Eliminating fear of heights with hypnosis
Jim from Windermere in Cumbria approached me very recently for his fear of heights. Like so many people with phobias, Jim had an irrational understanding of his problem. Having not been born with this problem, Jim had spent a good part of his life with no issue whatsoever. In fact part of his life had been spent as a fireman and so heights were a natural part of his reality and his experience. Unfortunately this was all to end once he encountered a one off experience which locked itself in as a limiting belief around heights. The detail of the trauma is not as significant as the new reality it created. From that point onwards Jim was able to activate his reticula memory so that every height was generalised as a problem. Through the reframing of his experience with Hypnotherapy Jim was able to not only neutralise and own the feeling rather than run away from it but he was also able to neutralise the spontaneous release of adrenaline associated with the phobia. You can listen to, and watch Jim talk about his experience with hypnotherapy when dealing with his fear of heights. In the interview you can find out about how Jim overcame his fear of heights once and for all and watch him as he demonstrates his new-found confidence.
Some recent photos sent by Jim demonstrating his new found confidence. These photos were taken from the top of Barnard castle. Thank you to Jim for agreeing to share his experience.
If you are struggling with a particular phobia and would like to know how Hypnotherapy may be able to help then click on the following link for more information.
Why hypnotherapy can effectively remove fear
Hypnosis can play a powerful role in dealing with most fears and phobias. The reason it is so effective is because when we are scared of something we initially create a picture of that particular fear in our minds. This in turn triggers the fight or flight response which everyone commonly knows as adrenaline. The problem is is that very often any kind of anxiety based fear which can also result in inappropriate panic attacks is based on thousands of years of evolution where we were initially primed to have this fight or flight response facing real danger, like maybe running away from some kind of ferocious predator. Although the time has passed where we are facing man eating monsters on a day to day basis, that fight or flight response is still conditioned through evolution and can trigger unnecessary fear even though there is no immediate danger.
Through hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming NLP, the subject can be trained to have exactly the same thoughts but without the same emotional response. This means that the person suffering from a fear of flying, or spiders or a fear of needles or dentists can still think about those experiences but the emotional link is broken and once the neurological link is removed so too is the release of adrenaline which then allows the person to have a much more relaxed, comfortable, and controlled response to the initial fear. In effect the phobia, the anxiety and the panic attack can be instantly eradicated. Moreover, once the subject recognises the fact that they are able to have the same thoughts without the same feelings then naturally the new pattern of confidence develops.
Here at the Cumbria Hypnosis Habit Change Clinic we help people to deal with a full range of fears and phobias using a unique blend of different tools including hypnosis. If you are suffering from a similar condition and would like to know more then you can visit our dedicated link on anxiety which will give you a lot more information about the service we provide.
David Faratian (NLP Practitioner and clinical hypnotherapist)
Eliminating Fear
A variation on same theme as colour spinning is called the ‘swish’ method. With this technique you learn to literally ‘swish’ the problem from a negative one into a more positive one. This technique is slightly more complex because it requires you to go through a number of stages to reach the final desired effect but by following the guidance carefully you should learn to master this powerful approach quickly and easily.
So let’s begin. Firstly it is important to find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed for at least fifteen to twenty minutes. Make sure your mobile phone is switched to silent and ensure you have a comfortable place to sit. I always say ‘sit’ because with this kind of exercise there is the danger that once you enter a reflective, meditative state you could easily fall asleep if you happen to be lying down. Now consider a situation where you were strong and sure of yourself. This need not be related to a current memory, just any scenario where you felt good about yourself, your achievements and your emotions were more than positive. Now try to imagine this as vividly as you possibly can. See colours, hear sounds and feel your emotions as if you were there right now.
Next try imagining pushing that scene off to the right. Use your imagination and push the picture you just created off to the right. In front of you create a new picture. This one should be the current challenging situation you are facing. ‘See’ this scene with equal clarity as the previous one. Now here is the trick – You must now imagine this image getting gradually smaller, duller, and with less colour. The image must gradually fade and become smaller and smaller. At same time take the positive experience which is waiting over to the right and literally ‘swish’ it very quickly right in front of the fading image and make it completely mask and overshadow the negative experience. Make the image bright, colourful and bigger than before. Now immerse yourself once more in this positive experience. What you should find is that your immediate challenge is now reduced. Repeat this process as many times as you need to.