Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy Blog

 

 

 

 RSS Feed

» Listings for 2014

  1. In Episode nine of The Speakmans we meet a woman who has a fear of spiders that controls everything that she does. As she states herself "I can't imagine a day without looking for them, checking for them, screaming if I see one". It dominates the lives of her family. Can the Speakmans help Julie to overcome her nightmare fear of spiders?

     

     

    A fear of spiders is one of the most common phobias that I come across. In fact is is relatively easy to often help anyone who finds it difficult to let go of that fear within three or four sessions. Most clients already feel better after the first. Unlike the Speakmans I would not suggest that you can be free of a fear in one hour. Of course because this is a TV show you miss the fact that they spend several hours and sometimes several days with the people that they feature. It will take you longer than an hour, but do you think it would be wonderful to leave your fear behind forever?

    If you have a fear of spiders or any other phobia it is important to understand that you did not always have this. We are only born with two fears, a fear of falling, and a fear of loud noises. Everything else was just created because of an incident or something that happened in your imagination. This means that it is much easier to move on and leave that fear or phobia behind than you would perhaps think. If you would like help with a fear of spiders, a fear of flying, heights, driving or any other fear then please do get in touch with me and I can advise and help you. You can call me on 07980 233160 or email me by clicking on [email protected]

    Julie says that she cannot imagine a day without being freaked out by spiders. This is a very common respone. She lives with her partner Dave and their two sons. She cannot sleep at night and keeps waking up her partner as well. The fear affects her so badly. I have worked with so many spider phobia clients that I too have seen such extreme reactions. Imagine being so scared of spiders that you will not even enter certain rooms in your own house?

    I was interested to see that they had moved into a dream home in the country. As a very bad spider phobic I cannot imagine why she would have been able to move to somewhere rural and also works out of a shed like office in her garden. Spider phobia sufferers that I have met would not have dreamed of working and living in such a place. Perhaps this is an indication that things are not as bad as they are being shown. Once we saw that she also has horses I really started to wonder how she could be in such places. My experience of those who have worries about spiders must differ from those of the Speakmans.

    When Dave said that once she got over her spider phobia she could start living life I had to admit that having watched her in her lovely house in the country, seeing her working with dogs in her own shed/office and with her horses and the stables it would appear that her life is not being affected as much as we are being told.

    When the voiceover stated that the fear affects every minute of her day this does not seem to be the case from what we have seen of her life at all.

    If you feel that you are worried about spiders all the time you can overcome your fear. Working with phobia clients I find that the fear of spiders is one of the most common phobias that I deal with as a hypnotherapist. In the story we saw here there was an event with her mother where the screaming that came from her was passed on. I often find similar in that a parent, often a mother, passes on their own fear.

    I was surprised when the Speakmans said it was the worst spider phobia they had worked with as I have worked with cases that have been worse than this and I assumed that they would see a great deal of spider phobia clients. Perhaps I misunderstood.

    The good news is that on average I only see clients for three to four sessions and then they are over their fear and do not need to worry any more. I use a variety of techniques as do the Speakmans. We really do not see all of the therapy that they do. I am not sure why this is not shown but they clearly do want to create some mystique. As well as talking about the issue I use techniques such as hypnotherapy, NLP and EFT which have proven to be very successful at helping spider phobics.

    In fact I even have a picture on here of a client who went and held a tarantula after working with me which is something that you do not need to do, but really shows that you can lose your spider fear and move forward. If you want to read all about it it's below !!

    http://www.markpowlett.co.uk/myblog/read_63286/what-a-difference-an-hour-makesits-a-tarantula.html

    taratula My client holding a tarantula after successful treatment for spider phobia !

    You can email me on [email protected] if you would like help with any phobia or fear. You can also call me on 07980 233160

  2. Danni has a fear of sharks and it is stopping her from being able to enjoy the sea with her daughter Grace. She has been unable to swim in deep water after an incident 34 years ago when her brother pretended to be a shark when she was a child. The Speakmans are here on ITV and now they can take a look and have a listen in order to help.

    Danni states that she is afraid of sharks in every situation. She cannot even see a picture of a shark without feeling her heartbeat rise. I know that many people commented on twitter and facebook during this program that this seems extreme but this is often common with phobias. I have encountered many people who have a phobia of spiders and snakes which means they too would not like to see a picture of them. I even know of one hypnotherapist who has pictures of spiders to help with spider phobia testing on their website.

    As we have seen before, the Speakmans get the family together for a group session in order to help this fear. They speak with Danni, Grace and her mother Mary. In all the people I have seen with phobias, and amongst the therapists I have spoken to there is no precedent for having a family counselling session in order to deal with a phobia successfully. Of course when you are making a television programme it will look more interesting when you get a family group together and shoot pictures of them crying and being emotional.

    Most clients who see me for a phobia find it so much easier than they imagine. There is no need to expose them to the thing that they are worried about in order to help them let go of the fear and move forward.

    Galeophobia, or the fear of sharks, is not something that you would ususally treat by taking your client to the seaside for a paddle in a harbour in the UK. We are fast approaching the point where the therapy is turning into something that could alienate those worried about a fear of phobia.

    You can read all about fears and phobias and how they happen and how to overcome them here..

    How do fears and phobias start and how to end them with hypnotherapy CLICK HERE

    This time her daughter was not present but did send a video message which brought the tears required for daytime television. We found out that the fear came in part from her experience with her brother and partly was learnt from her mother. This is also quite common. We do need to be aware of the example that we set our children. Most spider phobia sufferers have found that this came from a parent for example. The good news about this is that it is something you learned and this means you can unlearn it too!

    There was a lot of laughter in this programme. Sometimes it is hard to see the difference between nervous laughter and that of someone who is not quite as bad as they say but appearing on television. I am sure that we are just not seeing everything.

    The treatment on the beach

    This time the Speakmans opted to treat their client on a beach. It did look similar to the place they took her earlier before the family group mediation meeting. I am sure that these took place at different times although it did look like we were seeing something filmed out of sequence because of television constraints.

    The film Jaws seems to have had quite an effect on Danni. Hollywood may have a lot to anser for!

    If you would like help with any fear or phobia then you can email me on [email protected] or call me on 07980 233160

    No one needs to live with a fear or phobia ,you can let go. Just ask for help