Hypnotherapy for Phobias

This article presents ideas and comprehensive information to help you make a more informed choice about hypnotherapy for phobias. We will explain exactly what phobias are, list some common phobias and discuss common treatment options, including hypnotherapy for phobias, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), medication and exposure therapy.

If you are looking for help with a phobia, why not consider hypnotherapy for phobias? This article will explain more.

 

Hypnotherapy for phobias
Phobias of heights or open spaces can be common but is effectively treated by hypnotherapy

 

Hypnotherapy for phobias: What is a Phobia?

 

A phobia is a kind of anxiety disorder, characterised by an exaggerated and distressing dread of an article or situation. You may have a brief feeling of anxiety but if it has lasted for six months, you probably can say you have a phobia.

The phobic individual puts everything on the line to maintain a strategic distance from the feared circumstance or item, doing so more than one might reasonably expect given the level of genuine peril posed. If the dreaded item or circumstance can’t be evaded, the phobia sufferer may experience huge distress. If you have ever had a phobia, you will sympathise with this. Many of my London hypnotherapy for phobias clients explain how they feel distress going on bridges, lifts, airplanes, driving, going to hospital or whatever their phobia is.

With some phobias, in particular if they involve substances of something physical, for example vomit, blood or a fear of injury, blacking out may occur to a phobia suffer when faced with their feared object or situation. Agoraphobia, a fear of open spaces, is frequently connected with anxiety or panic attacks. It is common for an individual to have fears about more than one item or situation. For example someone with a fear of driving, might, find that traveling by train, for example on the London underground, can feel slightly nerve-racking too. However if you have such a phobia, there is no reason to assume this will indeed happen.

 

Hypnotherapy for phobias helps with different categories of phobias and fears

 

Phobias and fears can be separated into categories, for example; specific fears, social anxiety or fear, and agoraphobia.

 

Types of Specific phobias incorporate phobias of specific creatures, regular environmental circumstances, blood or physical damage, and specific situations. The most widely recognised examples of this category of phobia are dread of creepy crawlies, dread of snakes, and dread of heights. Occasionally phobias are activated by a distressing encounter with the item or situation.

Social anxiety is the point at which social events or circumstance are dreaded as the individual is stressed or nervous about others’ judging them.

Agoraphobia is when fear or dread is felt about a circumstance, in which it is felt that making a getaway would not be possible and the person therefore feels trapped.

 

Hypnotherapy for phobias helps you feel safer and more secure

 

It is suggested by many medical professionals that particular fears be treated with exposure treatment or by Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).  Exposure therapy involves the individual becoming acquainted slowly with the situation, circumstance or item, until the anxiety or dread resolves.

During hypnotherapy a person can also be exposed to the feared situation in their imagination slowly. By using hypnotherapy, a person can be asked to imagine the phobia situation but in fact feel safe and secure at that same time. Medications are not always advised for these kind of phobia. Social fear and agoraphobia are frequently treated with a mix of talking therapy, such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and medication. Hypnotherapy for phobias can also be effective for agoraphobia. Medications utilised to help phobias may commonly be antidepressants, benzodiazepines, or beta-blockers.

 

How many people suffer with Phobias?

 

Specific phobias and fears can be found to exist within around 6–8% of individuals in the Western world and 2–4% of individuals in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in a given twelve month period. About 7% of individuals in the United States and 0.5–2.5% of individuals in the remainder of the world live with social anxiety and fears. Agoraphobia is a phobia which is experienced by approximately 1.7% of people. Women, in particular, are considered to experience agoraphobia about twice as regularly as men. Typically the phobia can affect people beginning at around the age of 10 to 17. Incidents of phobias decreases as individuals get older. Unfortunately, individuals who experience phobias are at a higher danger of suicide.

 

Medical Classification of Phobias

 

Most fears are ordered into three classifications and, as indicated by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V), such fears are viewed as sub-sets of stress-related challenges. The classes are:

 

1. Specific Phobias: Fear of specific items or social circumstances. In a short time, nervousness, fear or agitation is felt and can also, at times, lead to fits of anxiety or panic attacks. Specific phobias might be additionally subdivided into four classes: animal type, natural environmental type, situational type, blood-injection or physical harm or injury type.

 

2. Agoraphobia: a generalised anxiety or dread of leaving home or a little recognizable ‘safe’ space or area, and of the conceivable attacks of anxiety or panic that may also occur. It might likewise be brought about by different specific fears, for example, dread of open spaces, social humiliation or embarrassment (social agoraphobia), dread of contamination (dread of germs, a state of mind which can be influenced also by obsessive compulsive disorder OCD) or PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) which would be after an identifiable incident in which a traumatic event occurred, outside.  

 

3. Social Phobia, otherwise called or referred to as social anxiety disorder, is experienced during circumstances during which a person feels fears and stress about the judgments of others. This can lead to sweating, a racing heartbeat and other physical symptoms of anxiety. People with a social phobia will often try to avoid social situations. Using therapy and hypnotherapy for phobias, social anxiety can be reduced. Hypnotherapy would also effectively raise confidence and provide coping mechanisms as well.

It is important to note that fears and phobias will differ in seriousness and level among people. A few people can just maintain a strategic distance from the subject or situation which provokes their phobia. They are able to endure the unpleasant situation, and though generally experience a low level of tension regarding the phobia, but feel they can indeed cope.

Others will experience and endure undeniably high anxiety and panic attacks. This may also involve possible, related, impairing physical symptoms or added worries or new ways in which they will make lifestyle changes to avoid their fears. Therapy for phobias and hypnotherapy for phobias would help these individuals find coping strategies and these therapies would also help lower the stress and anxiety as well.

Most people will reason and comprehend that they are experiencing an unreasonably high level of fear, yet are unwilling or unable to reduce or change their anxiety or fear response. These people regularly report discombobulation, loss of bladder or gut control, tachypnea, sensations of torment, and shortness of breath. Hypnotherapy for phobias or panic attacks would also help such individuals.

 

Hypnotherapy for phobias can support medication
Medication may be prescribed for phobias

 

What is the treatment for phobias?

