Fear and Phobia

Victor Tsan Homeopathic Physician Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Victor Tsan, CHP, is the founder of the Philadelphia Holistic Clinic. Victor Tsan began his medical career when he graduated with honors from the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau, Moldova, USSR in the spring of 1976. After this initial success, Victor pursued his first internship in Psychotherapy at 1st... more

Treatment for Phobias

Treatment for phobias always begins from a detailed diagnostic. It is very important to understand the severity of phobia, the environments that trigger episodes of phobia, and what is the most important – what was the initial factor that leads to phobia’s development. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can aid, specifically, a treatment called either desensitization therapy or direct exposure treatment. This strategy includes progressively increasing your exposure to things you are afraid of, at your very own rate, under controlled situations. As you are subjected to the things, you are taught to understand your fear with relaxation, breathing control, or other anxiety-reducing techniques. For short-term therapy of phobias, your doctor may prescribe an antianxiety medication. If the anxiety is faced only sometimes, as in a worry of flying, making use of medication can be limited.

Many people do not need treatment for phobias, and avoiding the object of their fear is enough to control the problem.

However, it is not always possible to avoid certain phobias, such as fear of flying. In that case, you may decide to seek professional help and advice to discover treatment options. Most phobias are treatable, but no single treatment works for all phobias. In some cases, a combination of several treatments may be recommended.

The main types of treatment for phobias are:

  1. Self-help techniques
  2. Talking treatments
  3. Pharmaceutical medicines

Verbal treatments for phobias, such as counseling, are often very effective in treating phobias. In particular, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness have proven to be very effective for treating phobias.

Thus, treatment for phobias usually includes a combination of psychotherapy and medications depending on the type of phobia.

A Specific Phobia

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, especially a procedure called desensitization therapy or exposure therapy, can help. This technique involves gradually increasing your exposure to what you fear, at your own pace, under controlled conditions. When you are exposed to the object, you learn to manage your fear through relaxation, breath control, or other anxiety-reducing strategies. For short-term treatment for phobia, your doctor may prescribe anti-anxiety medications. If the phobia is only intermittent, such as fear of flying, the use of medications can be restricted.

Social Anxiousness 

If your social phobia centers on one specific performance (as an example, offering a lecture or playing in a concert), your physician may suggest a medicine called a beta-blocker such as propranolol (Inderal). This medication can be taken simply prior to efficiency. It wets the physical effects of anxiety (battering heart or shivering fingers), however, typically does not affect the psychological intensity required for speaking or the physical mastery required for playing a tool. For even more generalized or long-lasting types of social fear, your physician might suggest an antidepressant, normally an SSRI (discerning serotonin reuptake prevention) such as sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), or fluoxetine (Prozac). If an SSRI is not effective, your medical professional might prescribe an alternate antidepressant or antianxiety drug. Cognitive-behavioral treatment likewise works well for many individuals with social fear, in both individuals as well as team setups.

Agoraphobia

The treatment for phobias for this particular condition is similar to the therapy for panic disorder. Medicine treatment consists of SSRI antidepressants, and also a variety of various other sorts of antidepressants, such as mirtazapine (Remeron), venlafaxine (Effexor), clomipramine (Anafranil), as well as imipramine (Tofranil). A medical professional may additionally suggest benzodiazepine antianxiety drugs, such as clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium), as well as lorazepam (Ativan). Psychotherapy is additionally useful, particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy.

What is a Phobia?

It can be best described as an irrational fear. It is frustrating because anyone with phobia knows there is no danger, but they can’t help other than act basing on the intensity of the fear. Phobia ranges widely; some people are scared of heights, dogs, deep water, or even enclosed rooms. This explains the word ‘irrational.’ While there might be significant dangers to some of these elements, in most cases, there is nothing and the individual knows. Phobia can make life difficult, especially if it something you cannot avoid daily. Most of us have a phobia; it is human nature. It is deep in the instinct.

Phobia and Fear – The Etiology of the Conditions

Phobia and fear are triggered by internal anxieties that are in connection with particular events that happened in our lives. Some of them are rational and can be understood because they actually have a purpose. In this category, we can mention the fear of heights, certain animals, etc. Other phobias seem to have no exact purpose and the best example here is that of people who fear clowns or balloons. What most people do not know is the fact that the intensity of a phobia increases with each recurrence. Hence, if the phobia is not dealt with, its strength increases, which leads to a bigger discomfort. One of the best remedies is represented by the techniques which are used in hypnotherapy. So, let`s see what types of phobia and fear does hypnotherapy deal with.

  • The natural environment phobias refer to the fear of heights, darkness, and a couple of natural phenomena like storms.
  • One of the most common phobias is related to animals. People often experience fear of snakes, dogs, spiders, and many more.
  • Blood phobias are linked to the fear of injuries, blood, or hospitals.
  • Another category is one known as situational phobias. Here we can mention fear of flying, of driving, or even fear of public speaking.

