Hypnotherapy for phobias

Whether its a fear of flying, dentist or public speaking, CBT is one of the most widely used and effective ways of treating phobias but its integration with hypnosis means we can work on those underlying beliefs behind the fear response.  At Empowered You, a blended approach of hypnotherapy alongside helps you to address the fears at both a conscious and unconscious level.  This blended approach makes for a highly effective and powerful approach to overcome all types of phobias.

Phobias are a form of anxiety where the thing feared is disproportionate to the real threat it poses.  Hypnotherapy is effective in helping in:  

• Identifying how, where and when the phobia started.  Finding the root cause helps to accelerate the therapeutic process and increase success rates.  

• Addressing those unconscious beliefs that can’t be resolved through rationale thought. This works to address those underlying beliefs operating below our level of awareness allowing you to realistically assess the threat in proportion to the real risk it poses.

• Controlling your emotional response to the object or situation you fear so you can remain calm and composed when faced with the phobia.

• Overcoming your phobia in a controlled and safe environment by entering a relaxed state where you become systematically desensitised to the feared object or situation.

Ultimately you will master your fear through a range of suggestions, visualisation and relaxation techniques giving you greater physical and emotional control. As a result you can take back control of your life.  You’ll be empowered, free to enjoy life with a renewed sense of well-being. 

How phobias affect daily life

If you suffer from a phobia then the fear you experience can be incredibly debilitating and can cause real disruption to your life. Even more so if the thing you fear can’t be avoided in your day to day life. Phobias are in fact a form of anxiety, so you are having to deal with the two of the most powerful emotions, fear and anxiety. This can have major consequences on your life, living in a heightened state of alert, too scared to do the things you want to do.

Like all emotions, fear is there to serve a purpose, it stops us from putting ourselves in dangerous situations. Phobias however involve intense feelings of fear, disproportionate to the level of risk being exposed to. You probably already know at a rational level that the chances of something bad happening is unlikely.

The problem with emotions as powerful as fear and anxiety is that it overrides the rational, thinking part of the brain. Most phobias are learned behaviours, typically formed in the early part of our lives though they can also occur later in life too. They tend to occur either because of a bad experience or picked up from someone close to us, research is also showing that changes in brain function may also be a cause. The fear response is habituated over time to the point where it becomes an automatic response whenever confronted with the feared situation or object. This is when it becomes deeply ingrained as an unconscious belief. Through hypnosis we can go directly to the unconscious and remove the fear response.

Phobia Treatment at Empowered You Hypnotherapy

The method focuses on addressing the underlying cause of the phobia. Through a series of visualisation and powerful suggestions your fear response will decrease and eventually reset to normal levels. As the session(s) unfold the conditioned fear response will be removed. Your response changed to one where you are in control of your physical and mental reactions. You are empowered, you are in control.

Each session lasts 1 hour and depending on the phobia and how it effects you it can take between 2-6 sessions to overcome your phobia. This can be accelerated further if the root cause is known.