 

The best treatment for specific anxieties, fears or phobias is a type of psychotherapy called exposure treatment. CBT or Hypnotherapy for phobias will use a similar method. Hypnotherapy for panic attacks will focus on a broader, more generalised hypnosis approach for generalised anxiety. It is possible that for some individuals your primary care physician or GP may likewise suggest different treatments or a prescription of medication. Sometimes those more medically trained will consider understanding the reason for a fear to be less significant than concentrating on the best method to treat the changes an individual has currently made in lifestyle or behaviour. Changes which seek to avoid anxiety-triggering situations. However hypnotherapy for phobias and similarly psychotherapy will look at the causes of the phobia too.

Treatment will be based on the goals of your specific treatment. Normally, the objective of treatment is to improve personal levels of confidence around the object or situation that causes the phobia. The ultimate goal being that you are never again restricted by your fears. Therapy will help you figure out how to manage and change unhelpful responses, thoughts and emotions. You’ll see that your nervousness or anxiety and dread are reduced and never again will you let the phobia dictate your life choices again. Treatment is generally aimed at one specific fear at a time or will take more generalised approach.  

  • Psychotherapy is a popular and common approach to phobias. Having a directed and in-depth conversation with an emotional wellness expert or therapist can enable you to deal with your particular fear. Exposure therapy and CBT are considered to be very effective.  
  • Exposure treatment centres around changing your reaction to the article or circumstance that causes your phobia. Slow rehearsal of situations or slowly re-meeting objects of anxiety will help you. During sessions you will consider the causes of your particular fear and the related thoughts, emotions and feelings. This will help you gain perspective and learn how to cope with your phobia better. For instance, in case you’re apprehensive about lifts, your treatment may advance from essentially pondering or thinking about getting into a lift, to taking a look at pictures of lifts, to going close to a lift, to venturing into a lift. Next, you may take a one-story ride, at that point, then ride a few stories, and after that, perhaps ride in a packed lift.
  • Hypnotherapy works in a similar way. Using hypnotherapy you will consider the way your mind has been imagining danger in an exaggerated way. Hypnotherapy for phobias will help your subconscious mind rethink the phobia and fear. Hypnotherapy is a safe way to change and overcome a phobia. Hypnotherapy will also use an exposure method, slowly introducing you to the feared object. However, using hypnotherapy, you will also gain the resources, tools, mechanisms and strategies to positively cope better too.
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) includes exposure therapy joined with different systems to learn approaches to view and adapt to the feared item or circumstance in a new way, different from the old fearful perspective. You will learn to make new thoughts, perspectives and beliefs about your feelings of anxiety around the phobia. You will be able to reduce the emotions and feelings associated with the objects of situations which triggered the phobia. CBT underscores figuring out how to build up a feeling of renewed confidence and certainty with your beliefs, thoughts and emotions, instead of giving them power and allowing yourself to be determined by your feelings and fears, feeling overpowered by them.
  • Drugs may be proscribed for your anxiety or phobia. For the most part hypnotherapy or psychotherapy, or utilising exposure treatment is effective in treating specific fears. In any case, it may be the case that drugs can help decrease the tension and panic or anxiety you experience. Sometimes a person’s levels of anxiety are so high that some medication may be helpful to lower those feelings so that therapy or hypnotherapy can start to be effective. Consult your doctor about drug options. Drugs might be utilised during introductory treatment or for a short term, especially in specific circumstances such as when the situation is unique, short-term and highly stressful, for example, flying on a plane, public speaking or experiencing a MRI scan.

 

Which medications might be prescribed?

 

This article is not written by someone medically trained. This information is presented for information only. Always consult a trained medical professional and follow their guidance.

Beta blockers. These medications hinder the impact of adrenaline, for example, raised pulse, raised circulatory strain, beating heart, and shaking voice or limbs that are brought about by tension.

Sedatives. Medication called benzodiazepines help you unwind by diminishing the measure of uneasiness you feel. Sedatives are utilised with care, since they can be addictive and ought to be maintained with a strategic plan, especially when a person may have a history which includes alcohol use or addiction to any medications and similar addiction concerns.

 

 

This video explains more about phobias

 

How to cope better with a phobia

 

In contrast to fears and general uneasiness, phobias will, in general, be specific. There might be a particular focus for the phobia, such as an animal, a particular item, situation or place, that brings you out in anxiety. Whatever it is, having a fear can make regular errands and daily activity increasingly troublesome.

 

Hypnotherapy for phobias ‘on the spot tips’

 

For instance, if you unfortunately have a fear of heights, consequently meeting somebody for a conference on the 20th floor of a tall building will then feel too much to tolerate. If, in that circumstance, you feel as if your fear is keeping you down, preventing normal life, there are ways you can adapt and experts who can help. Here are a few tips:

Tell somebody. Regardless of how senseless or silly you feel your fear is, advising somebody is the initial step to beating it. This might be a companion or relative, or even your primary care physician. Tell them what the item/circumstance is and speak the truth about how it affects you. Having a solid encouraging group of people is vital.

Join a support group. Once in a while it can help to share with others going through a similar situation. Consider if it might help to meet other people who also have a similar phobia to you. A group can be a place to swap strategies, share experiences and get motivation to live with more confidence.  

Ways to relax. Phobias, fears are anxieties may raise blood pressure and stress levels. It is very helpful to reduce your overall levels of tension or anxiety. This will help you cope better with your phobia. Figuring out ways to look after yourself and unwind is advantageous indeed. Consider relaxing things that help. These could be doing gentle exercise, yoga, meditation, walking, taking a hot bath, listening to a hypnosis recording, finding a relaxing hobby.  

 

How hypnotherapy can help phobias

 

Frequently, we need the help of an expert to conquer fears and hypnotherapy is a device that many find valuable. Any hypnotherapist will always say to you that phobias is one of the most satisfying areas to work since hypnotherapy for phobias has such high and positive outcomes, which are frequently seen in a brief time frame. Your hypnotherapist will assist you with understanding how fears are created and why you respond and feel in the manner in which you do.

The vast majority who have a fear or phobia will put everything on hold in order to avoid coming into contact with the source of their fear. This can then affect their regular day to day activity, social life or work. Consider a person who works for a nursery or primary school but has a phobia of vomiting (Emetophobia). She might feel that she needs to leave the classroom or lunchroom each time a youngster says they feel unwell. This can make daily work life very challenging.  

