Before I explain how hypnotherapy for phobias and fears works, I’ll be clear about what exactly is a phobia.
A phobia is an intense, persistent and unreasonable fear of something.
By another name it’s an anxiety disorder where the fear is way too disproportionate to the actual danger and it can significantly interfere with daily life.
There can be a trigger - a memory, say, of a painful trip to the dentist. A scary film seen as a child involving spiders or snakes. Or it can be a learnt behaviour - at an early age you saw your mum scream and jump on a chair because she saw a Daddy Long Legs (not, by the way, a spider and way more common). Or it may be a control issue - you don’t fly the plane, you feel in the hands of others. Or it may be a random thought and you’ve absolutely no idea where it came from.
Hypnotherapy for phobias and fears. What are the top ones?
Below are what bothers most people. And these are the most common ones I treat:
The fear of heights (acrophobia).
This affects 23% of Britons, according to a YouGov RealTime survey.
The fear of spiders (arachnophobia) affecting 21% of Britons.
The fear of public speaking (glossophobia) affecting 15% of Britons.
The fear of snakes (ophidiophobia)
The fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia).
The fear of going to the dentist (dentophobia)
The fear of flying (aerophobia)
The fear of needles (trypanophobia)
The fear of dogs (cynophobia)
The fear of vomit (emetophobia).
Understanding the top phobias one by one.
The fear of heights (acrophobia).
Most likely this is a learned behaviour from early childhood or learned from watching our parents response - them warning us to be careful, say, as we climb a tree. Another is an innate, evolutionary fear that might be hardwired into our brains, making us more likely to avoid dangerous situations like falling.
There also maybe what is known as Cognitive and Sensory Factors. You may experience a mismatch between what your eyes see and what your inner ear tells you. This can lead towelling dizzy and sick, which can be misinterpreted as a sign of an impending fall.
And it depends on your temperament. Some people are more dare devil risk takers than others.
The fear of spiders (arachnophobia)
For most this is a learnt thing. You’ve seen a mum, aunt or gran jump on a chair and scream. As a child you’ve been chased with a plastic spider. You’ve seen spiders kill people in films. It’s conditioning. The fact is there is NO native spider in the UK that can kill you.
The fear of public speaking (glossophobia)
Public speaking tends to breakdown into four main areas that trigger a phobia.
(1). Our physiology. We feel self conscious. Typical thoughts about ourselves go like this:
“People will see me blushing.”
“People will be staring at me and I’m fat.”
“The audience will laugh at me.”
(2). Our thoughts/self talk. We have a negative opinion of ourselves. For example, we think we’re not good at speaking in front of crowds, you doubt yourself, you think you’re boring.
(3). The situation.
(a). It may be a simple case that you lack experience. As with anything else, experience builds confidence. If you don’t have. A lot of stage hours under your belt you can start to doubt yourself.
(b). You fear being judged. Especially in front of a group of people who have their evaluation forms ready to fill out.
(c). You feel there’s a status difference. If you are speaking to superiors, or people you want to desperately impress - a sales pitch maybe.
(d). The material is new. If you are sharing ideas that you haven’t shared in public before you may worry more about how people will receive them. or dealing with audience members who try to poke holes.
(e). A new audience. You may be an experienced speaker with familiar audiences, but standing in from of a crowd on unknowns may fill you with dread.
(f). Your skill set. Some people are skilled at public speaking and by nature of their personality like all eyes to be on them. You may feel it’s something you have to work as you feel out well and truly out of your comfort zone.
The fear of snakes (ophidiophobia)
A bit like spiders. You’ve seen them in films kill people. Here in the UK the adder is the only venomous native snake. A bite is painful and causes local reactions like swelling and inflammation.
Most commonly I treat a fear of snakes when people want to abroad for adventures, but feel held back. It can stop family trips of a life time, or honey-mooners going to their dream destination unless treated.
The fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia).
Typically it’s from childhood. Bigger brothers and sisters locking you in airing cupboards, under the stairs, or in cellars. Or another common cause is being stuck in a lift.
