Do you have a phobia? If you do try and imagine facing that phobia right now. It could be a spider, it may be a glove or it could be walking under a bridge. Whatever it is try and picture it right now and focus on how it makes you feel.
This little exercise goes to prove a few of things. Firstly if you now feel shaken and disturbed then you almost definitely have a phobia. Secondly it goes to show how powerful the mind is, just from thinking about your phobia it elicited a reaction similar to if your phobia was actually right there with you now. Most importantly though it also goes to show that your phobia can be eased and even cured through the use of self hypnosis.
Perhaps before we look into how self hypnosis can cure phobias we should define exactly what a phobia is and indeed what self hypnosis is.
A phobia is a certain type of anxiety disorder. Essentially it is a mild mental illness, mild in the fact that it is unlikely that a phobia will cause you to harm yourself or others — although such cases have been documented. For example in England a year or so ago a young adult ran off a cliff to escape a loose dog. The word "phobia" itself comes from the Greek word phobos meaning morbid fear.
You might believe that there’s no reason for your phobia but there almost certainly will be. It could be that you share your phobia with a parent and it was passed onto you by seeing how your parent reacted to, lets say, a spider in total fear. Witnessing this sort of reaction early in life can shock your mind and trigger a defence mechanism, making you subconsciously believe that spiders are incredibly dangerous and therefore should be morbidly feared. Alternatively you may have encountered an aggressive dog when you were younger which has resulted in a phobia.
Self hypnosis is a self induced form of hypnosis and is a versatile method of changing your mindset. This make self hypnosis very helpful in overcoming phobias, quitting smoking, losing weight and aiding many more problems. Hypnosis" also comes from the Greek language, specifically the word hypnos meaning sleep. This name however is quite inaccurate as hypnosis is actually a heightened state of attention.
So how can you use self hypnosis to overcome your phobia?
There are typically two methods of using self hypnosis that can be used to cure phobias. If you have experience with self hypnosis then you may wish to write yourself a hypnotic script. In this script you should induce a hypnotic state as usual, and while you are in this relaxed state take the index and middle finger of your right hand and gently tap them on the top of your left hand, repeating to yourself the key phrase "I am completely relaxed". At this point you should be deeply relaxed. Then you will want to introduce an image of your phobia into yo ur mind’s eye while still tapping your fingers onto your hand and repeating the key phrase. You should find now that the image of your phobia no longer elicits the fearful reaction it once did. This is because your mind now associates the image with relaxation. When you feel mentally ready you may also wish to face your fear in person, you can still use the self hypnosis script above to keep yourself relaxed should you feel yourself start to panic.
If you don’t have previous experience with self hypnosis or you’d just prefer an easier method then you may wish to try a reputable online hypnosis resource which sells phobia hypnosis mp3s. This may not sound much like self hypnosis to have a hypnotherapist hypnotizing you but in reality all hypnosis is self hypnosis. Just think of the hypnotherapist as your own personal guide to self hypnosis. This way not only can you cure your phobia but you will also learn how to perform self hypnosis for yourself in the future from the way the hypnotherapist conducts the session.
Self hypnosis is a vital life skill and one that everyone should learn.