Fears & Phobias Treatment

Is your phobia keeping you from doing the things you like to do? Do you recognise you have a fear or phobia, but you are uncertain of how to deal with it? Do you feel your fear is irrational, yet it’s difficult to keep control over it? Is the fear automatic and completely overwhelming or hugely over exaggerated?

Dealing directly with a traumatic event and finding the trigger will remove the need for your brain to go into a state of panic, fear or phobia. These feelings of panic, fear or phobia usually pose little or no actual danger but your brain overreacts, starts to overthink and panic sets in. Some fears or phobias are related to what happened in your childhood and once uncovered can be dealt with swiftly.

Understanding your fear or phobia is the first step to overcoming it.

Fears and phobias could include:

• Fear of flying
• Fear of spiders or insects
• Fear of birds
• Fear of snakes
• Fear of needles
• Fear of clowns
• Fear of public speaking
• Fear of heights
• Exams stress or taking exams
• Fear of vomiting
• Fear of the sight of blood
• Fear of open spaces or buildings
• Fear of heights
• Fear of dogs
• Fear of the dentist or doctor
• Fear of the dark
• Fear of motorway driving
• Fear of social situations

These may be triggered by sights, sounds, smells, objects, situations or events.

There hasn’t been any conclusive research with regards to what causes a person to develop a fear or phobia. However, there does seem to be several factors that play a role:

Specific incidences – accidents or near misses are known contributors. A young child may have experienced turbulence on a plane and then develops a fear of flying.

Learned responses – usually picked up in early life but can develop at any point. Family environments such as parents or adults who are very worried or anxious becomes a learnt response to the child. Children often mimic this behaviour thinking it’s how they should behave.

Genetics – some research suggests that some people are more vulnerable than others and could develop phobia or severe anxieties as a result.

Responses to panic or fear – if you have responded in a certain way in the past and it caused either embarrassment or you observed how people around you reacted, it could cause you to become oversensitive to it in the future, often causing an anxiety which becomes a phobia.

Physical symptoms may include:

• Difficulty breathing
• Racing or pounding heart
• Chest pain or tightness
• Trembling or shaking
• Feeling dizzy or light-headed
• Butterflies in your stomach
• Sweating

Emotional symptoms of a phobia may include:

• Overwhelming anxiety or panic
• An intense need to escape and run
• Feeling “unreal” or detached from yourself
• Fear of losing control
• Feeling like you’re going to die or pass out
• Knowing that you’re over reacting, but feeling powerless to control the fear

The most effective treatment for fears or phobias is called “disassociation” and “non-disclosure” meaning you do not have to tell your therapist what it is you are scared of nor do you need to relive it and go back and experience the fear.

When we “disassociate” ourselves from an emotion and see, feel or hear it through a different lens or format, it stops the brain from returning or going back into panic mode. We find the root cause of the emotion which you have learnt and manifested over time and eradiate it without becoming frightened or upset.

I use a tried and tested system when treating phobias or fears which allows an individual time to process and the brain time to eliminate the need for the fear or phobia. This technique comes in several forms but is most commonly used in Kinetic Shift, Quick Induction Hypnotherapy and the Rewind Technique.