There comes a point, in any case, when we realise that we can’t generally maintain a realistic distance from our source of anxiety and so accordingly, we create numerous ways to change our life. However at some point enough is enough, its time to get the assistance of a hypnotherapist, a phobia specialist. This normally happens when it’s time to ‘reclaim control’.

During sessions, your hypnotherapist and phobia expert may use various methodologies which are intended to bring your anxiety levels down and to help you feel more ‘normal’ around the phobia. The hypnotherapy procedure achieves a way of both exposing you to the fear in your imagination and a change of who is in charge of your fears. Moving the control away from your phobia and back to you. Hypnosis will also increase calm and relaxation, which in turn enables you to go up against your anxiety bit by bit, over a period of time, whilst experiencing and seeing a quietened mind and more relaxed outlook.  

Having the option to confront your phobia will be done in hypnotherapy either by utilising your creative mind or by actually encountering it directly, in real life, but while also keeping your mind still and quiet, so you feel in control. This will enable you to feel empowered and see that you can change how you feel and view the phobia. A hypnotherapist may be able to cure phobias, but you also need to be realistic about outcomes and expectations. The phobia hypnotherapist will work steadily with you to create new wells of confidence, certainty and strength.

Sometimes a hypnotherapy phobia cure will involve the steady expose to fears one by one, progressively. You may work through a progressive system of fears identifying each fear. For example consider an insect phobia. You would firstly just think about the spider, wasp, bee or insect in your mind, then the next stage would be to take a brief look at a photograph of a creepy crawly, or see a dead bug in an encased box, and so forth, taking each steps slowly.

Sometimes a hypnotherapist for phobias may give you some homework. For example if you have a phobia of heights. The homework may involve a gentle visit to somewhere high up, but not too high up. The homework will assist you with developing a feeling of control. This may mean focusing on the cause of your fear while rehearsing self-hypnosis exercises with the goal that you become familiar with standing up to it while feeling calm and at ease.

 

How NLP (combined with hypnotherapy) helps with phobias

 

Here is a transcript of an interview with Richard Bandler from 2011, the founder of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming). He explains how he helps people with phobias. His approach is similar to that used during hypnotherapy for phobias:

“When did I first start looking into phobias? Well, that was roughly about 35 years ago. Uh, there were really two big things about it. One is I had a group of psychiatrists that used to bring me clients and I would try different things and I had helped a lot of them and I finally asked them what the most difficult thing to do was. Uh, they answered two things, phobias and obsessive compulsive disorder. I personally don’t think that that’s actually true, that those were the most difficult things to do. So I took a group of very claustrophobic people and stuck them in a brand new machine at the time called a MRI.

And we took pictures of their brain and found out that they were all doing roughly the same thing, one hemisphere going wild, the other doing virtually nothing. And they’ve created the state of panic. So I set out to develop techniques to get rid of that panic. Uh, the first one being tossing a tennis ball back and forth from either hand, which takes both hemispheres and while it reduced their anxiety, it didn’t remove it permanently. So I found a group of 100 people who had phobias and got over it and started asking them all questions and found out they all roughly did the same thing and built formulas, if you will, or techniques like the ones that are in my new book. My new book is called get the life you want. And part of it is about how to get rid of bad memories and how to get over phobias and fears. We’re only born with two natural fears, loud noises and falling.

All the rest are learned. And if you can learn to be terrified of escalators, it the same brain should be learned to be relaxed on an elevator. You just have to present the right information.

You see, I don’t do therapy. What I do is very educational. I teach people how to organize their neurology by organizing your conscious thoughts in a particular way that produces a different set of feelings and a different neural cortical pathway so that your brain has a choice about how to respond. So rather than looking at heights with terror, you’re looking at heights and you feel differently. In fact, most height phobics get near the edge and start making pictures of themselves jumping off. And that’s part of how they have fear. If they stop making those pictures, instead make big pictures of themselves being relaxed and comfortable and staying away from the edge, there’ll be a lot better off. If it’s done in just the proper way, then it starts to happen unconsciously and automatically.”

 

How Havening (with or without hypnotherapy) helps with phobias

 

Here is a transcript of an interview with famous hypnotherapist Paul Mckenna from 2019. He explains how he helps people with phobias and some of the science too. His approach is similar to that used during a hypnosis phobia cure but using the Havening Technique:

“And you know, we use NLP to help people say with phobias. I mean years ago it used to take psychiatrists about six months to cure a phobia using systematic desensitization. Now most phobias are less than 60 minutes. And so in the same way that technology has developed, say with, so you had a cell phone back in the 80s, you know, it was the size of a brick and you know, all you could do was make calls on it. Now it’s the size of a bar of chocolate. You can have your office on it, your record collection, you can watch television on it, you know. And so in the same way, psych tech, psychological technology has dramatically improved in the last 20 or 30 years.

We’ve had all kinds of amazing info. We just made a massive advancement in the treatment of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). So what used to take ages to cure, um, and PTSD is a big problem these days, particularly with war veterans, and with the people in emergency services. You do that work as I do that work a lot. I’ve been involved in that worker extensively. In fact, there’s a brilliant new technology called Havening. Uh, that’s, that’s, that’s the sort of common colloquial name which you’ve always used in your techniques. Havening, I’ve used Havening for about 10 years and it’s basically a sort of psycho sensory therapy. And if I can be sort of scientific just for a moment, when we get traumatized, a hundred hertz wave travels from the Thalamus… In other words, it creates a biological change in the brain. Now, when you touch here, here, here, and you move the eyes laterally from left to right, you create a massive amount of Delta waves. So this is particularly good for people that have panic attacks, nightmares and hyper vigilance. And you know, when people tell me that they are, they’ve been traumatized, they can’t get over it, are often in minutes helped enormously. In fact there was a study of, been several studies into this, one at King’s College here in London. Seven in 10 people, 70% of the people in one session had a one 80. You had a significant life change, you know, so this is an exciting new era that there’s a number of these psycho sensory therapies. One where you tap here and here and here, one where you look up and go back and forth.

But my favourite is the Havening. And when you’re doing the Havening you also might do some visualizations of something that’s usually quite a enjoyable walking on a beach or if you’ve got a pet, you know, stroking your dog or playing ping pong, something like that.

