Phobias

Definition:

Is there one thing that absolutely terrifies you?

Ask yourself, for 1 million pounds could you face this fear?

If the answer is no, it’s highly likely that you have a phobia.

A phobia is an overwhelming fear that causes you to behave irrationally. If you have a phobia you will experience exaggerated distress in response to the perceived threat. You will try to avoid the source of your phobia at all costs. This fear will be specific and it will disrupt your life.

Some phobias develop out of natural aversions. For instance, a dislike of spiders can intensify over time until the point that it becomes a phobia. Some phobias occur after a traumatising incident. Others run in families.

Imagine hearing a buzzing sound and then getting stung by a wasp – your brain’s amygdala would play a key role in helping you learn to associate the sound of buzzing with the risk of being stung. If the fear is intense enough, the amygdala will communicate with other parts of the limbic system such as the hypothalamus, to help initiate the fight-or-flight response. It is the activation of the fight-or-flight response that can make a phobic reaction so overpowering.

However, there is a silver lining. Hypnotherapy is highly successful at treating phobias.

Facts:

  • Approximately 10 million adults in the UK are estimated to have some form of phobia.

  • Phobias can develop at any age, but they are often first seen between the ages of 15 and 20. 

  • Whilst men and women are equally likely to develop phobias, men are more likely to seek treatment.

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Book a FREE Discovery Call

Common Phobias:

Animal Phobias:

  • Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders

  • Ophidiophobia: Fear of snakes

  • Cynophobia: Fear of dogs

  • Elurophobia: Fear of cats

  • Ornithophobia: Fear of birds

Environment Phobias:

  • Acrophobia: Fear of heights

  • Aquaphobia: Fear of water

  • Astraphobia: Fear of thunder and lightning

  • Nyctophobia: Fear of the dark

  • Claustrophobia: Fear of enclosed spaces

Health Phobias:

  • Trypanophobia: Fear of injections

  • Hemophobia: Fear of blood

  • Dentophobia: Fear of the dentist 

  • Iatrophobia: Fear of doctors

  • Emetophobia: Fear of vomiting

  • Mysophobia: Fear of germs

Other Phobias:

  • Thanatophobia: Fear of death

  • Atychiphobia: Fear of failure

  • Monophobia: Fear of being alone

  • Trypophobia: Fear of holes

  • Catoptrophobia: Fear of mirrors

  • Coulrophobia: Fear of clowns

  • Papyrophobia: Fear of paper

  • Somniphobia: Fear of sleep

  • Aerophobia: Fear of flying

  • Agoraphobia: Fear of open or crowded spaces

  • Glossophobia: Fear of public speaking

  • Arachibutyrophobia: Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth

  • Nomophobia: Fear of being without your mobile phone

  • Ablutophobia: Fear of bathing

  • Globophobia: Fear of balloons

  • Omphalophobia: Fear of belly buttons

How hypnotherapy can help:

During a hypnotherapy session we will gently explore your history of the phobia, discussing your earliest memory of the phobia as well as your most traumatic experience.

You will then be guided into deep relaxation where you will revisit positive memories of confidence and control. On a subconscious level, we will recode your relationship to the phobic stimulus, restructuring negative thought patterns, and neutralising your emotional responses.

Once the intensity of your fear has been reduced we will then work on encouraging new neural pathways to form. Through ego-strengthening, positive suggestions, and future mapping you will develop a neutral response towards the old phobic stimulus.

We will repeat this work until your new response is cemented.

Throughout the process we will explore a variety of coping-mechanisms and self-regulation techniques including anchoring, colour breathing and imaginative rehearsals of future scenarios to empower you to live a life free from fear.

Book a FREE Discovery Call

Book a FREE Discovery Call

Transformation in 3 Simple Steps

  1. Discovery Call

20 minutes - Free

2. Initial Consultation

60 minutes - £25

3. Hypnotherapy Session

60 minutes - £85

  • I'd never tried hypnotherapy before and now wish I'd started it sooner. The way Gemma set up and held the space made the whole process feel really safe and relaxed. I have a noisy brain and was sceptical this would work for me but it gave me a proper

    "I'd never tried hypnotherapy before and now wish I'd started it sooner. The way Gemma set up and held the space made the whole process feel really safe and relaxed. I have a noisy brain and was sceptical this would work for me but it gave me a proper break from it in a way that felt truly restorative. Highly recommend."

  • “Working with Gemma has been a truly transformative experience. When I first started therapy, I was overwhelmed by stress and struggling to cope. Through your compassionate and insightful approach, you helped me understand the roots of my stress and gave me practical tools to manage it effectively.”

  • "Gemma was brilliant, from the moment I stepped into the room she made me feel calm and at ease. Any questions I had were answered clearly and she listened carefully and compassionately to me throughout our work together. I can safely say that if you put your all into therapy, you get a whole lot more out of it than you will ever have expected. Thank you Gemma."

  • “Managing and running my own business results in me having a lot of stress and coping with a huge amount of other people’s stresses too. I contacted Gemma about hypnotherapy and whether she thought that may help. I was really impressed with her personal and professional manner throughout our first meeting, instantly grasping what industry I worked in and showing empathy for the areas of life that I found most stressful. Even now in times of stress I still mentally use the green shiny pebble in my pocket creating space and allowing me to breath and realign my thoughts. I would highly recommend Gemma for any hypnotherapy sessions that you may be thinking about.”

  • “I had the privilege of participating in hypnotherapy sessions with Gemma to help me manage stress and the experience truly exceeded my expectations.”

  • “I had a Hypnotherapy session with Gemma to quit smoking. I have been smoke and vape free since the session and haven't felt the need to do so. Gemma did a great job and I'd highly recommend her.”

  • "It was a pleasurable and relaxing experience having hypnotherapy. Gemma is very attentive, professional and engaging."