Treatment For Fears And Phobias
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnotherapy To Help Treat Fears and Phobias
Stevenage Wellbeing Clinic
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnotherapy To Help Treat fears and phobin hertfordshire serving Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, Welwyn, Knebworth, Hatfield, Baldock, Buntingford, Hertford, Ware, Hoddesdon,
Fears and Phobias Treatment near Stevenage, Hitchin and Letchworth
Understanding fears and phobias
Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two. Some get nervous at the thought of needles. Others shriek at the sight of a mouse. Still others get woozy when they look down from tall buildings. For most people, these fears are minor. But for some, these fears are so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with normal day-to-day life.When fears are irrational and disabling, they are called phobias. If you have a phobia that’s keeping you from doing things you’d like to do and living the life you want, take heart. Phobias can be managed and cured. Self-help strategies and therapy can help you overcome your fears and get on with your life.
Fortunately, with effective help at the wellbeing clinic, you can be helped to reduce your fears and phobias, and take back control of your life. This page will help you to understand what phobias are. Further down you will find the information how you can be helped and at the bottom of the page you will find details on how to contact the clinic and to discuss the free initial consultation which we offer so I can get a full understanding how your fear or phobia affects you and to be able to explain in detail how the treatments offered at the wellbeing clinic can help you.
What is a phobia?
A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger. Common phobias and fears include closed-in places, heights, highway driving, flying insects, snakes, and needles. However, we can develop phobias of virtually anything. Most phobias develop in childhood, but they can also develop in adults.
If you have a phobia, you probably realize that your fear is unreasonable, yet you still can’t control your feelings. Just thinking about the feared object or situation may make you anxious. And when you’re actually exposed to the thing you fear, the terror is automatic and overwhelming.
The experience is so nerve-wracking that you may go to great lengths to avoid it — inconveniencing yourself or even changing your lifestyle. If you have claustrophobia, for example, you might turn down a lucrative job offer if you have to ride the elevator to get to the office. If you have a fear of heights, you might drive an extra twenty miles in order to avoid a tall bridge.
Understanding your phobia is the first step to overcoming it. It’s important to know that phobias are common. Having a phobia doesn’t mean you’re crazy! It also helps to know that phobias are highly treatable. You can overcome your anxiety and fear, no matter how out of control it feels.
“Normal” fear vs. phobias
It is normal and even helpful to experience fear in dangerous situations. Fear is an adaptive human response. It serves a protective purpose, activating the automatic “fight-or-flight” response. With our bodies and minds alert and ready for action, we are able to respond quickly and protect ourselves.
But with phobias the threat is greatly exaggerated or nonexistent. For example, it is only natural to be afraid of a snarling Doberman, but it is irrational to be terrified of a friendly poodle on a leash, as you might be if you have a dog phobia.
The difference between normal fear and a phobia |
Normal fear |
Phobia |
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Feeling anxious when flying through turbulence or taking off during a storm
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Not going to your best friend’s island wedding
because you’d have to fly there
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Experiencing butterflies when peering down from the top of a skyscraper or climbing a tall ladder
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Turning down a great job because it’s on the
10th floor of the office building
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Getting nervous when you see a pit bull or a Rottweiler
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Steering clear of the park because you might
see a dog
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Feeling a little queasy when needing an injection or when your blood is being drawn
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Avoiding necessary medical treatments or
doctor’s checkups because you’re terrified
of needles
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Common types of phobias and fears
There are four general types of phobias and fears:
Animal phobias. Examples include fear of snakes, fear of spiders, fear of rodents, and fear of dogs.
Natural environment phobias. Examples include fear of heights, fear of storms, fear of water, and fear of the dark.
Situational phobias (fears triggered by a specific situation). Examples include fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), fear of flying, fear of driving, fear of
tunnels, and fear of bridges.
Blood-Injection-Injury phobia. The fear of blood, fear or injury, or a fear of needles or other medical procedures.
Common phobias and fears
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Fear of spiders
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Fear of snakes
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Fear of heights
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Fear or closed spaces
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Fear of storms
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Fear of needles and injections
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Fear of public speaking
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Fear of flying
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Fear of germs
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Fear of illness or death
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Some phobias don’t fall into one of the four common categories. Such phobias include fear of choking, fear of getting a disease such as cancer, and fear of clowns.