Okay. The problem with PTSD, as I understand it, is that they can’t reconnect and resolve some of those, those moments in time without having that reaction in their body. Yeah. They can never actually process what happens. Yes. Well, what’s happened in the 80s when somebody’s been through extreme trauma? Um, very often particularly people who’ve trained to go into battle have learned to be hyper vigilant because that’s a good survival strategy, right? The trouble is though they stay in that state when they return, you know, back home and it’s safe. Right? And then when they’ve been through a traumatic experience and, you know, really awful stuff actually, then very often their brain brings it back and they relive it for a number of different reasons. And using hypnosis, NLP, Havening, we’re able to reset the emotional equilibrium of a person so that they can function again.”

 

HHypnotherapy for phobias with cbt and NLP
There are effective treatments for phobias such as CBT, NLP and hypnosis

 

A list of phobias hypnotherapy can reduce

 

Have you ever asked, ‘Which phobia do I have?’ Here is a list of phobias. Use it to find the scientific or technical name for your phobia. Seeing that your anxiety has a designated name means that you are not alone. Others have experienced something similar. This also means that there probably is a recognised or effective way to help reduce your phobia. Why not try hypnotherapy for your phobia? There are also talking therapies such as CBT or other techniques such as NLP or EMDR. 

This list can be found on from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_phobias

A

Achluophobia – fear of darkness

Acousticophobia – fear of noise – a branch of phonophobia

Acrophobia – fear of heights

Aerophobia – fear of aircraft or flying

Agoraphobia – fear of open places

Agyrophobia – fear of crossing streets

Aichmophobia – fear of sharp or pointed objects such as a needle or knife

Ailurophobia – fear of cats

Algophobia – fear of pain

Ancraophobia – fear of wind or drafts

Androphobia – fear of adult men

Aphenphosmphobia – fear of being touched

Aquaphobia – fear of water. Distinct from hydrophobia, a scientific property that makes chemicals averse to interaction with water, as well as an archaic name for rabies

Arachnophobia – fear of spiders

Astraphobia – fear of thunder and lightning

Atelophobia – fear of imperfection

Autophobia – fear of isolation

B

Bacteriophobia – fear of bacteria

Basophobia, basiphobia – fear associated with astasia-abasia (fear of walking/standing erect) and a fear of falling

Batrachophobia – fear of amphibians

Belonephobia – fear of needles

Bibliophobia – fear of books

Blood-injection-injury type phobia – a DSM-IV subtype of specific phobias

C

Cacophobia – fear of ugliness

Carcinophobia – fear of cancer

Catoptrophobia – fear of mirrors

Chemophobia – fear of chemicals

Cherophobia – fear of happiness

Chiroptophobia – fear of bats

Chromophobia, chromatophobia – fear of colors

Chronophobia – fear of time and time moving forward

Chronomentrophobia – fear of clocks

Cibophobia, sitophobia – aversion to food, synonymous with anorexia nervosa

Claustrophobia – fear of having no escape and being closed in

Coimetrophobia – fear of cemeteries

Colorphobia – chromophobia

Coprophobia – fear of feces or defecation

Coulrophobia – fear of clowns

Cyberphobia – fear of computers

Cynophobia – fear of dogs

D

Demonophobia, daemonophobia – fear of demons

Dendrophobia – fear of trees

Dental fear, odontophobia – fear of dentists and dental procedures

Dentophobia – fear of dentists

Domatophobia – fear of houses

Dysmorphophobia, body dysmorphic disorder – a phobic obsession with a real or imaginary body defect

E

Ecophobia – fear of the home

Eisoptrophobia – fear of mirrors or seeing one’s reflection in a mirror

Eurotophobia – aversion to female genitals

Emetophobia – fear of vomiting

Enochlophobia – fear of crowds

Entomophobia – fear of insects

Ephebiphobia – fear of youth; inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people

Equinophobia – fear of horses

Ergophobia, ergasiophobia – fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon’s fear of operating

Erotophobia – fear of sexual love or sexual abuse

Erythrophobia, erytophobia, ereuthophobia – fear of the color red, or fear of blushing

F

Frigophobia – fear of becoming too cold

G

Gamophobia – fear of marriage

Gelotophobia – fear of being laughed at

Gephyrophobia – fear of bridges

Genophobia, coitophobia – fear of sexual intercourse

Genuphobia – fear of knees or the act of kneeling

Gerascophobia – fear of growing old or aging

Gerontophobia – fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly

Globophobia – fear of balloons

Glossophobia – fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak

Gymnophobia – fear of nudity

Gynophobia – fear of women

H

Halitophobia – fear of bad breath

Haphephobia – fear of being touched

Hedonophobia – fear of obtaining pleasure

Heliophobia – fear of the sun or sunlight

Hemophobia, haemophobia – fear of blood

Herpetophobia – fear of reptiles

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia – fear of the number 666

Hodophobia – fear of travel

Hoplophobia – fear of firearms

Hydrophobia – fear of water, see aquaphobia

Hypnophobia, somniphobia – fear of sleep or nightmares

Hypochondria – fear of illness

I

Ichthyophobia – fear of fish, including fear of eating fish, or fear of dead fish

Insectophobia – fear of insects

K

Koumpounophobia – fear of buttons

L

Lilapsophobia – fear of tornadoes or hurricanes

M

Mageirocophobia – fear of cooking

Melanophobia – fear of the color black

Melissophobia, apiphobia – fear of bees

Monophobia – fear of being alone or isolated or of one’s self

Musophobia, murophobia, suriphobia – fear of mice or rats

Myrmecophobia – fear of ants

Mysophobia – fear of germs, contamination or dirt

N

Necrophobia – fear of death or the dead

Neophobia, cainophobia, cainotophobia, centophobia, kainolophobia, kainophobia, metathesiophobia, prosophobia – fear of newness, novelty, change or progress

