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Can Hypnotherapy Cure Phobias?

What is a Phobia?

A phobia is an intense and debilitating fear of an object or situation, whereby the sufferer has an exaggerated sense of danger. Going much further than just being a bit nervous, a phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, which can get in the way of day-to-day life. In some cases, even thinking about the source of a phobia can cause significant anxiety and distress. All phobias can be separated into two key categories.

Simple phobias

Simple phobias focus on specific objects, scenarios, activities or animals. Most commonly, simple phobias begin in childhood or teenage years and can ease as you grow older. For example, a phobia of dogs is classified as a simple phobia, which may begin in childhood but improve as you age and develop rationality. 

Complex phobias

Complex phobias (like the name suggests), tend to be more complicated and are often more disabling than simple phobias. Complex phobias tend to develop during adulthood and are made up of a range of fears.

 

 

Can Hypnotherapy Cure Phobias

Agoraphobia is often thought of as a fear of open spaces but is an example of how compounded a phobia can be. Sufferers of agoraphobia often aren’t fearful about the act of leaving their home but tend to feel intense anxiety when confronted with the prospect of feeling heightened anxiety in a place or situation which may be difficult to escape from should a panic attack occur. This can mean that agoraphobic people may feel uncomfortable with being alone (as there is no one to support them should they become unbearably anxious), being in crowded places (as this can make escape difficult) or travelling on public transport (as to escape would cause a scene that would ideally be avoided).

What are the most common phobias in the UK? 

People can be phobic of a huge range of things, but a common phobia I am hearing about from my clients currently is trypanophobia (or a fear of needles to those of us without the brain of Sheldon Lee Cooper). With Covid vaccinations and booster jabs so prominent in the media right now, those that are needle phobic are being exposed to possible triggers much more often than they usually would be. 

The most common phobias in the UK are: 

  1. Heights (acrophobia)
  2. Public speaking (glossophobia)
  3. Snakes (ophidiophobia)
  4. Flying (aerophobia)
  5. Spiders (arachnophobia)
  6. Crowds/being outside (agoraphobia)
  7. Clowns (coulrophobia)
  8. Enclosed spaces (claustrophobia)
  9. Dogs (cynophobia)
  10. The dark (nyctophobia)

Why do phobias occur? 

As a phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, a typical vicious anxiety-cycle can occur. For the purpose of explanation, imagine you have a phobia of going to the dentist – a simple phobia which is more common than you might think. 

The cycle will start with a traumatic experience, perhaps an overzealous dentist when you had your first filling. This is the event. 

Your brain will remember that bad experience and future dentist appointments will become your anxiety trigger – you will view a dentist trip as a threat of sorts. 

The natural next step of the cycle is the behaviour that occurs when opening wide and saying AAAAHH (or even thinking about calling to make the appointment in worst cases). In this case, the behaviour is the fear associated with the event.

Why do phobias occur

Should you not seek help for a dentist phobia, instead avoiding your trigger entirely, it’s possible that your next trip will be in an emergency case. This may result in another traumatic experience, adding to your existing anxiety cycle. This is where hypnotherapy comes in… 

How can hypnotherapy help with phobias?

Hypnotherapy is a painless, relaxing and pleasant experience that has the ability to work towards reverting your behaviour patterns back to a time before your phobia developed. The aim will be to disassociate your fear from your triggers to allow you to experience situations or objects that could have once sparked an anxiety response in you. 

By resetting your thought processes relating to your phobia, in no time at all, you’ll become desensitised to your fears, feeling no (or significantly less) anxiety when faced with your triggers. For example, a phobia of dogs may have developed after you were bitten in the past. Using hypnotherapy, you and I will work together to reframe your relationship with the dogs – We will work on reframing your thoughts so that you don’t see a snarling, vicious monster waiting to eat you, but a fluffy friend who is excited to see you. Even if you never want to be friends with a dog, we can work on seeing dogs as intelligent animals that have important roles in the human world, such as dogs that are trained in search and rescue. 



Phobias can be all-consuming. You may find yourself having to plan your day around avoiding your phobia or risk a panic attack. If you’re fed up with feeling so anxious, join my many clients who have freed themselves from the constraints of their phobia. 

All initial consultations with me are free and can be booked here. Although you have no obligation to go ahead with treatment, I’m confident that we can rid you of your phobia and allow you to live the life you deserve, free from fear. 

