Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias: Get Relief

Use Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias Like a Pro:



We all have fears and phobias – they can follow and torment us relentlessly.  They can hold power over our lives and keep us from living fully.  There is a distinction between fears and phobias.

 

A “fear” as defined by Richard Covin, Ph.D, is defined as an emotional response to a real or perceived threat. Though similar to a fear, a “phobia” is an anxiety that is so powerful that it interferes with one’s quality of life and/or their ability to function.

 

My mother in-law was terrified of snakes and clearly had a fear. She could match any Olympian high jumper upon seeing a snake.  The added effect was her screaming like a Yeti.  She scared me.  She became a phobia of mine! Just kidding.

 

A fear of snakes will involve some thinking and avoidance characteristics, but not to the point of it being all-consuming with efforts to avoid all places which may have snakes.  As you can see, they do share some commonalities.

 

When it comes to phobias, the main ingredients are time and avoidance.  Those with phobias will devote most of their time thinking and worrying about snakes (for example) and avoiding all places and potential situations which may involve the presence of a snake.

 

I have a natural fear of my wife Melissa, but I don’t avoid her.  If I did, that would make her angry and feed my fear of her! (I love you, Melissa 😊).

 

When it comes to phobic avoidance, it can be subtle or obvious. Making sure you avoid wooded areas or ponds is a subtle approach. Locking yourself in a room and never leaving so as to never come into contact with snakes is an obvious form of phobic avoidance.

 

Now, we must also consider facts when defining fears and phobias. It is a healthy fear if you know there is a poisonous snake in your garage and avoid it. But avoiding the garage at all costs without confirming the presence of a poisonous snake is a phobic response.

 

The following are treatment options for overcoming fears and phobias:

Exposure Therapy:  Involves gradual and repeated exposure to that which is causing your distress. This also includes exposure to the related thoughts, feelings, and sensations experienced by the source of one’s phobia.  For example, if you are terrified of snakes, the therapist may begin by showing you a picture of a snake and helping you accept and overcome your feelings of dread.  The next progression may include watching a snake on television or taking a trip to the pet store to be in the presence of snakes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT):  Teaches you to confidently live with your thoughts and feelings and not allowing them to take control of you.

Medication: Your therapist may prescribe anti-anxiety medications to reduce the anxiety and panic associated with the exposure. Check with your doctor, but I would use this as a short- term aid to help with the previous two approaches until you have mastered the situation. 

Hypnosis & Aromatherapy: The idea behind hypnosis revolves around altering a person’s brainwaves, allowing them to tap into resources within themselves that they cannot reach when fully conscious. Research shows that the approach can help some individuals manage their anxiety. The method involves a highly trained therapist using therapeutic words, phrases, or techniques to help a person enter an altered state of consciousness. Hypnosis may involve guided relaxation, self-talk, visualization, or music. Add Aromatherapy to Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias (Hypno-Aromatherapy), and you create a strong anchor (reminder) for the mind and body to relax when presented with the fear or phobia.

 

I hope you find this information helpful and begin your journey towards overcoming your fears and phobias. You can do this. I still need to work on mine. Speaking of which, I have to go. Melissa’s calling for me … ~Ted

 

Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias: 10 Most Common Phobias ~parts adapted via Healingsoulhypnosis.com


Hypnosis for fears and phobias can address and relieve all types of anxieties in people. These top ten are the most common ones I’ve succeeded in treating in my time as a clinical hypnotherapist: 

  1. Arachnophobia – the fear of spiders.
  2. Social Phobia – the fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations i.e. public speaking.
  3. Aerophobia – the fear of flying.
  4. Agoraphobia – the fear of any place or situation where escape is difficult.
  5. Claustrophobia – the fear of being trapped in small confined spaces such as hallways or elevators.
  6. Acrophobia – the fear of heights.
  7. Emetophobia – the fear of vomit.
  8. Carcinophobia – the fear of cancer.
  9. Brontophobia – the fear of thunder and lightning.
  10. Necrophobia – the fear of death.


Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias: 2 Main Categories

A phobia is an irrational and excessive fear of a specific activity, situation, or object that triggers a compelling desire to avoid that thing. If someone has a phobia, to everyone else it may seem silly, but to the person with the phobia it is a genuine fear. Having this phobia is not their fault and not something they can “get over it”.

Another way of looking at a phobia is as an unconscious automatic response to stimulus, which stems from a misperception of said stimulus. Scientists say that only two fears are hereditary or naturally instinctive: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Everything else is learned. The good news is, that means it can be un-learned.

Phobias usually start while we are young. However, any traumatic experience we endure, such as serious accidents or injuries, can cause phobias in adulthood.


Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias: There are two main categories of phobias

Social Phobias – fears involving other people or situations such as:

  • Public speaking
  • Performance anxiety
  • Embarrassment in public, such as eating
  • General social phobia, known as social anxiety disorder
  • Specific social phobias, i.e. cases of anxiety triggered only in specific situations such as being unable to urinate in a public bathroom

Specific phobias – a fear of a single specific panic trigger such as:

  • Spiders
  • Dogs
  • Elevators
  • Water
  • Flying
  • Death
  • Many, many more

Phobias can be severe in some individuals while others can simply avoid their fear trigger and have mild anxiety over that fear. Most understand that they suffer from an irrational fear, but they feel powerless in being able to overcome their instinctual panic reaction.


Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias: There's Hope!

Ending a life full of irrational fear is possible. Phobias can be treated. But when the fear trigger can be easily avoided (for the most part), a person may decide to try and ignore it rather than go for treatment. This can cause the phobia to manifest and cause disruption in one’s life in the future. A phobia may become present with no trigger or reason and it can be difficult to treat with standard psychotherapeutic techniques.

Many hypnotherapists may use “Parts Therapy” as a treatment to find the part of you that has the phobia. Parts therapy is based on the idea that our personalities are made up of a number of various parts which are aspects of the subconscious, each with a respective job or function in the inner mind.

Revert that part of you, that part of your personality, to the first time you were aware of the cause of the current phobia. Various hypnotherapy techniques can help to desensitize you, reframe the initial moment about the fear, which allows you to function freely without it. You may be taught self-hypnosis techniques to help reinforce your phobia-free life.

If you have been suffering, I encourage you to use hypnosis for fears and phobias. You CAN be free!


Let Hypnosis Be Your Reset Button!!!