Noctiphobia – fear of the night

Nomophobia – fear of being out of mobile phone contact

Nosocomephobia – fear of hospitals

Nosophobia – fear of contracting a disease

Nostophobia, ecophobia – fear of returning home

Numerophobia – fear of numbers

Nyctophobia, achluophobia, lygophobia, scotophobia – fear of darkness

O

Obesophobia – fear of gaining weight

Oikophobia – fear of home surroundings and household appliances

Odontophobia – dental fear

Oneirophobia – fear of dreams

Ophidiophobia – fear of snakes

Ophthalmophobia – fear of being stared at

Ornithophobia – fear of birds

Osmophobia, olfactophobia – fear of odors

P

Panphobia – fear of everything or constant fear of an unknown cause

Pedophobia, paedophobia, pediaphobia – fear of babies and children

Phagophobia – fear of swallowing

Phallophobia – fear of erections

Pharmacophobia – fear of medications

Phasmophobia – fear of ghosts or phantoms

Philophobia – fear of love

Phobophobia – fear of fear itself or of having a phobia

Phonophobia – fear of loud sounds or voices

Pogonophobia – fear of beards

Pornophobia – dislike or fear of pornography; may be used in reference to the opposition to visual nudity

Porphyrophobia – fear of the color purple

Pteromerhanophobia – fear of flying

Pyrophobia – fear of fire

R

Radiophobia – fear of radioactivity or X-rays

Roller coaster phobia – fear of roller coasters

S

Scopophobia – fear of being looked at or stared at

Sexophobia – fear of sexual organs or sexual activities

Siderodromophobia – fear of trains or railroads

Sociophobia – fear of people or social situations

Somniphobia – fear of sleep

Spectrophobia – fear of mirrors

Stasiphobia – fear of standing or walking

T

Taphophobia, taphephobia – fear of graves, or fear of being placed in a grave while still alive

Technophobia – fear of advanced technology (see also Luddite)

Telephone phobia – fear or reluctance of making or taking telephone calls

Teratophobia – fear of disfigured people

Tetraphobia – fear of the number 4

Thalassophobia – fear of the sea, or fear of being in the ocean

Thanatophobia – fear of dying

Thermophobia – intolerance to high temperatures

Tokophobia – fear of childbirth or pregnancy

Tomophobia – fear of invasive medical procedure

Tonitrophobia – fear of thunder

Toxiphobia – fear of being poisoned

Traumatophobia – a synonym for injury phobia: fear of having an injury

Trichophobia – delusional fear of something in the roots of the hair that stops it from growing, or fear of hair loss

Triskaidekaphobia, terdekaphobia – fear of the number 13

Trypanophobia, belonephobia, enetophobia – fear of needles or injections

Trypophobia – fear of holes or textures with a pattern of holes

V

Vehophobia – fear of driving

Venustraphobia – fear of beautiful women

Verminophobia – fear of germs

W

Workplace phobia – fear of the workplace

X

Xanthophobia – fear of the color yellow

Xenophobia – fear of strangers, foreigners, or aliens.

Animal phobias

Ailurophobia – fear/phobia of cats

Arachnophobia – fear/phobia of spiders and other arachnids

Batrachophobia – fear/phobia of frogs and other amphibians

Chiroptophobia – fear/phobia of bats

Cynophobia – fear/phobia of dogs

Entomophobia – fear/phobia of insects

Helminthophobia – fear of worms

Herpetophobia – fear/phobia of reptiles or amphibians

Hippophobia – fear/phobia of horses

Ichthyophobia – fear/phobia of fish

Melissophobia, apiphobia – fear/phobia of bees

Murophobia – fear/phobia of mice or rats

Ophidiophobia – fear/phobia of snakes

Ornithophobia – fear of birds

Ostraconophobia – fear/phobia of shellfish

Ranidaphobia – fear/phobia of frogs

Scoleciphobia – fear of worms

Spheksophobia – fear of wasps

Zoophobia – fear of animals

Non-psychological conditions

Bibliophobia – fear or hatred of books, as a cultural phenomenon

Hoplophobia – a political term for fear of weapons, specifically firearms

Lipophobia – avoidance of fats in food

Osmophobia – hypersensitivity to smells causing aversion to odors

Phonophobia – hypersensitivity to sound causing aversion to sounds

Photophobia – hypersensitivity to light causing aversion to light

Biology, chemistry

Biologists have several -phobia/-phobic terms to designate predispositions by plants and animals against certain conditions

Acidophobia/acidophobic – preference for non-acidic conditions

Heliophobia/heliophobic – aversion to sunlight

Hydrophobia/hydrophobic – a property of being repelled by water

Lipophobicity – a property of fat rejection (sometimes also called lipophobia)

Oleophobicity – a property of oil rejection

Photophobia (biology) – a negative phototaxis or phototropism response, or a tendency to stay out of the light

Superhydrophobe – the property given to materials that are extremely difficult to get wet

Thermophobia – aversion to heat

 

Hypnotherapy for phobias London
Phobias can be treated by hypnotherapy, CBT and other methods. So you will feel free!

 

Sample script for a hypnotherapy for phobias session

 

To end this article, here is presented a transcript of a generic hypnotherapy session for phobias. Of course each hypnotherapist will do something slightly different. If you are seeking help for a specific fear, the sessions will be tailor-made for that phobia in particular. Use this as a guide only as to what you might hear during a session with a hypnotherapist. Consult a phobia hypnotherapist to see how hypnotherapy for phobias can help you. Preceding the following will be a guided relaxation of the body and mind. Presented here are the main parts of what the hypnotherapist might say during a session:

“This hypnotherapy experience is focused entirely for you on finally allowing you to come to terms with your own particular fear or your unique phobia. As you listen and follow along with my voice during this session and we’ll find you permanently releasing and overcoming those unwanted sights, sounds, thoughts and feelings which may have been holding you back from living and enjoying your very best self each day. As you and I know, fears, phobias, anxieties, and apprehensions can come in all shapes and sizes. Some of us may have a certain reaction to animals such as dogs, cats, birds, spiders or snakes, when in fact, we would really like to feel much more comfortable, calm thoughts when regarding or interacting with such creatures. Some of us may react with undesired anxiety towards the idea of airports flying in a plane, delivering a public speech, standing at a height, being in an open space, being in crowds, or being in a closed space, or it may even be the very idea of a nightmare or anticipating lying in the dark, spending time alone with ourselves, or even joining in particular relationships with others, professionally, socially or romantically that may have previously given us such persistent concerns.The A to Z list of the human mind’s possible phobias is as intriguing as much as it can be surprising.

Now, if you are finding yourself identifying with one of these cases or you are simply in one of those similar categories that I have not mentioned, then my coming words in this session are especially for you.

