Overcoming phobias is a common issue seen for hypnotherapy. The following list is from clients seen at Flagstaff Hypnotherapy. A person with arachnophobia (fear of spiders) was the first official client of that practice. Other phobias treated in the clinic include fear of: heights, flying, germs, snakes, needles, blood, pain, tight spaces (including being in an MRI or similar device), wide open spaces, being in vehicles, driving over bridges, crowds, dentists, medications and public speaking.
Although fear of clowns, coulrophobia, is supposedly common, there have been no clown cars of clients seeking help.
There are also a great number of rare, maybe imaginary, phobias that can be amusing – unless you suffer from one.
Phobias are irrational fears of some type of object/s or situation/s. To be problematic, phobias must interfere with a person’s life. An irrational fear of sharks does not interfere with the daily life of a person living in Arizona. If it prevents that person from taking trips to the beach, then it is a problem.
Phobias are dysfunctional, exaggerated programs of the normal protective programs that keep us healthy and alive. The origin of a phobia is sometimes known, such as in the case of a small child reaching to touch a harmless spider and an adult, especially a parent, screaming and jerking the child away.
The movie “Jaws” is likely responsible for many cases of shark phobias because of the skillful use of sudden, violent, scary appearances of the shark. Having a bunch of people screaming around you at the same time probably contributes as well.
Logically (in the conscious mind), the person knows that the fear is irrational but is unable to control it because the issue is in the subconscious.
Hypnotherapy involves the use of many techniques in addition to hypnosis. The purpose of the techniques is to bypass the conscious mind to work directly with the subconscious. FBN
By Don Berlyn
Don Berlyn, PT, CHT, is a hypnotherapist at Flagstaff Hypnotherapy. He can be reached at flaghypno@gmail.com or 928 699-8263. For more information, visit flagstaffhypnotherapy.com.
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