Hypnotherapy for Phobias and Fears

“I know it’s ridiculous, but I still can’t stop it.”

I hear that a lot from people with phobias. You can know that flying is safe and still feel terrified when the aircraft door closes. You can know a spider can’t hurt you and still find yourself leaving the room. Knowing better doesn’t make you feel better.

The good news is that phobias are one of the things hypnotherapy is best known for helping with. The NHS lists it among the treatments for phobias, alongside talking therapies and medication.

What is a phobia?

A phobia is more than being nervous about something. It’s an intense fear that’s out of proportion to the real danger, and it starts to shape what you do. You avoid things, plan around them, or dread them for weeks beforehand. Sometimes just thinking about the thing is enough to set it off.

In the moment, a phobia can bring on the same feelings as panic: a pounding heart, dizziness, shaking, feeling sick, and a strong sense that something terrible is about to happen.

Some phobias are about one specific thing, like flying, needles or spiders. Others are broader and affect more of daily life, like agoraphobia or social anxiety.

Common phobias I help with

People come to see me with all sorts of fears. Some of the most common are:

• Fear of flying. Often it’s not the plane itself but the feeling of being trapped, or of not being in control.
• Fear of needles. This comes up a lot. It can stop people having vaccinations, blood tests or medical treatment they need.
• Fear of the dentist. Avoiding the dentist can mean the next visit ends up being an emergency, which only makes the fear worse.
• Fear of spiders and other animals.

And plenty of others. If a fear is getting in the way of your life, it’s worth talking about, however unusual it seems.

Why telling yourself to stop doesn’t work

Most of our emotional reactions happen automatically. Somewhere along the way, your mind learned to treat a particular thing as dangerous, and it now reacts before the thinking part of you has a chance to step in.

That’s why logic doesn’t touch it. Telling yourself the spider can’t hurt you doesn’t stop your body reacting as though it can. And the more you avoid the thing, the more your mind is convinced it was right to be afraid.

Where phobias come from

Sometimes there’s an obvious starting point, like a turbulent flight, a painful injection or a bad experience at the dentist. Sometimes a fear is picked up from someone else, often a parent, in childhood. And sometimes there’s no clear start at all.

You don’t need to know where yours came from. We can explore it if it’s useful, but I’m much more interested in changing how you respond now.

How hypnotherapy helps with phobias

Hypnosis is a relaxed state of focused attention. You’re awake, aware and in control throughout, and you can open your eyes whenever you want.

In that state, we work with the automatic response itself rather than arguing with it. That might mean changing the feeling your mind attaches to the thing you fear, or rehearsing the situation calmly in your imagination, so that when you face it for real your body doesn’t react in the old way.

Hypnotherapy is a big part of how I work, but I’m also trained in NLP, EMDR and other approaches. If your phobia started with a frightening experience, for example, EMDR can sometimes help with the memory itself. I use whatever makes sense for you.

Most people I work with come for between two and four sessions. If you’d like to know more about what a session involves, I’ve written about what happens in your first hypnotherapy session.

Other treatments for phobias

Hypnotherapy isn’t the only option. The NHS also recommends:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which often includes gradual exposure, facing the fear in small, manageable steps.
• Self help. NHS inform has a free phobias self help guide.
• Medication, which your GP can talk to you about. It’s usually used for short term help with the anxiety rather than to treat the phobia itself.

If you have a date coming up

If you’ve got a flight booked, a medical appointment or dental treatment on the horizon, get in touch in good time rather than the week before. It gives us space to work on the fear properly, without the pressure of the date looming over every session.

Common questions