You should know that hypnosis as a healing technique is directed to the vast resources of your subconscious deeper mind. And when habitual fears turn into long phobias and somewhere along the way, our deeper memories have learned to associate behavioral responses that we have now forgotten how to consciously choose. You will find that this is why I says that hypnotherapy is so effective for you because it allows a much more conscious control over your previously on a conscious or automatic reactions. Some way in your past, your deeper mind has learned your phobic response. And because of this, it is your deeper mind, which can now most definitely change those old patterns

So I would like to begin with something just a little different before you go directly, in a moment, into your deeper hypnosis trance.

Close down your eyes. Now, if you wish wholly with those eyes open, either way is fine for you to begin. But I’d like you to spend first few moments with your fully awake and alert awareness, as you can see to some important questions towards your own chosen goals.

Now just by asking these questions, you are already planting the seeds of your own success. So just stay in a lighter state of focus at first, so you can really explore these ideas and know that you can attach any visuals or sound or feelings to these responses that you create. Remembering more detail, imagery and feeling you touched your positive solutions. The moment you will naturally get out of your session. Oh, go ahead and choose now to relax and think about making empowering choice too and 100% free yourself forever of your fear or phobia.

Ask Yourself, what positive change do you want? Most of all, once you finally let go of your fear or phobia, what if anything do you think has previously stopped you from making your change? How much time has been spent in your life until now worrying about the phobia? Is there anything you will lose from finally letting go of your phobia? What will you positively gain from finally releasing your anxiety? And lastly, when do you want your change to take place?

Now. Having consciously considered your answers. Let’s begin right now with your complete hypnosis experience as you choose to go ahead and unconsciously bring about your own solutions.

So allow yourself to settle in and further away and let those conscious responses you have just imagined. Just move gently away somewhere. To the sides of your mind and the more you allow your conscious thoughts to come down outside, now the more your subconscious or unconscious mind can tune into them and listen inside. So let those heavier eyelids closed down now, if you have not already. And know that you consciously are always free to come back to your thoughts, free to open your eyes again. If anyone or any situation needs you, you can easily respond but in this time ahead for now, let the pleasant, relaxing curtain of deeper sleep fall over your eyes, allowing you to invest more and more in your own private time. Because this isn’t the time for friends or family, but rather this is time just for you becoming more and more aware of your own behaviors. Now, as you continue to relax, become more aware of your breath as you deliberately slow down that breathing, breathing in and breathing out.

As you relax. And in a moment I’m going to ask you to count backwards from the number 100 but I’m going to ask you to do this in a slightly different way. So with each count down in your mind’s eye, I want you to also imagine the shape of the numbers that you might see and just visualize these numbers as best you can. Just imagining them to be like a big sign on a hillside stretching from all the way to your left to the far side as are right and say to yourself with each lower number, ‘I go deeper and deeper’ allowing each and every next number to shrink down smaller than the one that has come before. So it will say on to you something like on a hundred, ‘I go deeper and deeper’ and the number 99 grows smaller than that 100 before it. And so on. Down and down you are going. Now there will come a time very quickly where the numbers are also fading and dissolving away and you will reach a point almost immediately where those numbers disappear completely. So you can try to look out for that. When that happened. But if you most likely forget to remember where you are and your number sequence and just know that’s perfectly fine and okay, because it also means that wonderful hypnosis is now working. Oh yeah. So start right now with 100, ‘I go deeper and deeper.’

99. ‘I go deeper and deeper.’ Feeling so calm and relaxed. 98, ‘I go deeper and deeper.’

as the numbers themselves become less and less important. 97..  relax further still, 96, ‘deeper and deeper.’

oh, it was fading and becoming smaller and drifting. That’s right. 95, ‘deep still’ and your conscious mind continues to count down, there in the background, as your unconscious mind stays in the present for ground listening to my word.

down and down. You relax more and more and when you are satisfied, you can no longer find the next number in your mind’s eye and just let all of those numbers fall away completely as your double and triple, developing calmness. Really just enjoying a soothing sensation. Oh, all the way down to the wonderful tranquil basement. Have your total relaxation. going deep, deeper down. It’s down.

Your unconscious has slowed down your breaths and it’s so deeply comforting to know that you can rely on the unconscious parts of you to always be there and even as you remain awake, Trying always enough to be hearing my voice and instructions. There isn’t that other part of you that can rest and relax because you easily remember all of those important abilities. Yes, see yourself calm and confident as you relax and take these moments to feel all of that subtly tingling, anticipation, which is developing within you in this positive place because you can enjoy your own and limitless possibilities. What’d you have already, and you are trusting your unconscious more and more to do all of these things for you, reminding you to breathe deeply. I’m glad when you’re more serene and more permanent feeling of calm, living well, you are learning to become so much more stress free as all stress just melts away from you.

Now you might have heard others, special teachers who say that in time we’ll often laugh as we look back on how we once behaved and still are those who say, why should we wait? Because even, or right now you’re already noticing that change is bound to happen. Day always change into night and night always changes into the next season and seasons change into those years and years of old habits and even during all of that natural time-span, some people really do still work so hard at trying to stay the same as if that were even possible for any of us. Oh, so others you may know instead go with the flow and those role models, oh easily put down all of the stress and tension, resting all of their baggage at that station while still smiling and laughing, which some people may consider to be, oh, old fashion I suppose, but it’s certainly much cheaper and more effective than constantly straining those arms, all those leg muscles trying to grasp and hold onto. Oh, the fashioned thoughts and ideas which you no longer need. No, that it becomes something so silly to knowingly continue to crow on the floor when we are more and more capable of standing up on our own sturdy two feet and allowing ourselves to smile widely as we walk through the welcoming door and perhaps sooner than you expect, you can know that there must have been a time, there must have been a time in your own past, a very specific and final moment. When you crawled your last crow and some way inside of you, you finally felt, well, that’s more than enough. I’ve done my time crawling and now begins my upright self assured steps. And even as there is that part of you which is wondering what I am saying. I don’t want you to look back too far just yet, but I do want you to notice right here and right now how you’re already drifting and dreaming through your mind. Calm, calmest doors.

