Fears and phobias are very common and can affect people at varying levels. A person might be scared of flying and it may be that they are nervous inwardly but get through it, while another person’s phobia of flying might manifest as a full-blown panic attack.
No one is born with a phobia. In fact, babies generally are without fear. Babies will jump into a swimming pool, stick their fingers into an animal’s mouth, put anything and everything in their mouths regardless of whether it’s sharp, dangerous or poisonous because they have no such fears. Babies are only born with two fears: the fear of loud noises and the fear of being dropped because they are primitive reactions. All other fears and phobias are learnt.
All phobias and fears stem from the mindset that you are putting yourself in danger and you could die, which in reality is unlikely.
So, if you weren’t born with a phobia or a fear, where did it originate from?
Robert came to see me to overcome his phobia of rats. A phobia he had put up with his whole life had become a problem. He was seeing rats not only in the rubbish room of his apartment block, but also when he was working the night shift at a train station, and at night the train platforms were teeming with rats. Robert’s fear of rats was so overwhelming that it affected his work and he would have to ask his boss if he could go home. This acute fear of rats originated from his childhood. Robert grew up on a farm and he distinctly remembered two events that caused him to fear rats.
- Once, as he played with his friends outside, one of his friends dangled a very large dead rat in his face; and
- A rat tried to crawl up his leg inside his trousers, and he had to use a stick to push it out. He remembered being terrified.
These two events, which caused Robert to experience fear, created a program in his unconscious mind. And since then, every time he saw a rat his very powerful unconscious mind reacted with the same response to that old memory in order to protect him from ‘perceived danger’.
By revisiting that old, programmed experience through hypnosis, Robert was able to ‘de-program’ his learned fear response to rats. And by changing his old, ingrained response to an old memory, Robert managed to overcome his fear of rats.
Over the years, I’ve worked with many clients who experience a wide array of phobias to such things as: heights, needles, flying, driving – and they are usually successfully resolved in one or two sessions.
For help overcoming a phobia click on the following link to book in a courtesy consultation.