On a daily basis tunnels can trigger claustrophobia. Especially when you’re stuck in them, say, on the tube, a train, or in a car - especially a small car.
Similarly flying. The tight seat, restricted movement and the feeling of being confined in the air can trigger claustrophobia.
And it can affect your health. For some MRI Machines bring on claustrophobia:
The narrow tube and the feeling of being enclosed during the scan can be stressful.
Whilst for some it can be crowded spaces. Football matches, the mosh pit. And as you get older what you might have enjoyed you no longer do - you become risk averse.
The fear of going to the dentist (dentophobia)
Based on past experience. Seeing your parents getting anxious. Worry about are your teeth good enough. Are they going to pull some out? Will there be blood Needles? How much pain will there be? Will I be be left with gaps? All these feed into worrying about a trip to the dentist.
The fear of flying (aerophobia)
The facts - flying is deemed THE safest method of transport. In 2024 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed that the risk of fatality from flying is one per 13.7 million passengers. And the chances of dying drop around 7% every year due to increasing safety improvements.
But the irrationality comes form a lack of control. You can do nothing but sit there through the turbulence. You feel trapped.
And this feeling can stop you seeing the world, taking the kids on a trip of a life time, or going on a honey moon.
The fear of needles (trypanophobia)
Hypnotherapy for phobias and fears applies across all the times people are wary of needles:
Blood tests
Going to the dentist
Worries about fertility treatment and pregnancy
Getting inoculations to go on a holiday of a lifetime
Flu and Covid jabs
Getting tired of injections. Especially if you have, say, cancer treatment and you’re getting tired of the process.
The fear of vomit (emetophobia).
This can stand in the way starting a family. Firstly the morning sickness and then the baby sick.
It could be you saw vomit as a child and were repulsed. Or that someone was sick on you - more common than you think - on a long car journey as a child, in school, or at a party.
Fear of the white coat
Not so much a phobia as a situation where you feel the agitation rise. For example, going to the doctors for a blood pressure test. Especially when it doesn’t work first time.
We can look at taking away the meaning so you just walk into the surgery and you feel relaxed.
Rollercoasters
Hypnotherapy for phobias and fears for rollercoasters isn't too dissimilar to flying. You’re in a confined space, strapped in with no control. Movement is random. People come to see me about this especially when they’ve booked a holiday of a lifetime to Florida, say Disney World, and have got themselves out of sorts about the thought of going on the rides as a family.
How does hypnotherapy for phobias and fears work?
First part is admitting to yourself there’s a problem and that you want to get rid of it.
What we then look at is what this phobia is stopping you do and how, under hypnosis, you can relax and change your thoughts
What is hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy literally means using hypnosis as a therapy - a healing tool. Something to calm the subconscious mind. This way you see things in a new light, so they bother you less, or not at all.
How effective is hypnotherapy?
Nothing is 100% certain but the numbers for hypnotherapy certainly look good.
There are plenty of scientific articles to reinforce the efficacy of hypnotherapy.
One figure is 93%.
Alfred A. Barrios, Ph. D., presented a review in the journal "Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice" and in American Health magazine, where he provided the following recovery rates for different therapies: Hypnotherapy: 93% success rate after an average of 6 sessions.
You can read his report here.
What do phobias and fears mean to me?
There have been two times things that have bothered me - heights and enclosed spaces.
Heights used to leave me with a fear of falling. But suddenly I got it in my head that I wanted to climb Mont Blanc. So I got on and climbed and didn’t look down. Not bothered now. Obviously not such a biggie for me
Secondly, in Vietnam in the ChChi tunnels I had a panic attack. I thought I was like Danny in The Great Escape and the roof would fall in on me. The ought came out of nowhere and I was soaked in sweat and had to get out. Where that came from no idea.
I’m James Thomas, a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist.
If you want to use hypnotherapy for phobias and fears, please get in touch. I’m at jamesthomas@thegentlemind.co.uk or you can call me on 07787563099 for a chat.
Come and see me in Harrogate, Leeds, York, Lincoln, or Louth.