Social phobia and fear of public speaking
Social phobia, also called social anxiety disorder, is fear of social situations where you may be embarrassed or judged. If you have social phobia you may be excessively self-conscious and afraid of humiliating yourself in front of others. Your anxiety over how you will look and what others will think may lead you to avoid certain social situations you’d otherwise enjoy.
Fear of public speaking, an extremely common phobia, is a type of social phobia. Other fears associated with social phobia include fear of eating or drinking in public, talking to strangers, taking exams, mingling at a party, and being called on in class.
Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces)
Agoraphobia is another phobia that doesn’t fit neatly into any of the four categories. Traditionally thought to involve a fear of public places and open spaces, it is now believed that agoraphobia develops as a complication of panic attacks.
Afraid of having another panic attack, you become anxious about being in situations where escape would be difficult or embarrassing, or where help wouldn't be immediately available. For example, you are likely to avoid crowded places such as shopping malls and movie theaters. You may also avoid cars, airplanes, subways, and other forms of travel. In more severe cases, you might only feel safe at home.
Signs and symptoms of phobias
The symptoms of a phobia can range from mild feelings of apprehension and anxiety to a full-blown panic attack. Typically, the closer you are to the thing you’re afraid of, the greater your fear will be. Your fear will also be higher if getting away is difficult.
Physical signs and symptoms of a phobia
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Difficulty breathing
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Racing or pounding heart
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Chest pain or tightness
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Trembling or shaking
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Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
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A churning stomach
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Hot or cold flashes; tingling sensations
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Sweating
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Emotional signs and symptoms of a phobia
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Feeling of overwhelming anxiety or panic
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Feeling an intense need to escape
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Feeling “unreal” or detached from yourself
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Fear of losing control or going crazy
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Feeling like you’re going to die or pass out
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Knowing that you’re overreacting, but feeling powerless to control your fear
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Help with your fear or phobia at the wellbeing clinic
Although phobias are common, they don’t always cause considerable distress or significantly disrupt your life. For example, if you have a snake phobia, it may cause no problems in your everyday activities if you live in a city where you are not likely to run into one. On the other hand, if you have a severe phobia of crowded spaces, living in a big city would pose a problem. If your phobia doesn’t really impact your life that much, it’s probably nothing to be concerned about. But if avoidance of the object, activity, or situation that triggers your phobia interferes with your normal functioning or keeps you from doing things you would otherwise enjoy, it’s time to seek help.
Consider treatment for your phobia if:
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It causes intense and disabling fear, anxiety, and panic.
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You recognize that your fear is excessive and unreasonable.
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You avoid certain situations and places because of your phobia.
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Your avoidance interferes with your normal routine or causes significant distress.
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You’ve had the phobia for at least six months.
The specific treatment approach depends on how your fear or phobia affects your daily life and its severity. But in general, most problems at the wellbeing clinic are treated with cognitive behavioural therapy, hypnotherapy and sometimes with counselling. These treatments can be used individually or combined. Every client is unique on how their fear or phobia affects them and so is the treatment provided. You may already have your own preffered choice of treatment and this can be discussed in detail at the free initial consultation.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive behavioural therapy is generally viewed as the most effective form of treatment for anger management and is reccomended by the NHS as an effective therapy intervention. Cognitive behavioural therapy focuses on the thinking patterns and behaviors that are sustaining or triggering your drinking patterns. It helps you look at the triggers for your anger in a more realistic light and ultimately changing your behaviour.
Learning to challenge unhelpful thoughts is an important step in overcoming your phobia. When you have a phobia, you tend to overestimate how bad it will be if you’re exposed to the situation you fear. At the same time, you underestimate your ability to cope.
The anxious thoughts that trigger and fuel fears and phobias are usually negative and unrealistic. Many times, these thoughts fall into the following categories:
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Fortune telling. For example, “This bridge is going to collapse;” “I’ll make a fool of myself for sure;” “I will definitely lose it when the elevator doors close.”
