In this article you will learn how hypno-desensitization can help you confront a phobia without feeling totally terrified.
I will explain the psychological mechanism that makes it so effective and the origin of the technique.
It is a shame more people do not resolve their phobias because with hypno-desensitization it is a lot less traumatic than you may think.
It is understandable that people avoid facing their fears, after all why would you want to expose yourself to something that terrifies you? Yet, the more you avoid it, the more you strengthen the association between the stimulus (your phobia triggers) and response (how you react).
Please note I am talking about irrational fears that affect your day to day life, not things that a bit of healthy concern might actually be a good thing.
Hypno-desensitization is adapted from a behavioral therapy technique developed by the Behaviorist Joseph Wolpe.
Researchers discovered that phobias are learned, maladaptive responses, therefore new (more appropriate) responses could replace them by counter conditioning.
The technique known as systematic desensitization gradually exposed subjects to the stimulus whilst in a relaxed state, maintaining their exposure to the stimulus until any initial anxiety subsided.
The relaxed state meant it was difficult to actually experience high anxiety at the same time, a phenomena known as reciprocal inhibition.
Prior to the trance induction the Hypnotherapist takes a full case history, this serves many purposes including understanding the triggers and associations the Patient has created relating to the phobia.
The Therapist works with the Patient to create an Anxiety Hierarchy, a scale usually from 0-100, marking out increments of increased anxiety.
These increments usually 10%, 20% etc relate to imagined scenarios associated with the phobia.
Zero is where the Patient would not be anxious at all and a hundred is the absolute worst scenario where they would be totally terrified.
This scale is used by the Therapist to present the imagined scenes to the Patient starting at zero and working up through the hierarchy.
The advantage of adapting systematic desensitization to a hypnotherapeutic framework is that the relaxed state can be deeper and more readily controlled and the imagined scenes can be extremely vivid to the Patient.
At each stage in the hierarchy the Patient indicates as to when all anxiety has subsided and is OK to move on to the next level.
So long as the Patient is very relaxed and the increments are equally spaced, momentum is gained as the Patient learns it is possible to cope with each scene.
Sometimes however the Patient becomes anxious requiring further relaxation and then with permission the scene is represented.
The Therapist continues up through the hierarchy unless stalling once more.
If this occurs, usually the Therapist will drop back down to the previous level or end the presentations and regroup in another session, starting with the last successful scene.
The procedure is then repeated until the scene deemed 100% is completed.
This tried and trusted technique allows phobias to be faced without feeling terrified.
As this is the main reason Phobics tend to avoid addressing their phobia, hypno-desensitization should look a very attractive option to those motivated to treatment.
I will explain the psychological mechanism that makes it so effective and the origin of the technique.
It is a shame more people do not resolve their phobias because with hypno-desensitization it is a lot less traumatic than you may think.
It is understandable that people avoid facing their fears, after all why would you want to expose yourself to something that terrifies you? Yet, the more you avoid it, the more you strengthen the association between the stimulus (your phobia triggers) and response (how you react).
Please note I am talking about irrational fears that affect your day to day life, not things that a bit of healthy concern might actually be a good thing.
Hypno-desensitization is adapted from a behavioral therapy technique developed by the Behaviorist Joseph Wolpe.
Researchers discovered that phobias are learned, maladaptive responses, therefore new (more appropriate) responses could replace them by counter conditioning.
The technique known as systematic desensitization gradually exposed subjects to the stimulus whilst in a relaxed state, maintaining their exposure to the stimulus until any initial anxiety subsided.
The relaxed state meant it was difficult to actually experience high anxiety at the same time, a phenomena known as reciprocal inhibition.
Prior to the trance induction the Hypnotherapist takes a full case history, this serves many purposes including understanding the triggers and associations the Patient has created relating to the phobia.
The Therapist works with the Patient to create an Anxiety Hierarchy, a scale usually from 0-100, marking out increments of increased anxiety.
These increments usually 10%, 20% etc relate to imagined scenarios associated with the phobia.
Zero is where the Patient would not be anxious at all and a hundred is the absolute worst scenario where they would be totally terrified.
This scale is used by the Therapist to present the imagined scenes to the Patient starting at zero and working up through the hierarchy.
The advantage of adapting systematic desensitization to a hypnotherapeutic framework is that the relaxed state can be deeper and more readily controlled and the imagined scenes can be extremely vivid to the Patient.
At each stage in the hierarchy the Patient indicates as to when all anxiety has subsided and is OK to move on to the next level.
So long as the Patient is very relaxed and the increments are equally spaced, momentum is gained as the Patient learns it is possible to cope with each scene.
Sometimes however the Patient becomes anxious requiring further relaxation and then with permission the scene is represented.
The Therapist continues up through the hierarchy unless stalling once more.
If this occurs, usually the Therapist will drop back down to the previous level or end the presentations and regroup in another session, starting with the last successful scene.
The procedure is then repeated until the scene deemed 100% is completed.
This tried and trusted technique allows phobias to be faced without feeling terrified.
As this is the main reason Phobics tend to avoid addressing their phobia, hypno-desensitization should look a very attractive option to those motivated to treatment.
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