Therapy for Phobias
Phobias can significantly impact your daily life, but by addressing the core fears behind them, you can regain control.
What is a Fear?
We all experience fear from time to time. For example, walking alone in the dark might make you feel uneasy, you might get butterflies in your tummy, have sweaty palms or have an increased heart rate.
This reaction is completely natural because, in the dark, we’re less aware of our surroundings and more sensitive to sounds that could signal potential danger. Additionally, fewer people around means help may be less readily available. This response to a situation where danger could exist is rational.
What is a Phobia?
A phobia, however, is a fear of something unlikely to cause harm. Many clients I work with in therapy struggle with the fear of flying. Some avoid family holidays or work trips due to having an intense fear of being in the air, despite air travel being one of the safest modes of transport. In these cases, while the fear feels real, it’s not based on the likelihood of danger, making it irrational.
A fear of the dark becomes a phobia if someone takes extreme measures to avoid it. For example, it could be that a person starts panicking when it gets dark and uses avoidance techniques, such as being afraid of the dark even in their own home, experiencing excessive anxiety at the mere thought of darkness, and turning down social events due to concerns about having to get home when it’s dark.
Fight-Flight-Freeze Response
When we are afraid, our bodies activate the fight-flight-freeze response, a natural survival mechanism. Your heart races, your palms sweat, and you feel the urge to run from what’s frightening you. This response is triggered by a rush of hormones, namely cortisol and adrenaline, which prepare your body to respond quickly to danger.
However, when no real threat exists, these hormones result in you feeling anxious, restless, and overwhelmed. Recognising this response helps you understand when fear is taking over unnecessarily and allows you to find healthier ways to cope.
Is a Phobia Disrupting your Daily Life?
If you are suffering with a specific phobia you may actively seek to avoid the feared object or situation often to the detriment of your everyday life.
Phobias can revolve around objects, animals, and events. For instance, people often reach out for therapy due to a fear of public speaking. While it’s normal to feel nervous about speaking in front of others, a phobia turns that nervousness into extreme panic.
Imagine having a work presentation and losing sleep for days in advance. In this case, you might avoid presentations, holding yourself back from career progress to escape the fear. Unlike a level of nervousness, which is proportionate to the situation, a phobia can cause panic throughout the presentation. This flooding of stress hormones makes you feel dizzy, nauseous, or in need of the bathroom due to digestive distress. These are signs that the fear may be disproportionate, indicating a phobia.
Furthermore, phobias can hugely impact on the quality of your daily life. Our instinct is to avoid anything we perceive as dangerous, but avoidance is only a short-term solution. In fact, avoiding your phobia can reinforce the fear and make it worse over time. You might find yourself declining social outings, promotions, or opportunities because of your phobia, but these actions only strengthen the anxiety.
Learning to manage your fear will ultimately lead to a fuller, more empowered life.
Effective Therapies for Phobias
Rewiring the subconscious mind’s response to the feared stimulus.
There are many therapeutic approaches proven to help with phobias. As a pluralistic counsellor, I believe therapy should be tailored to each individual. Below are some therapies known to be particularly effective:
- Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT): RTT combines hypnotherapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). In an RTT session, you’ll enter a relaxed state to access your subconscious mind, where the root cause of your phobia is revealed. RTT helps you adopt new, healthier ones by reframing old, irrational beliefs.
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): CBT identifies the thoughts that fuel your phobia. In structured sessions, you’ll learn practical techniques to shift your thinking and reduce anxiety, helping you break patterns of avoidance.
- Exposure Therapy: Often used alongside CBT, exposure therapy involves gradual, controlled exposure to the source of your fear. Over time, repeated exposure desensitises you to the trigger, reducing the fear response and helping you regain confidence.
- Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Mindfulness-based therapies teach you to manage your body’s physical responses to fear, like a rapid heartbeat or sweating. Breathing exercises and meditation can help calm the intensity of anxiety related to your phobia.
If you’re struggling with a phobia, you don’t have to live in avoidance. Therapy can help you overcome these extreme fears and live a fuller life. If you’d like to learn more about how therapy can assist you with your phobia, feel free to get in touch.
Schedule Your Free Discovery Call
Take the first step to phobia relief with a free 20-minute discovery call. This will allow us to connect, understand your unique situation, and determine the most effective approach to supporting the phobia you are struggling with.
