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David Samson   Dip.Adv.Hyp   What is a phobia?...

The definition of a phobia is an 'irrational fear of a specific thing or situation'.

A phobia is something a person fears to such an extent that they feel they have to change their behaviour to keep themselves 'safe'.  Phobias can be split into two main types - Specific phobias (fear of snakes / spiders / crowded places / underground trains etc) and Social phobias (where an individual fears embarrassment in certain situations e.g. contributing in a meeting at work / public speaking / dinner parties etc.)  The fear with both of these phobias can be quite extreme and leaves the sufferer feeling out of control.

It is my experience in dealing with phobias that they develop in three stages - Stage 1 is where an infant sees a spider, he is fine about it but Mummy isn't...she screams and from that moment the child is scared when he sees a spider. Stage 2 is when a person has seen a spider in the front garden of a house they walk past on their way to work...they then take a detour and walk five minutes longer to get to work avoiding that street. Stage 3 is where the person is now so scared to walk along the street that they feel it is safer for them to stay indoors...and they do for many years.

What causes a phobia?...

Phobias have their roots in early childhood memories. A baby, when seeing that spider for the first time is curious. He then wants to investigate and moves his hand towards the spider...his mother lets out a loud scream, runs across the kitchen and pushes his hand out of the way quite abruptly! A folder is then created within his subconscious that spiders are really dangerous creatures. As the child grows older, his conscious logical mind tries to rationalise his fear of spiders...however his subconscious rings alarm bells and reminds him of the actions of his mother from many years ago and convinces the conscious brain that he really is in danger. The more the intelligent logical conscious mind tells you that you are safe, the more the subconscious fights to convince you that you aren't.

How can hypnotherapy help somebody with a phobia?

Hypnosis is a technique that allows an individual to access previously hidden subconscious files and make them become available to work with. I know this may sound a little scary but it is something that you have all experienced. Imagine walking down the road and seeing a person that you used to go to school with. The harder you try to remember their name the further from your mind it appears to get. What is the best way to remember that name?...by not thinking about it, the name just 'pops' into your mind ten minutes later...and that is what is known as 'accessing the subconscious'.

Regression Hypnotherapy is a technique that will allow a person to remember a specific incident from when they were very young. They 'see' the incident again and feel the emotions of that scared child but the difference this time is they comprehend as an adult. This then allows the person to put the correct interpretation on that scene rather than that of a scared young child, and equips them to handle future incidents involving the feared object or situation in a much more rational and intelligent way.

Over the years, I have dealt with many unusual phobias ranging from a pilot with a fear of flying to a lady with a fear of the letter 'V' !

For a comprehensive list of phobias and their names, please CLICK HERE