Fears and Phobias
The difference between a fear and a phobia is the intensity of the emotional reaction attached to it. As an illustration, a strong dislike of dogs or other animals is a fear, when one experiences discomfort around them resulting in avoidance of dogs whenever possible.

A phobia manifests itself as an irrational, uncontrollable and intense fear that that produces an equally intense physical reaction. However, many fears and phobias do not bear an obvious connection to any known experience and that is where hypnoanalysis comes in. Every symptom has a cause, so my task is to uncover that cause and eradicate it for the treatment to be successful.
A phobia is an extreme fear of something that is not actually dangerous. The sufferer usually realises their fear is irrational and typically says 'I know it's silly, but…. They are well aware that there is no basis for such a crippling fear yet it persists in its grip on you.

The Roman medical writer Celsus first documented the word 'phobia' to describe 'morbid fears'. We now understand phobias as:
'an external actualisation of an internal anxiety'
A strong overwhelming emotion we feel inside, manifesting itself as an outward 'symptom'. Most phobias are not directly related to the cause of the emotion but are a symbolic representation.

How Phobias Develop
During our 'formative' years in childhood we experience many intense emotions, both pleasant and un-pleasant. Our lack of maturity and rational thought during this phase of our development makes our psyche 'lock up' those unpleasant and embarrassing emotions we encountered in a way of protecting us from not getting into that situation again.

Phobias are symbols of anxiety. The 'fear of flying' is a classic example of how symbolic phobias can be. Research shows that around 10 million people in the UK suffer from a fear of flying. This is extraordinary as virtually no one will have experienced a plane crash or even the repercussions of one. Our experience tells us that, like most phobias, the fear of flying is actually a fear of being 'out of control' of our lives. Not surprising considering one is stuck in an aluminium tube travelling at 400/500 miles per hour, 30,000 ft up with the doors locked and no exit.
The reality of the situation is that flying, per passenger mile, is dramatically safer than travelling by car, which we do regularly without hesitation. Our Psyche 'symbolises' this fear as being 'out of control' and projects this onto planes/flying for no logical reason.

Getting Rid of Phobias
Traditionally therapies enforce you to 'face your fear'. Whilst this may help in the short term, it can have a negative effect through the therapist focussing your attention on what you fear. The treatment of the 'trigger' (in this case flying) is only short term and does nothing to address the underlying issue of being out of control. We know phobias are driven by strong emotions; the only long-term solution is to address the emotional cause of the phobia. Only by thoroughly talking through the issues that caused it can that emotion be fully dissipated so it does not cause further problems … ever again. Other treatments simply mask the symptoms - anti-anxiety drugs, for example, may help but they do not remove the cause.
There are two types of phobia, direct and indirect. Both are indications of blocked emotions but their formation and subsequent treatment is different.

Direct Phobia (simple phobia)
Usually caused by a scary or frightening event, which locks in powerful emotions associated, with the event, which become anchored and linked to the memory of that event. When a similar event is experienced these powerful emotions automatically emerge and are re-experienced. With direct phobias suggestion therapy is most effective to remove the links between the fear and the focus of the fear to bring about a satisfactory result.

Indirect Phobia (complex phobia)
An indirect phobia does not have a single, direct and attributable cause. It is built up from anxieties generated over a length of time (usually starting from childhood). There is no direct, single attributable cause. This non-specific anxiety is projected onto an object or situation by the psyche, which will have some symbolic association to the original anxiety, but it will be unconsciously changed or distorted by the person. The resolution of indirect phobias is more complicated. To simply remove the projected fear would lead to the probable creation of a new and perhaps more debilitating phobia, or possibly the advent of more serious psychological conditions. This is because the inner anxiety, still looking for a vent, will simply project itself onto something else, known as symptom substitution. Hypnoanalysis is used with indirect phobias to successfully remove the internal anxiety and consequently the phobia, and indeed any other symptoms.

Top Phobias encountered by Hypnoanalysts

Emetophobia:
The fear of being sick. Sufferers are 95% women, and can also manifest itself as a fear of gagging or chocking Read more on Emetophobia .

Social Anxieties:
Stemming from the fear of being judged or being put on the spot. Read more on Social Phobias

Panic Attacks:
This is normally the result of being confronted with their phobias and takes the form of severe physical reactions such as:
.............· Heart rate quickening
.............· Sweating or trembling
.............· Shallow breathing
.............· Nauseas feeling
.............· Flushing
.............· Sudden feeling of anxiety or worry
.............· Chest tightening

Coprophobia;
A surprisingly common fear of soiling oneself in a public place. This fear spills over into anything to do with toilets including being overheard going to the toilet, public toilets, feeling unclean or dirty. The result is that one may never use public toilets, thereby always searching for other toilets. Routines may set in like continually visiting ones own toilet before going out and maybe the overuse of medications, which stop one going to the toilet. The list of phobias is vast, and for those who are interested here is an up to date list of phobias and their sources.