacks. In severe cases the phobia can end up literally controlling your life.
Phobias are far more common than many people realise. It is estimated that more than 11% of the population have some kind of irrational fear.
The most common phobias seen by hypnotherapists are:
- Fear of flying
- Claustrophobia
- Fear of sickness (often linked to social phobias)
- Fear of insects
- Fear of heights
- Fear of needles
- Fear dentists
- Fear of water
Hypnotherapy works by accessing the underlying cause of the phobia and removing your conditioned response to the stimulus. When hypnosis is used to treat a phobia, the primary goal of the hypnotherapist is to discover the initial event from which the phobia developed. The cause can often be a traumatic event which occurred at an earlier time in your life, which you may not consciously remember.
During the trance state, your unconscious memories can be unlocked and brought to conscious awareness. The hypnotherapist does this by taking you back to the place and time where the distressing event occurred.
Addressing this old memory consciously will enable you to better understand it, as well as begin to see it in a way which is no longer threatening. When this is achieved, the phobia will generally disappear.