As you imagine arriving into this next special place, a safe place of protection waiting, a hand just to welcome you. Notice how having just a few steps beyond brings you every site and every sound and every feeling of perfect safety and contentment. This most wonderful serenity that you now recall. Notice that your unconscious creates for you just such a place. This one just for you as it builds your own private protected retreat.

So really see and hear and feel yourself here using all of those senses as you firmly step foot and arrive into your most blissful, peaceful memory. Oh, your most wonderful memory, you can drop all of those anchors and finally rest and as I often say, I don’t really know what relaxation means exactly for you. What I do know is that maybe you see yourself lying down here and you’re comfortable. Yes, feel yourself resting on a soft touch of warm or green grass. Oh, maybe floating up high and the whispering clouds. Oh, anywhere at all, wherever you are, you feel safe and protected and loved. Now as you seek to address your problems in just a few moments, I want you to remember that at any time you can return to this comfortable place of safe protection because all you have to do is think to yourself the words, ‘I am safe and secure’ and you will immediately return to this safe environment, perfectly shielded by your own minds, infinite protection for now there.

Find yourself ready to address your specific issue of that old fear old phobia lingering inside of you and we are now going to work more directly on your issue. So let yourself move a little further away from your safe place. Always knowing you still carry all of that strong loving protection with here and as you drift in your hypnosis trance, notice yourself already moving in a new direction. New colours and a new sounds and new sensations and now picture yourself going down new corridor with doors. Yes, see yourself ascending the steps of a new hallways, allow yourself to go through, passing through new archways of possibility even further down, relaxing all the way down. Now.

Until you find yourself entering the space of a very unique room and you realized that this room, yes, is built as your own private movie projection cinema. As you feel yourself relaxing more and you see yourself sinking down into your favourite and comfortable luxurious chair, and now up there in front of you, you also see an enormous screen. A wide screen and you know you can deliberately play out any moments from your own life. Any scene in time from your personal experience can play up there or choose to review. You feel an absolutely relaxed, safe and in control as if you are holding a universal remote control to program any aspects of your life. Just like watching and learning from a historical documentary.

Now as you think about your specific fear or phobia, take a moment to remember the root cause and source of your problem. It truly does exist somewhere within your memory banks of your life’s experiences. Because some way in your past, it really was that very first moment where you originally learned to associate on a feeling to another one image to another one sound to another, and perhaps even tastes or smells to others. Oh, then the sensors came to be linked together in those very specific ways.

Now I’d invite you to realize and appreciate in your deeper mind that your deeper self created your fearful reactions in order to best protect you from what your younger mind perceived as a possible threat or danger to hear. Once upon that time, your subconscious self did this to keep you safe in its own best ways to protect you with your best knowledge and resources available to you at that time. So take a real moment for yourself now to thank that part of you for really doing its best work to keep you safe and protected way back there and for giving you what was needed at the time. Now you know, and I know however, that since your first instance, you know, your unconscious mind has also been repeating those very same older patterns for you. Perhaps even over and over and over again. And this time now, you know the time has truly come. Where are those old outdated responses I’ve completely played out and met their use by date? Because you have grown and continue to learn and you are now in possession of much, much stronger ideas. You are choosing now to respond with much, much calmer behaviour because this is the powerful response which now gives you everything that you really need and desire. Your deeper self knows now how to remain cool, calm, safe and relaxed in all situations. So you feel fine to let go of those older worn out ways. Now, knowing that the deepest parts of you are moving in agreement to create these more powerful choices moving within your easier reach. So with your deeper mind’s permission, let your movie curtains part there ahead on your special cinema screen as your powerful transformative life changing show is about to begin. And as the show start, I want you to imagine that you are floating up backwards from your seat in the audience so that you are easily floating up and moving into that projection booth up behind you, where you are the one in charge. And at the same time from the projection booth, you still see your own self sitting down there and that comfortable seat pillow as you find yourself safely removed to this extra distance, which allows you now to feel calm as you review and neutrally observe your fear and phobia memories I’m about to play out on that screen.

So when you feel ready, let your mind go to the most recent memory of your fear. Remembering you are protected at all times, by special distance, and any past experience that you view or here now remained perfectly under your absolute control. So just allow yourself to see this first most recent memory of your phobia to experience beginning to play out on the movie screen and change the projector settings whenever you wish, so that you see this recent memory only playing out in black and white without colour, holding the remote, so you have at your fingertips the ability now to slow down or speed up a movie whenever you choose. Watch as you play the movie from just before you see yourself feeling your fear and then go all the way through to just after the end of your fearful reaction. Why, you stop at that movie scene and really notice as the scene freezers and ends that you really do see you are still safe. You are still fine still. Okay. See yourself on the screen. Clearly having survived your experience because you are obviously intact, safe and in one piece. You are safe, you are relaxed, you remain in control. Now let that first scene just to fade away and disappear because you are now letting your mind drift back to a second earlier memory. A second earlier memory to do with your fear, the very next but earlier scene that comes to you. Begin to play out there on your screen. So start this second earlier memory. Also turning it to black and white, draining it of all its colour and take your movie from just before you experience this fear. Watching yourself, watching your own self on the screen. And notice the moment for your fear and how that screen version of you reacts to that trigger moment. Hear any particular sounds that you heard and notice how those special sounds affect you. Remaining safe now and in control and play the movie through until you reach the end of your fear. And when you reach the end frame, freeze that frame of the scene and realize again, you are still alive and okay. Breathing calmly and you have successfully survived safe and secure. And now that that second scene disappears, as the image dissolves and wipes away, now I want you to let yourself going back even further again and your mind is becoming more and more like a curious detective. Now as you are looking and learning, sorting through your own experiences and each moment of your fear and phobia holds a particular clue, ripe for your discovery and understanding because you are looking and searching for what has led to the very first creation of your phobia.

Take the time to review these moments as you go backwards in time. Asking yourself, is this the very first time I experienced my fear? Remembering you are a neutral spectator, remaining in your projection booth, watching yourself down there, watching your younger self up there on the screen as each new black and white memory plays out under your control. Now when I count backwards from three to one, I want you to allow yourself to go directly to that very first time that you see yourself experiencing your fear.

