What is a phobia?
A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of an animal, object, place or situation. It can be both debilitating and overwhelming for the sufferer. Phobias can become so extreme that the person may stop doing things or change their everyday routines to avoid having to confront the cause of their distress. This can seriously restrict their lives and create a lot of anxiety.
As the brain cannot tell the difference between reality and imagination, even thinking about the cause of the phobia can cause heightened anxiety and panicky feelings; such as sweating, feeling lightheaded or sick, or having a racing heart or an upset tummy.
When we are in physical danger, our mind will kick into the fight/flight/freeze mode to protect us.
This is an instinctive, evolutionary defence mechanism which encourages us to fight (literally) the threat; run away from it or keep very still and quiet and hope the threat goes away by itself.
When the threats we faced, millions of years ago, were things like sabre toothed tigers these were great strategies to ensure we survived and lived to fight another day.
Unfortunately, even though we’ve evolved over our millions of years on the earth, our survival strategy remains the same – even when we’re faced with a large credit card bill or we are dealing with the aftermath of an argument with someone. We still, often, default to the fight/flight/freeze response, instead of dealing with the issue in a rational way.
The physical symptoms we experience are the same whether it’s a real threat (like the tiger, which could kill us) or an imagined threat or a perceived threat (like having a disagreement with someone, which will not kill us).
Phobias exist in the subconscious mind so even though, logically, we know that no-one is going to die if we have a row with someone; when we are upset by the argument we move from the logical, conscious part of the brain into the emotional, subconscious part of the brain; we flood our system with adrenaline and cortisol and we feel stressed and panicky.
Quick tip – learn to calm yourself down.
When you are anxious, you tend to take short, shallow breaths – also known as hyperventilating. This makes the physical feelings of anxiety worse.
By learning to breathe deeply, you can combat these sensations.
It’s best to practice the exercise below when you are feeling calm and then it becomes easier to do when you really need it.
Sit, stand or lie comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
Inhale slowly through your nose as you count to four. You should be able to feel your stomach moving, rather than your chest, as you do this.
Hold the breath for a count of six.
Breathe out through your nose for a count of eight.
Repeat this exercise several times until you feel more relaxed.
Are phobias common?
It is estimated that approximately 10 million people in the UK alone suffer with phobias and they can affect anyone at any time.
Why phobias occur.
There can be a number of factors that can create phobias.
A phobia of a particular thing may be a learned response if, for example, one of your parents or siblings had a fear of the same thing. You may have observed how they reacted to this particular thing and so, as a child, believed that this is how you should respond to it.
You may have experienced a traumatic or upsetting event which caused you to fear something. This can often happen in childhood or during your teen years.
Sometimes there is no obvious reason at all why you may have developed a phobia; although there is some evidence to suggest that genetics may play a part. Some people may be born with a tendency to be more anxious than other people.
When we talk about phobias, there are two different types to be aware of:
A ‘simple’ phobia.
This is when someone has a specific phobia about one particular thing and, other than that one thing; they don’t have any real anxieties about anything else.
A ‘complex’ phobia or more generalised anxiety. This is when someone has a number of different, and often debilitating, anxieties around a variety of things.
Can a phobia be cured?
The good news is that both kinds of phobias can be cured or vastly improved by using psychotherapy and hypnotherapy techniques.
In fact, simple phobias can be overcome in as few as 4 sessions.
Whilst generalised anxiety can take longer to overcome, excellent results can be achieved in a relatively short space of time, usually taking around 10 sessions.
Full list of therapy fees.
Initial consultation - £0
Hypnosis sound file - £0 (ask and I'll send you one).
Individual sessions - £80 (pay as you go)
or
You can block book (and pay upfront) for:
£450 for 6 sessions,
£600 for 8 sessions,
£700 for 10 sessions or
£840 for 12 sessions
Stop smoking package - £160*
Phobia package - £320
Included:
- 1 to 1 Zoom/telephone/WhatsApp session time (usually weekly or fortnightly)
- Hypnotherapy recordings to listen to, which consolidates the work done in each session
- Additional, appropriate resources to aid your progress
- Ongoing email/text/WhatsApp support between sessions
Stop smoking hypnotherapy session(s) - £160.*
This can be done as 1 session of up to 2 hours or
2 x 1 hour sessions; whichever you prefer.
We can chat about which is most appropriate for you on your free consultation.
To find out more about how I can help you to overcome your phobia, please get in touch.
Please text/call/WhatsApp 07525 625 679