Overcome Limiting Fears & Take Action
Fear is a natural emotion that everyone experiences from time to time. It comes in two forms. Physical fears are direct, objective, and realistic. They arise in response to specific physical dangers or threats that you perceive in your immediate external environment. Psychological fears are indirect, subjective, and symbolic. They arise from your thinking about and anticipation of how you will feel and the outcomes you expect from a possible activity, situation, or event.
Fear can range in intensity from low-level fear characterized by vague anxiety, concern, or nervousness to high-level fear when sensing an acutely dangerous and threatening situation.
Ten common physical fears include fear of birds, snakes, spiders, dogs, cats, mice, elevators, escalators, closets, and clowns.
Some common activity-related psychological fears include fear of public speaking, public singing, flying, driving, test-taking, sky diving, ocean cruising, rock climbing, bungee jumping, and ice skating.
Fear can have a powerful inhibiting impact on our lives that is mostly hidden from our conscious awareness. It may disguise itself as self-doubt, insecurity, lack of confidence, shyness, inhibition, hesitation, procrastination, and others.
The problem in fear is not fear itself but our response. If you routinely avoid or run from your fears you may be limiting your life in important ways:
Never trying anything new because you don’t want to feel incompetent, foolish, or silly
Never fully committing to an effort so you have an excuse that you ‘could have succeeded if you had really tried’
Avoiding situations you can’t control for fear of being out of control
Holding yourself back from success for fear that success will put you in danger
Avoiding expressing true feelings for fear of discomfort, rejection, loss of connection
Labeling yourself (I can’t because I am...) as a justification that stops you from activities that you want or need to do
Wherever your fear arises from, there is more to overcoming fear than simply willing it away. The key to overcoming life-limiting fears is learning to use the power of your subconscious mind to change the way you respond to fearful thoughts, activities, and situations.
In hypnotherapy, we first take a look at where this fear began. Maybe it was a personal childhood trauma or an event you experienced as an adult. Maybe it was fear you learned from observing the experience of a parent, teacher, or other influential people in your life. In any case, re-examining the event in a calm, non-judgmental environment can be a positive beginning.
There are several techniques that can be used to treat fears. TimeLine Therapy can help you travel back in time to examine the fear from your current perspective. Sometimes that can be enough to help you realize that the fear is no longer needed or relevant to your life and you are able to let it go.
Another technique is systematic desensitization. You enter your deeply relaxed state (hypnosis), attempt to access the fear, let it pass, and then come back to your relaxed state. We repeat this exercise until you find it difficult or impossible to access your fear. We can also use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT or Tapping) to help you let go of fear.
After you have explored your fear and decided that it is time to let go of that fear, we write affirmations that cement in those positive thoughts. “I love to fly.” “I feel safe when driving.” You will also receive your own copy of my book and journal, The Power In Affirmations. Clients use this as part of their daily practice to reinforce their personal affirmations for positive change and track progress toward their goals.
Ongoing fear of any kind can be debilitating and life-limiting. If your fear becomes overwhelming, hypnotherapy can help. I will listen, ask questions, and help you get information and gain an understanding of your fears. We will develop transformative affirmations that focus on the positive outcome that you desire. You will be motivated and empowered to take action on your desired new behaviors with confidence and growing competence as you enjoy more freedom and less fear holding you back or slowing you down.
Hypnotherapy can help you to overcome fears that are holding you back and take the actions that move you forward toward your goals.