Now three, two, one. Okay. Are you there now? And notice where it is that the younger version of you is on the screen. Notice what you are doing. Notice if you are alone or with others. Really notice what is your exact situation or activity and let you teach yourself as much as you can. Shapely observe and fully understand and observe everything that is occurring. Now play this scene all the way through to the very end where you freeze the image and see yourself once more. Having successfully survived, that first fearful encounter. Realize and reassure yourself that you are truly safe and secure because you have all of the rest of your positive life. I had to live. No. Rewind this first scene, reverse and rewind the scene as you reverse its directions and play this scene out backwards. And as you do, I want you to do something very special. I want you to imagine adding in some silly sound effects or just funny music playing over the top of this scene. As you rewind the scene quickly, backwards, faster and faster. And move all the way through to the very beginning. Again, realizing just how ridiculous and silly this scene is and now play through this scene again and this time if you are comfortable floating down and just imagine yourself moving into that first comfortable seated position in the audience there. As you watch the scene play forwards in normal time in black and white.

Now notice any changes in your response. Notice if your younger self up there appears to be feeling calmer and more confident and watch as you play this scene to its final conclusion. Again, as you realize at the scenes end, all parts of you remain calm and in control. Now on this scene for a third time and on this time, you might either remain in your seated position or if you are more and more comfortable with the idea, then allow yourself to float all the way up there to that last froze frame at the end of the scene and feel yourself stepping into the frame and into your younger shoes.

And now this time around, reverse the entire sequence and rewinding this same and feel your body moving backwards faster and faster, faster and faster. As you reverse the footage, blurring that funny ridiculous comedy music over the entire reversal, something that really makes you giggle and laugh at how absurd this whole rewinding, reversing situation is. And reverse yourself all the way back to the start of that first frame at its beginning. Turn the image to black and white again and play with this same, through as slowly or as quickly as you wish.

And now feel exactly how you wish to feel. Feeling absolutely calm and relaxed and confident within yourself because you know you have complete control. And once you reach the end of the scene, bring back all of the colour and realize you are now conquering your fear right now. You are conquering your phobia as you breathe calmly and deeply. Feeling the pride and pleasure of standing confidently in your final frame. Congratulate yourself for your job. Extremely well done. Because right here you have shown yourself that you are now much, much stronger than your fear. You know now that you can come back whenever you wish and play this scene through as many times as you choose because you are conquering your phobia. Because you have conquered your phobia, you have conquered your fear.

Now, I want you to look at your fear there and imagine it as a small and weak object. Look upon the phobia and say to it, that you no longer need it. You’re no longer wanted. You no longer need your fear because your phobia is so much, much weaker before your very eyes into your very ears. Your phobia is breaking apart and crumbling as its parts become rusted and fall apart, falling into ruins like a pillar of sand. Deep down inside of you, you realize you are so much more powerful. You are ready to move far, far beyond your phobia and old fears, here because every part of you is now truly at peace and calm, confidence is expanding and growing and this incredible feeling fills into every and all areas of your life you are seeing in quick succession. Every memory and movie scene played out from the original scene. Onwards is now changing in it’s creating new clam and confidence in your life.

Every memory there you played now shows a broken, fighting and crumbling old fear. Those fears are dissolving and melting. Blown away. You are happy and confident realizing you are able to face and overcome anything you choose. You have finally confronted and faced up to your fear and now you easily let go of everything at once. So now float back down from the cinema screen as you return triumphantly to your seat and realize you are cutting all cords that used to previously connect you to that broken fear. Now is the time to cut all ties and so you easily cut those energy connections. You feel yourself letting go and releasing as you cut the cord to your phobia and you feel free from all anxieties and take back all energy, you are so much, much stronger now as your release and let go of all anger, hurt, all nervousness and shyness, all worries and concerns forever. And now the screen grows dimmer again as you allow it, just fade away. And with it goes too all past fears and anxieties, they are all melting away and you feel so much more peace inside of yourself so much more complete as if the weight of the world is now lifting from your shoulders.

Imagine a light, some beautiful energy, it expands, surrounding you. Your light glows so much brighter. So take yourself into your brighter future. As you imagine stepping into your comfortable tomorrow right now and see and feel and hear how amazing and confident you are experiencing this in your day and your life as you wish to be completely free of your old worries in every possible way. From this moment onwards, you remain calm and relaxed in all situations. You realize you can go anywhere, that you chose your journey calmly and easily. No matter how you travel. You know you remain calm and relaxed around all people and animals and you were perfectly happy and enjoy days to spend that time alone with yourself or with others. So continue to relax deeply as you drift and dream and your thoughts.

And allowing all of this important work you have done to integrate and absorb into all parts of your deepest being and know that in the next coming days, nights and weeks ahead, your unconscious creative mind will continue to find more and more solutions for you, always allowing you to become a much more relaxed person, a much calmer person, and a much more confident person as you are simply enjoying living your own life. Do your greatest and best potential. Now as we come to the end of this hypnotherapy session, if you need to get up and get on with your day or evening, then just keep listening. And as you return to your conscious awareness, after this hypnosis, in just a few moments, every positive choice you have made, you will now compound and double your sense of confidence and happy determination to live your very best life as you envision and embrace your absolute and total freedom.

And so now I am going to count upwards from one to five and when I reach five I will say ‘fully aware’ and you will return once again to your fully present, conscious alertness, feeling recharged and refreshed, as if you have had the most refreshing rest of your mind and body’s replenishment.

So one.. slowly, easily, calmly coming back. As you feel your energy returning to your body to each muscle remains calm, loose and limp as you feel wonderfully good.

Two..

Three.. from head to toe, you feel amazing in all ways.

Four.. your eyes feel calm, clear and relaxed as if they’ve been bathed in crystal clear spring water. And on the next number I say, you are become fully aware, opening your eyes wide, perhaps wanting to stretch out your limbs, feeling energized and alert now.

Five.. Eyelids wide open, returning to full consciousness, taking a deeper breath as you smile and congratulate yourself on your successful self hypnosis. Now, I will leave you with this last thought as I wonder how will your first enjoy surprising moments of your new found power for freedom?

I am a certified instructor for hypnotherapy. However, at present I am not offering a training. If you would be interested in training to become a clinical hypnotherapist there are many options available. There are both face to face and online courses to achieve hypnosis training and hypnotherapy certification.

 

www.jasondemant.com

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Jason Demant Clinical Hypnotherapist
London hypnotherapist. Seeing Clients in King's Cross and online.