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Ian Young

Ian Young

Training & Development

Tagline: Grounded, real and genuinely hard to forget.

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Ian is an experienced therapist whose work spans trauma, addiction, anxiety and recovery. His approach is shaped as much by lived experience as by professional training and that combination makes him exceptionally relatable to the people he works with.

People who’ve worked with Ian consistently say the same thing — he gets it in a way that goes beyond what most trainers can offer. He doesn’t just understand the subject. He understands people.

Within Piece of Mind Training, Ian also plays a key role in business and strategic development, bringing a practical, grounded perspective to how the organisation grows and evolves.

David

David Gowans

Training & Development

Tagline: He’s seen mental health crisis at its most acute. And he knows what actually helps.

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David’s background is probably unlike anyone else you’ll meet in a mental health training room.

Twenty-three years on the frontline of emergency services first as a police officer, now as an HCPC-registered practising paramedic. He hasn’t studied stress, trauma and burnout from a distance. He’s carried them, in uniform, responding to people at the absolute worst moments of their lives. He understands the culture that makes asking for help feel like the hardest thing in the world because he’s lived inside that culture.

That frontline experience sits alongside his clinical practice as a qualified hypnotherapist and accredited EFT practitioner. David works with real people navigating real challenges every single week. What he brings to Piece of Mind Training isn’t theoretical. It’s current, grounded and built entirely from the inside out.

As part of the team, David delivers training, practises as a therapist and plays a key role in the development and direction of the organisation making sure that everything Piece of Mind produces is professionally rigorous and genuinely human.

David is responsible for development and ensures that Piece of Mind Training programmes are grounded in real-world application. Not what the textbook says should happen. What actually works when it matters.

Iona

Iona Russell

Growth & Partnerships

Tagline: She’s written the book. Literally.

Iona has spent more than twenty years working at the intersection of human potential and real-world impact — across psychology, coaching, education, broadcasting, the charitable sector and social policy, in both the UK and the USA.

She is a Master Positive Psychology Coach and twice bestselling author who has supported hundreds of people through coaching qualifications and worked alongside some of the most respected names in positive psychology and personal development. As a keynote speaker and leadership advisor, she helps organisations rethink what success and human flourishing actually look like.

But what drives Iona’s commitment to mental health work goes deeper than her professional background. She lost her brother to suicide. That experience — and everything it taught her about the gap between what people are going through and the support available to them — shapes everything she brings to Piece of Mind Training.

At Piece of Mind, Iona leads our partnerships, builds community impact and drives our growth across Scotland and beyond. She brings commercial insight, deep human understanding and a personal reason for being here that no CV can fully capture.

Ann

Ann Stewart

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Ann has spent her career helping people make sense of the things that are weighing on them and finding a way forward when everything feels tough.

Her background is genuinely rare. A qualified teacher, certified hypnotherapist, coach and First Aid for Mental Health practitioner, Ann brings together an understanding of how people learn with a deep, practical knowledge of how people struggle. She still works directly with adults and young people every week supporting those experiencing anxiety, low confidence, emotional distress and the kind of quiet difficulties that don’t always have a name but make everyday life feel impossibly hard.

As a trainer, Ann knows that the best mental health training doesn’t just inform people, it changes how they see themselves and the people around them. She brings that belief into every session she delivers, whether she’s working with a room full of HR professionals or a team who’ve never talked about mental health at work before.

As a therapist, trainer, teacher and mum of three, Ann understands that most people are dealing with far more than anyone around them realises. That understanding is the foundation of everything she does.

At Piece of Mind Training, Ann leads on training quality and consistency, making sure that what we promise is what every learner experiences, every time.

Andy Griffiths

Andy Griffiths

Founder

Tagline: The man who built this because he needed it himself.

Qualifications include:

Clinical Hypnotherapy

NLP

Psychotherapy

CBT Coaching

Trauma-Informed Practice.

Andy is a practising therapist, clinical hypnotherapist and the founder of Piece of Mind Training. He’s spent over a decade working with clients across anxiety, trauma, panic disorder and complex mental health presentations not as a theorist, but as someone who has experienced many of these challenges himself.

His personal journey through mental health struggles, panic disorder and years of pretending everything was fine is the reason Piece of Mind Training exists. He built what he wished had existed when he needed it most.

As a trainer, Andy is known for his directness, his warmth and his ability to make people feel genuinely seen. He doesn’t stand behind a slide deck and talk at people. He brings the subject into the room.

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