Hypnotherapy for Fears and Phobias
Hypnosis for fears and phobias and the Rewind Technique
Hypnotherapy for Fears and Phobias
A fear is an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by the anticipation or awareness of danger. A fear is a bit different than a phobia because it is usually the result of a traumatic incident. For example if a person was attacked by a dog at some time in their life, they may begin to fear all dogs as a result.
A phobia definitely brings up fear and anxiety in a person, however the reason for the intense feelings of fear often have an unknown cause. A person can develop a fear of something as benign as string “Linonophobia.” No one knows why this happens but as with any phobia, it can be debilitating because the intense fear interferes with quality of life and the ability to function in daily life.
Can Phobias Be Treated With Hypnotherapy?
Yes, phobias can be treated with hypnotherapy!
Phobias are different because when someone has a real phobia, they spend an inordinate amount of time or make an unnecessarily large effort to avoid the thing they fear. These phobias go further than general fear, causing phobic people to constantly worry that they will encounter the object/situation that they fear.
Time and energy is often used to actively avoid the object of fear – and if they do come across it, they endure high levels of distress, experiencing nausea, shortness of breath and potentially even panic attacks.
The way that hypnotherapy can help with treating fears and phobias is on a spectrum or a scale. For example, if a person has a fear of spiders and on a scale of one to ten, they start at an anxiety or fear level of eight to ten, a hypnosis session would likely take the fear down a couple of numbers on that scale to a six or a seven. Then with subsequent sessions, the fear or phobia would likely continue to decrease on that spectrum.
Some people have a very quick response to hypnosis in regard to fears and phobias and their anxiety can drop dramatically in one session from a ten to even a two or a three. Other people take more time, but generally speaking, most people will experience a change or a decrease in their fear, stress and anxiety around that issue.
What Causes These Phobias?
While the phobia itself may be very specific, the root cause is often less so.
Phobias may emerge during childhood, pop-up randomly in adulthood or even occur as a result of a traumatic event involving the object of fear which would put it in the category of “Fear” more so than “Phobia” because there is an explainable reason for the fear. Research has suggested that phobias could be linked to genetics, brain chemistry and even gender, women tend to be affected more often than men.
As a hypnotherapist in Lakewood Colorado, I have worked with several clients who experience phobias. This therapy can be as easy as one session or may need several depending upon the person.
If you suffer from irrational fears or a phobia, why not give hypnosis a try so that you can enjoy life to the fullest.
Types of Phobias
What Are Some of the Most Common Phobias?
Fear of Doctors and Medical care/treatment “iatrophobia”
Fear of needles “trypanophobia”
Fear of Heights “acrophobia”
Fear of Flying “aviophobia”
Fear of Driving or being a passenger in a vehicle “amaxophobia”
Fear of spiders “arachnophobia”
Fear of snakes “ophidiophobia”
Fear of confined spaces “claustrophobia”
These are just some of the most commonly reported phobias, though there are many more. Some of the above listed phobias can also be fears created by a traumatic experience.
The Rewind Technique is a tried-and-tested approach to treating PTSD and phobias
For many years, severe anxiety-based conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder or phobias were considered treatable only through long, painful exposure therapy, and in some cases, not at all.
Now, thankfully, we have access to a comfortable, effective treatment that can greatly reduce, and even remove, traumatic or phobic symptoms quickly.
Research Results for the Rewind Technique
Although research into the Rewind Technique is still in its infancy, one study carried out by the Human Givens Institute in the UK showed the following results:
Study size: 30 people
Clients rated rewind as extremely successful
Clients rated it as successful
Clients rated it as acceptable
No one rated the Rewind Technique poor or as a failure.
- Prior to rewind, on average clients rated their well being as 12 out of 50.
- Seven to 10 days after treatment, the average score was 30.3 out of 50.
- Three to six months later, the average score was 32.2.
This represents an improvement of 167.4 per cent on their original ratings.
A four-year study carried out within NOVA (part of the Barnardo’s charity) showed similarly impressive results:
Study size: 47 people, 57% of whom treated with Rewind alone.
- 26 would have met the criteria for PTSD.
- After treatment none of the forty-seven people treated met the criteria for PTSD.
- There was also a significant reduction of all sub symptoms associated with PTSD, five categories had zero reports after treatment. (Human Given journal Volume 14, No 4- 2007).
Rewind does not need you to go over the traumatic incident(s) again.
Many people with trauma or phobias have been treated using approaches which drag them back through the experience again; a highly unpleasant thing to have to do.
This does not happen with the Rewind, and I do not in fact even need to know the details of what happened to you.
So if you suffer from PTSD or phobias I think I can help, so please give me a call at 303-434-4456 and I can tell you anything else you need to know.
Read this article to learn more about the “Rewind Technique“