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Overgeneralization. “I fainted once while getting a shot. I’ll never be able to get a shot again without passing out;” “That pit bull lunged at me. All dogs are dangerous.”
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Catastrophizing. “The captain said we’re going through turbulence. The plane is going to crash!” “The person next to me coughed. Maybe it’s the swine flu. I’m going to get very sick!”
Your negative thoughts about a situation or impending situation results on how you feel and behave. Cognitive behavioural therapy for fears and phobias will help you to challenge your negative thinking and create more rational thoughts. This, along with exposure treatment will help to reduce the anxious feelings until eventually, you will be able to remain more calm and relaxed in those situations where you currently feel anxious and panicky. Exposure therapy for anxiety disorder treatment, panic attacks and fears and phobias encourages you to confront your fears in a safe, controlled environment. Through repeated exposures to the feared object or situation, either in your imagination or in reality, you gain a greater sense of control. As you face your fear without being harmed, your anxiety gradually diminishes. For more information oncognitive behavioural therapy, click here.
Hypnotherapy for panic, fears and phobias
Sometimes the reasons why you get fearful may not be known to you at a conscious level. The anxious response may be as a result to negative stimuli which you are not aware of. Your fear and panic may surface because of a misinterpreted protection for yourself, emotional protection. Hypnotherapy is a highly effective way to make positive, lasting changes to your lifestyle by helping you to release the emotional behind whatever you may be experiencing. Hypnotherapy at the wellbeing clinic has the very practical approach of finding solutions to problems, naemely, soloution focused hypnotherapy rather than dwelling on the past. It involves using the conscious mind to set clear goals that will enable you to change old habits into more effective strategies.
With all conditions I treat in my practice I am always looking how to release the emotional behind whatever my client may be experiencing , as in this case, a fear or phobia. Once you understand what the emotional attachment is, you will be well on your way to recovery. You did not intentionally set out to become like this, it generally is a circumstance of events which lead up to it. We will uncover that chain of events and help you to gain closure on them which will give you the motivation to succeed with the agreed goals. Using hypnotherapy in this way helps to shave off many weeks of traditional talking therapy because it works at the root of the problem...your subconscious mind. For more information on hypnotherapy, click this link.
Treatment Overview
You may have tried many times to just 'fix' the problem all in one go, fighting with yourself to stay calm and in doing so you will be aware aware how difficult it is or you may have lived with your problem for so long that you find it difficult to even imagine that life can be different for you. You may have even given up hope that you will ever be free from the anxiety and panic about your fear and phobia. Effective help is available at the wellbeing clinic where I help you to achieve your goal of reducing your anxious and fearful response in small achievable steps so that as each goal is attained it gives you the strength and courage to move to the next step with a confident optimistic approach with all the support and encouragement you need to help you along. At the wellbeing clinic your success in treatment is paramount and you will be worked with to help yourself become free of your current feelings.
You may already know which therapeutic treatment you wish to use and the specialised treatment for fears and phobiasavailable includes cognitive behavioural therapy, neuro-linguistic programming, counselling and hypnotherapy. I will help you to find the root of your fear and focus on the future and getting better, to help you feel more in control and at ease so that you can make the start of living your daily life in a more fulfilling way. All treatments are based in the here and now and do not dwell needlessly on the past but an understanding of the root cause of why you get fearful may be neccessary.
At the wellbeing clinic I offer a free 30-45 minute initial consultation in order for me to get an understanding how your fear or phobia affects you and during this time I can explain how the treatments will work for you. Following from this intake you will go straight into your first working session so you can start on your road to recovery.
I am an approved member of the NHS Directory of Complementary and Alternative Practitioners, a registered member of the General Hypnotherapy Register, member of the Complimentary and Natural Healthcare Council, (CNHC), licensed Hypno-Band Practioner and an accredited counsellor with the National Counselling Society. With government support, The Department of Health has recommended that, where people are looking for complementary healthcare therapists they use someone who is CNHC registered.
For more information on how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Hypnotherapy or Counselling
can help you with fears and phobias, click this link for contact details
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