Phobias - How You Can Get Rid Of Them Using Hypnotherapy

A phobia can be defined as an illogical fear or dread. When a person has a phobic attack, they get frightened feelings; their respiration and heart rates increase; they may feel choked up like their heart is in their throat; the palms of their hands may get sweaty; they may hear the sound of ringing in their ears; and they may find that they are unable to take part in an activity. These feelings motivate the individual to try to avoid the situations and environments that cause them.

SOME EXAMPLES OF PHOBIAS:

For example, if someone has a fear of driving, that individual would exhibit these symptoms at the time they attempt to drive a car, or maybe even when they just think about driving. Or a freight attack may ensue only when driving in certain places like across railroad tracks.

Stage freight is a comparatively widespread phobia. The frightened feelings appear when the sufferer begins to talk in front of a person that they are afraid of, or they might have frightened feelings only in front of an assembly of people. The size of the crowd of people may vary. This phobia can be triggered by fears of inadequacy, or a lack of self-assurance.

Those who suffer from a social phobia can get horrifically tense just being around other people, even people that they are familiar with. It\'s a fear that they will be criticized or evaluated by other people. This fear can be caused by almost any type of social interaction. A person could be waiting on line at a variety store and get phobic feelings as they think about having to talk to the checker while they checkout.

The fear of test taking (which is commonly known as test anxiety) is a common phobia. Phobias to taking tests are rooted in comparing yourself to other people, and is deeply rooted in a fear of failing.

People have developed phobias to every category of experience and environment under the sun. For example: High places; animals; small enclosed places; relationships; flying; bugs; snakes; and even the great outdoors.

Agoraphobia is generally considered to be a fear of open spaces. However, this definition is quite deceptive because Agoraphobics are really afraid of having a panic attack, wherever they are. This phobia is developed when a person begins to avoid places or situations they have associated with anxiety. For example, they could have a panic attack at home, church, or in a grocery store.

For many phobia sufferers, once the panic attacks have begun to occur, they begin to anticipate them to come about. And this anticipation in reality triggers them with increasing frequency. Other people experience fearful feelings on a continuous basis. These feelings cause an overall discomfort, rather than panic.

FORMS OF TREATMENT THAT ARE AVAILABLE

DRUGS:

Some doctors care for patients using sedatives, which can make the condition worse over protracted treatment. Sedatives don\'t take care of the underlying origin of a phobia; they only mask some of the symptoms.

TALK THERAPY:

Some schools of therapy advocate \"Talk Therapy.\" Talk therapy is just talking about what is bothering you. Unfortunately, talking about or even thinking about a situation or environment that triggers a phobic attach can trigger one!

HYPNOTHERAPY:

Traditional self hypnosis has been used to treat phobias, but with very little success. Traditional hypnotherapy is accomplished when the hypnotist guides the client into a relaxed state of self-hypnosis and then gives the client post-hypnotic suggestions or commands. Since most people in this generation question and resist direct suggestions, they also reject the idea that they will be more relaxed and at ease when they encounter the situation or environment that sets off their panic attacks.

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION:

Systematic Desensitization is the practice of gradually desensitizing a phobic person to the condition or environment that triggers a phobic attack. For example, if a woman wants to dive from a high board but she fears it, she is asked to first dive from a height that she feels safe with. She dives in and realizes that she did not get hurt and that she is safe.

The next thing she is asked to do is to dive in from the first step of the ladder going up to the high diving board. Again, she dives in and realizes that she was not hurt and that she is again safe and secure.

Over a period of time the phobic is asked to dive in from increasingly higher and higher steps on the ladder. Each time she dives in and realizes that nothing bad happened to her and that she is safe and sound, she is able to move up to the next rung on the ladder. If she experiences fear, then she\'s told to move back down one rung on the ladder and dive from there until she feels complete comfort and security. In the end she makes it to the top of the ladder and is able to dive in from the high board.

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION WHILE IN THE STATE OF HYPNOSIS:

Systematic Desensitization can be done virtually while in a hypnotic state with as good as or better results. While in a relaxed hypnotized state, the woman would be told to visualize herself diving in from each rung of the ladder. She would be told to visualize herself feeling confident as she dives in. Since she is in a disassociated state while seeing herself, she is unable to trigger a panic attack.

Next she\'s told to associate, or put the camera inside of her head so she would be seeing what she would see through her eyes if she was actually diving in from each rung of the ladder. She is told to imagine feeling safe and relaxed as she dives in.

Just as in a live (in vivo) systematic desensitization, if she feels any panic she\'s told to go back to the previous lower rung on the ladder and picture diving in from that step.

She might be taught to generate a kinesthetic (feeling or touch) \"anchor\" for feelings of safety and security. She could then trigger that anchor while imagining that she\'s diving, and the feelings of safety and security could be subjectively transferred to the act of diving.

Systematic Desensitization while in self-hypnosis can be very useful and successful, but is can also be slow and take several hypnotic sessions to bring about a cure.

NLP (NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING) V/K DISASSOCIATION:

Neuro-Linguistic Programming is fundamentally the study and practice of how we create our reality. The V/K stands for visual / kinesthetic. The V/K Disassociation is a technique that enables a trained NLP Practitioner to guide a subject through specific visual imagery that quickly and in many cases instantly disconnects or disassociates the feelings of horror from the phobia that causes them. The V/K Disassociation is known as the \"One session phobia cure\" in Neuro-Linguistic Programming circles, and with good cause.

CONCLUSION:

Irrational fears are very common in our culture. They are fears that are not founded in reality. There are many methods for treating phobias, but so far in my opinion, the best finest are Systematic Desensitization while in the state of hypnosis, and the Neuro-Linguistic Programming V/K Disassociation technique.

Alan B. Densky, CH is a trained hypnotist and NLP Practitioner who\'s been in professional practice since 1978. He can be contacted through his Neuro-VISION Hypnosis ecommerce site where he offers NLP CDs for phobias. Visit his hypnosis article library, or download a free MP3.

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