Phobias
Whatever your particular fear, or phobia,
this page will go some way to explain how phobias are created,
and perhaps more importantly, how hypnosis and hypnotherapy
can help.
A fear is an unpleasant reaction we feel when confronted
with real danger. It is an essential 'fight or flight' instinct,
which makes us prepare to either run away from that danger,
or stick around and fight it out.
A phobia on the other hand, while still a very strong and
unpleasant reaction, is an irrational fear which has been
'symbolically attached' to an object, or situation, which
causes little or no real danger.
There will usually be strong avoidance behaviour connected
with the phobia, which will run alongside intense feelings
of anxiety, loss of control and panic. Sometimes confrontation
with the phobia can even lead to fainting, but this is usually
only associated with blood, injury, or needle-type phobias.
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 Types
of phobia
Specific phobias can be categorised into five main types:
Animal: such as rats/mice, spiders,
insects, snakes,flying creatures, dogs, cats and reptiles.
Natural Environment: such as water,
thunderstorms, heights, fire, and the dark.
Blood / Injury /Needles: such
as injections, the sight of blood, dentistry, surgical operations,
or other invasive medical procedures.
Situational: such as flying, lifts,
driving, tunnels, bridges, enclosed spaces (claustrophobia),
or being sick. These fears relate to a fear of being trapped
and unable to get away.
Other: such as illness, germs,
choking, vomiting.
As well as the specific phobias, there are also the complex
phobias of social phobia / social anxiety, and agoraphobia
(the fear of open spaces). These can also be very distressing
and debilitating, in a wide range of situations.
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A few common phobias
| Trypanophobia |
Fear of injections |
| Aviophobia |
Fear of flying |
| Ornithophobia |
Fear of birds |
| Emetophobia |
Fear of vomiting |
| Arachnophobia |
Fear of spiders |
| Acrophobia |
Fear of high places |
| Glossophobia |
Fear of public speaking |
| Odontophobia |
Fear of dentistry |
| Cynophobia |
Fear of dogs |
| Homophobia |
Fear of homosexuality |
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 Where
do they come from?
Phobias are often caused in childhood, where the child experiences
a real fear, but the mind manages to detach (or repress) the
feeling of terror, from the situation that caused it. This
leaves the mind with a strong fear, and nothing to attach
it to. The mind doesn't like it this way, and will therefore,
symbolically attach this fear, to a real object or situation
that it does know about, be it a spider, an enclosed space,
a lift... whatever it may find. Whenever the person now comes
into contact with the object or situation (say, a spider),
they feel the fear that the subconscious mind has associated
with it. and they have a 'phobia'.
Sometimes, however, phobias can develop after experiencing
something. The initial sensitising event, or triggering
incident, may vary from witnessing, for example, an accident,
visiting the dentist's office, or even just hearing about
terrible disasters. Or a child may model their behaviour
on that of their role model who has a phobia in their own
right, and as a result, this can cause the child to become
phobic as well. An example of this, would be a child who
became terrified of thunderstorms, simply because the mother
was frightened of them and acted in a terrified manner,
or hid herself away, whenever a storm raged overhead. The
child would quickly have picked up on the mother's fear,
absorbed and formed a learned behaviour pattern, and thus
developed a conditioned response.
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A way out
We use a Neurolingistic Programming procedure called Fast Phobic Cure. This is performed from a state of relaxation, and breaks up the memory that caused the phobia, replacing it with another which is not emotionally loaded. This can often be achieved in a single session, particularly if the incident that established it is known. In some cases, however, a second session is needed.
If preferred, we can use Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is a close relative of Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Some people find this method a little bizarre, but it does appear to be effective, and it is a popular option for those who have come into contact with EFT before. As this is new to us and we are still evaluating it, we are prepared to treat phobias in this way without fees, although donations to Cat Rescue in the Limassol area are welcomed.
If you have a fear or phobia
that is spoiling your quality of life, there
is no need to suffer in silence - call us for a consultation.
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Our Mission
Statement
To help you achieve your goals and
improve your quality of life |
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The real killer in the world today
is not heart disease, cancer or strokes. It is repression,
the agent of neurosis. |
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Unlock the secrets
of your subconscious |
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