Phobias

Pennant Hills
NSW 2120
phone 0412 092 972

Clinical Hypnotherapy & Counselling
Joanna Malinowska Msc, DHC, Cert 4 in Clin Hyp, CMAHA
Accredited and registered with the Australian Hypnotherapists Association

LANGUAGES:

ENGLISH

POLISH

Sydney Medical Centre
level 1, 70 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000
phone (02) 9233 3399

Joanna
Malinowska

Helps with:
Phobias
Confidence
Public Speaking
Quit Smoking
Weight Loss
Eating Disorders
Sleep Disorders
Stress
Learn Self-hypnosis
Pain Control
Study & Exams
Dental Fear

and more...

Does not help with

Fears and Phobias

What is a phobia?
Why the hypnotherapy is the most effective way of treating phobias?
Is it true that a severe phobia can be treated in one session?
How many sessions will you need to overcome your phobia?
The most common phobias in my practice
Clients Feedback

Because the sufferers of a severe phobia can experience a panic attack even when they read the name of their subject of fear, on this page we will talk about the imaginary "pielphobia" , which means a fear of pink elephants. And let us assume that pink elephants do exists, are little and absolutely harmless.

What is a phobia?

Phobia is a "persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous (from The American Heritage Dictionaries"). Phobias are very common. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 5.1% and 21.5% of Americans suffer from phobias.

Phobias vary in severity among individuals. In fact, almost everybody has some irrational fears. But for most people the fear is not strong enough to present a problem. It just appears for a short while and is quickly overridden by rational thinking. Some people are simply disliking or avoiding the subject of their fear and suffering mild anxiety.

People with a severe phobia suffer fully-fledged panic attacks with all the associated disabling symptoms, even loss of consciousness. The severe phobia seems to take over the life of the sufferer. The person with a severe phobia may spend hours on working out strategies how to avoid their subject of fear. When this person is suddenly approached with her subject of fear, the reaction may be so strong she could even loose consciousness. For our "pielphobia" even the picture of a little pink elephant can bring a panic attack; even hearing somebody talking of them or reading about them can be overwhelming.

Why the hypnotherapy is the most effective way of treating phobias?

There are two strong reasons:

Hypnotherapy uses hypnosis. People who are likely to develop phobias are usually very talented in hypnosis, so they will respond quickly to the hypnotic suggestion
Hypnotherapy offers many techniques of treating phobias. Every client is different, there may be different reasons for the phobia. Every treatment is most successful when it is created especially for a specific client with a specific problem.

Is it true that a severe phobia can be treated in one session?

Yes, it is true. If you are suffering for years from a severe phobia, it may sound like a miracle. Yet it happens very often. Most people with phobias know they fear is irrational. They know all the rational reasons why the fear does not make sense. This awareness can be used in hypnosis by your subconscious mind to make the instant changes, so the phobia will blend with logic and disappear.

This spectacular change needs one condition - the strong awareness of logical reasons why your fear is irrational. So, for example, if you are afraid of little pink elephants, and you know why you should not be afraid of them, this rapid method is for you.

How many sessions will you need to overcome your phobia?

Sometimes all you need is just one or two session (see above).

But sometimes the phobia seems to be a part of you and it seems rational to you. It could be caused by some experience from your past.

	It could be some little accident which you may not remember. For example, your fear of pink elephants could be caused by being scratched by a pink elephant when playing with it as a small child. It was a little scratch, but you were little, you were scared, and now you believe that little pink elephants are dangerous
	You could see a horror movie as a little child, in which the little pink elephants were dangerous.
	You could have some traumatic experience while holding a little pink elephant toy in your hand. The traumatic event has been forgotten, but you subconsciously connected the fear from this event with pink elephants.

For all the above situations you will need more than one session, but usually no more then four to five.

The most common phobias in my practice

Phobias are irrational fears, and it is very interesting how many things and situations people could be afraid of. I usually say that nothing can surprise me any more, but we human beings are very innovative and from time to time I am presented with a new phobia, which does not even have a name. If you are curious how many phobias have been recognized and given a distinct name, you may visit http://phobialist.com/

The most common phobias I use to treat are:

	Aerophobia or aviophobia - Fear of flying, fear of planes. This is quite an issue in Australia, especially during holidays. There is a big number of expensive courses and treatments. offered. Many of my clients have already completed some expensive flying course without much success before they come to see me. They are astonished by the effectives of hypnotherapy.
	Agoraphobia - Irrational anxiety about being in places from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing. This fear is very often accompanied by panic attacks.
	Arachnophobia - Fear of Spiders.
	Social phobia - Irrational anxiety elicited by exposure to certain types of social or performance situations, also leading to avoidance behavior.
	Fear of public speaking. It is a specific kind of social phobia. I have many clients with this issue, due to the location of my practice in Sydney CBD.

joanna@myhypnotherapy.com.au

26-Oct-2008