A look at hypnosis for phobias, using the example of arachnophobia, or fear of spiders.

When I first became a Hypnotherapist I discovered that hypnosis is a topic that everyone has a view on. Even though not many people know much about it. Thanks to stage and TV acts, many people think it’s about clucking like a chicken, or dancing like Elvis. It’s not something that would inspire you to consider it to deal with your personal problems … unless perhaps you are an Elvis impersonator with stage fright!

Hypnosis for phobias

Most hypnotherapists work with a model of the mind that breaks down people’s thinking into two different parts. These are essentially what you know and what you feel.

What you know is based on logic, and sensible rational decisions and information. Your logical (or ‘conscious’) mind decides whether your socks match, and when it’s safe to cross a road.

The other part of your thinking is your emotional or ‘unconscious’ mind. This broadly does the kind of thinking that doesn’t require any logical or rational input. So, it’s a combination of things like memory, emotion, imagination, and dreaming. Plus functions like breathing and repetitive behaviour like habits, which we do automatically and without really deciding to do them.

The conscious (logical) and unconscious (emotional) parts of your mind have to get along together. And like two people riding a tandem, as long as they are going in the same direction everything is great. Problems come when they try to go in different directions. And when that happens, the emotional mind tends to win.

When your mind creates a memory, it doesn’t just remember facts about what happened. It remembers how you felt about what happened as well. Whenever anything else comes along that reminds you of that memory, it triggers off a kind of emotional feedback loop.

Little Miss M and that spider

And here’s where Miss Muffet comes in. There she was, sitting quietly on her tuffet, minding her own business and eating her curds and whey. Suddenly a spider came along and made her jump. The spider may just have been out for a walk and didn’t mean to frighten her, but from now on, every time Miss M is reminded of that event her mind will be on ‘red alert’ just waiting for something scary to happen. That’s most likely to be when she sees a spider. But it might also happen when she sits on her tuffet or eats her old favourite, curds and whey. She might find she can’t even think about doing those things without becoming really anxious.

Her logical conscious mind tells her this isn’t reasonable, and that it’s unlikely to happen again. But that doesn’t matter. She needs to persuade her emotional, unconscious mind that anxiety isn’t necessary every time she sits on the tuffet or eats curds and whey. Otherwise, she’ll continue to feel anxious when she does these things.

Most of the problems hypnotherapists deal with can be looked at in this way. You might know lots of logical reasons to stop smoking or lose weight, for example. But if you have emotional reasons to continue, you’ll do it.

When using hypnosis for phobias, your therapist can work directly with your unconscious mind. This helps you change that unhelpful feedback loop for one that’s more positive.

In Miss Muffet’s case, perhaps associating the tuffet or the meal with pleasant feelings instead of scary ones might do the trick. Or perhaps we’ll need to separate it from the time when she was two and her little brother dropped a spider in her crib. In either case, a well-trained hypnotherapist can help so she can enjoy her favourite meal out in the garden again.

The same sort of principle can be applied to a phobia of holes, a phobia of long words, or pretty much anything else. So if you have worries about spiders (or anything else) please email me for my free information sheet about using hypnotherapy with phobias, or ask about an appointment.

Author: Debbie Waller is a professional therapist, specialising in stress, anxiety and related issues, including gut-directed hypnotherapy to help with the symptoms of IBS. She also offers EMDR/Blast which is used for trauma, PTSD, phobias and OCD. For more information on any of these services, phone 01977 678593. 

Researcher: Rae Waller is an experienced researcher and writer with a special interest in mental health issues. Rae offers drafting, fact-checking, proofreading, and editing for anything from a leaflet to a website, a blog or a book, and can also provide diversity reading, especially for LGBTQ+ and autism-related issues. Please contact rae@debbiewaller.com for further information.