In this episode of The Speakmans we saw them deal with a fear of flying. Fear of flying is one of the most common phobias and fears that I see, and this is the same for many Clinical Hypnotherapists like myself.

Alison has always had a fear of flying and she told us that it has got worse with every flight that she has taken. She has avoided flying on a plane as much as possible but now she wants to visit her daughter in Dubai so she has a reason to do something about it. She arrives as Speakman Hall for treatment with her daughter Zoe, for the usual family mediation therapy. If you do not feel comfortable working with your family on your fear and phobia, then do understand that the vast majority of therapists do not work in this way. The is a Television show and so it makes for better viewing with more tears and sadness to watch, but is not a part of normal therapy for most therapists.

When did it start?

We heard about the first incident that caused her to worry and how it made her feel. Of course when this happened there was no actual problem. She saw some technical problems being sorted out and built these up in her mind to being much worse than they actually were.

We established that nothing has actually gone wrong on any flight she has been on. Of course in reality this is irrelevant to you if your fear is so great. Her daughter is actually cabin crew so flies all the time as part of her job.

If you would like help with any fear or phobia there is lots of free help and advice here including a FREE relaxation MP3 for you to listen to and try for yourself. Rest assured that asking for help is often the hardest part and once you have done this you can move forward, lose your phobia, and forget about the bad times as you look forward to everything that you really want.

The Speakmans do tell people what they think they are thinking and feeling which is quite unusual. Sometimes it appears that they are leading people rather than letting them come to their own understanding. However, I think this is more due to the editing of the show and fitting it into 46 minutes than the reality of therapy.

The type of therapy that they practice isn't for everyone, however the fact that they are raising awareness of the fact that you can let go of a fear of flying, or any other fear or phobia is of course excellent. If you are looking for help then speak to more than one therapist and find the right person to help you and you can overcome your past and look forward to the future.

You can email me on [email protected] or call me on 07980 233160

Why do you think smoking was considered to be “cool”?

As children we are often persuaded to start smoking because it is seen as subversive and cool. Let’s face it, how many people took a first drag on a cigarette and enjoyed it? Most people who had a smoke behind the bike sheds coughed and spluttered their way through it and felt awful…and yet so many carried on and became hooked.

It may surprise you to learn that the reason smoking was seen to be cool was all down to Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays.  Bernays was known as the 'inventor' of public relations and the use of psychological techniques in marketing.

He purposefully set out to link smoking with being 'cool' and started an entire generation of women smoking.

Bernays is well known for inventing a number of the public relations and advertising techniques that revolutionised marketing in the early decades of the 20th century. He was a pioneer in creating what were called "pseudo-events:". These events were carefully stage managed situations that were covered as news by the media outlets of the day.

This is where he decided that he would be able to create the link between smoking and coolness and hook more women into taking up cigarettes.

Bernays hired a number of young women to march in New York's Easter Parade in 1929 while smoking cigarettes. When he arranged this it was a time when public smoking by women was still widely regarded as taboo.

Making sure that he let the media know what he was up to, photographers and reporters were on hand, and he also encouraged the women to refer to the cigarettes as "torches of freedom." In the subsequent reports about the event the women were shown to be fashionable rebels against the discrimination that forbade public smoking by women.

The following day his story made the front page of the newspapers all across America. This led to cities being crowded with women who also started smoking to show their support. Smoking for women was now cool and something to aspire to.

Of course when this story made headlines and more women began to smoke it was not widely known that Bernays had a contract with the American Tobacco Company and had been asked to help grow the female smoking market!

So, the very thing that seemed to be all about rebellion was in fact about joining in a culture of cool created by the very company who were selling the cigarettes.

Something to think about isn’t it?