Have A Phobia? Hypnosis & Nlp To The Rescue

DEFINITION AND SYMPTOMS OF PHOBIAS:
A phobia can be defined as an unfounded fear or dread. When a person experiences a panic attack, they get frightened feelings; their breathing and heart rates increase; they may experience feeling choked up like their heart is in their throat; their palms may get sweaty; they may experience the sound of ringing in their ears; and they may find that they are unable to take part in an activity. These feelings push the individual to avoid the situations and environments that cause them.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF COMMON PHOBIAS:
For instance, if an individual has a driving phobia, they would display these symptoms whenever they attempt to drive their car, or maybe even when they just think about driving. Or a freight attack could happen just while driving in specific places like in heavy traffic.

Stage freight is a fairly common phobia. The frightened feelings appear when the sufferer tries to talk in front of a person that they are intimidated by, or they might experience panicky feelings only when in front of an assembly of people. The size of the group may differ. This phobia can be triggered by fears of inadequacy, or a lack of self-esteem.

Those who suffer from social phobias can get extremely anxious just being around other folks, even people that they are familiar with. It is a fear that they will be criticized or evaluated by others. This fear can be triggered in almost any kind of social dealings. A person could be waiting on line at a supermarket and get phobic feelings as they imagine having to talk to the cashier while they checkout.

The fear of taking a test (regularly known as test anxiety) is a common phobia. Phobias to taking tests are rooted in comparing yourself to other folks, and is deeply rooted in a fear of failure.

People have developed phobias to every sort of situation under the sun. For example: Snakes; bugs; relationships; flying; small enclosed places; animals; high places; death; and even the great outdoors.

Agoraphobia is generally considered to be a fear of open spaces. However, this definition is quite ambiguous because Agoraphobics are really afraid of having a panic attack, wherever they may happen to be. Agoraphobia develops when a person begins to avoid places or situations they have associated with anxiety. For example, they could have a panic attack at the drycleaners, at home, or at a grocery store.

For people who suffer with phobias, once the panic attacks have started to take place, they start to expect them to happen. And this expectation in reality triggers them with increasing frequency. Other folks experience fearful feelings on a continuous basis. These feelings cause an overall discomfort, rather than panic.

FORMS OF TREATMENT OBTAINABLE

DRUGS:
Some doctors care for their patients using sedatives, which can make the condition worse over extended usage. Sedatives don't treat the underlying origin of a phobia; they only mask some of the symptoms.

TALK THERAPY:
Some therapists advocate "Talk Therapy." Talk therapy is just talking about what is bothering you. Unfortunately, talking about or even thinking about a situation or environment that triggers a phobic attach can trigger one!

HYPNOTHERAPY CDS:
Traditional self-hypnosis has been used to treat phobias, but with only meager success. Traditional hypnotic therapy is accomplished when the therapist guides the patient into a relaxed state of hypnosis and gives her post-hypnotic suggestions or commands. Since most people of our generation question and resist direct post-hypnotic suggestions, they also reject the idea that they will be more relaxed and at ease when they encounter the environment or situation that causes their panic attacks.

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION:
Systematic Desensitization is the process of gradually desensitizing a person to the environment or circumstances that triggers a panic attack. For instance, if a person wants to dive from a high board but she fears it, she is asked to first dive from a height that she feels confident about. She dives in and realizes that she didn't get hurt and that she is secure.

The next thing she is asked is to dive in from the first step of the ladder going up to the diving board. Again, she dives in and realizes that nothing bad happened and that she is safe.

Over a period of time the subject is asked to dive in from progressively higher and higher steps on the ladder. Each time she dives in and realizes that she was not hurt and that she is safe and secure, she is able to move up to the next rung. If she experiences the sensation of fear, then she's told to move back down one rung on the ladder and dive from there until she feels complete comfort and security. In due course she makes it to the top of the ladder and is able to dive in from the high board itself.

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION WHILE IN THE STATE OF HYPNOSIS:
Systematic Desensitization can be done virtually while in a hypnotic state with as good as or even better results. While in a relaxed hypnotized state, the woman would be told to visualize herself diving in from each rung of the ladder. She would be told to picture herself feeling confident and relaxed as she watches herself dive in. Since she is actually disassociated while seeing herself, she is unable to experience a panic attack.

Next she's told to associate, in other words to put the camera inside of her head so she would see what she would see through her own eyes if she was actually diving in from each rung of the ladder. She is told to imagine feeling safe and relaxed as she dives in.

Just as in a live (in vivo) systematic desensitization, if she feels any terror she's asked to go back to the previous lower rung on the ladder and visualize diving in from that rung.

The woman might be trained to create a kinesthetic (feeling or touch) "anchor" for feelings of safety and security. She could then activate that anchor while visualizing that she's diving, and the feelings of safety and security could be subjectively transferred to the act of diving.

Systematic Desensitization while in hypnosis can be very effective and totally successful, but is can also be slow and take several hypnotic sessions to bring about a cure.

NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING V/K DISASSOCIATION:
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is fundamentally the study and practice of how we create our reality. The V/K stands for visual / kinesthetic. The V/K Disassociation is a method that enables a trained NLP Practitioner to guide a subject through specific imagery that quickly and in many cases instantly disconnects or disassociates the feelings of horror from the irrational fear that causes them. The V/K Disassociation is known as the "One session phobia cure" in Neuro-Linguistic Programming circles, and with good cause.

CONCLUSION:
Phobias are very common in our civilization. They are fears that are not founded in reality. There are many techniques for treating phobias, but thus far in my judgment, the best treatments are Systematic Desensitization while in the state of hypnosis, and the Neuro-Linguistic Programming V/K Disassociation technique.