Phobias and Fears – Pathophysiology and Symptoms

Anyway, it does not matter what type of phobias and fears you suffer from. Phobias function in the same way regardless of their trigger. Moreover, these events that happen in someone's life tend to be irrational. This happens because up until a specific point that person did not fear a certain item or event. So, the goal of a hypnotherapy session is that of understanding the event that caused the appearance of the fear and help the patient in dealing with it.

One of the most popular symptoms of a phobia and fear is that of an intense feeling of anxiety experienced by the patient when he is forced to face that particular situation or thing. Among the symptoms, we can mention increased heartbeats, dizziness, trouble breathing, and even hot/cold flashes. The amygdala is responsible for all these symptoms due to the fact that it sends a signal to the brain that creates a fight-or-flight reaction.

Sources of Phobia

Typically, a phobia is a result of scary experiences. The experience can be direct or you only witnessed a frightening situation on someone else that deeply impacted your emotions. It is natural for a human to fear any kind of harm; it gets worse if anything you consider harmful gets close to you. The experience affects emotions, which is linked to instincts. This is why you find it hard to fight the phobia, it is deeply rooted.

Genetic and environmental factors can cause phobias. Children who have a close relative with an anxiety disorder are at risk for developing a phobia. Distressing events such as nearly drowning can bring on a phobia. Exposure to confined spaces, extreme heights, and animal or insect bites can all be sources of phobias.

All these are learned behaviors. The phobia is a result of a pattern of experiences. The good news is such acquired behaviors and modification of instincts can be undone. The brain does not permanently hold on to these experiences. Once you identify your type of phobia and the source, you can work on unlearning the behaviors thus freeing your emotions from the irrational fear.

Understanding the Cause of Fears and Phobias

All kinds of human fear are linked to a seeding event. It is the primary cause of phobia. However, we only identify and define the fear later in life once it manifests after an experience. It might be a negative occurrence several years ago that is manifesting today. The human brain is effective in keeping memories. Just like you can remember the interesting elements of childhood, the fearful encounters are also stored waiting to be triggered.

Therefore, a phobia is a result of a memory trigger out of negative experiences. It is a reaction after a combination of the negative experience in the past that matches a current event. The brain not only stores memories of events but also attaches emotions to the activities. If you panic at any point, there is a specific cause to it. If you take time to dig into your experiences you can find the exact cause.

An easy and effective way to pinpoint the cause is through hypnosis treatment for phobias.

Hypnosis Therapy for the Treatment of Phobias and Fear

Hypnosis therapy has two major ways in which help the patient with this irrational phobia and fear First of all, it helps you in breaking the association that is responsible for the recurrence of the fear. Secondly, it teaches you how to release a relaxed response when needed. Hence, the patient will regain a sense of control that was lost due to the anxiety.

In other words, hypnosis therapy aids in overcoming phobia and fear by simply teaching your mind to respond differently to a specific trigger. Remember that the methods used by a hypnotherapist may differ from one individual to another. This is the first sign you have stumbled upon someone that will treat you professionally. This happens because everyone is different and reacts in a particular manner to all sorts of impediments.

How Hypnosis Treatment for Phobias Works

Phobias work on a subconscious level. This means that no matter how much we tell ourselves that XYZ is not life-threatening, our minds and bodies still react with fear. The goal of hypnotherapy is to communicate with the subconscious and to change the way you feel and behave in relation to phobia. The process itself involves putting you in a very relaxed and hypnotic state. Your hypnotherapist will explain this and you will be in control at all times.

If you are not sure where your phobia came from, you can spend some time discovering the root of the phobia and remembering the event that triggered it (if any). Your therapist can then switch to using different techniques to help change your response. This will often involve you gradually and gently confronting your phobia while you are in a calm state.

Hypnosis treatment for phobias is a solution to almost every emotional and brain connected experience. You can manipulate or change the way you feel with hypnosis for phobias.

Here are some Tips for Hypnosis Treatment for Phobias

Find a quiet place. It can be a room or outdoors; any place you find quiet enough with no distractions is good enough. Either sit or lie down depending on your preference. The trick here is focusing on your breathing. You should find a stable point that you can feel your breath without any distraction. It is easier if you close your eyes.

Begin by breathing in slowly through the nose and out through the mouth. When you start, there is tension and your mind is distracted but with consistency and focus, you will focus after a few minutes. Try to be conscious of the inhalation and exhalation; it is the secret in hypnosis for fear. The breathing should be consistent until your mind relaxes. A quiet place will help you focus on your breathing pattern.

The next process is crucial. It is an imaginative stage. On this you can be creative but here is an example. Imagine you are in a theater room with a big screen with slideshows of your past events, especially when the seeding event took place. Focus on the screen and the seeding event; imagine you are watching and following the plot of the movie, in this case, your past life. Watching this for a while should show you the events and the root cause of your phobia.

There is a likelihood of anxiety and pressure in your mind. Try to maintain the breathing pattern and continue watching. Usually, the fear is out of vulnerability. You need to reassure yourself that it is safe and take control of your mind. Being in control of your breathing pattern means you are in control of your mind as well. Do not lose these two; they are fundamentals in hypnosis treatment for phobias. The main activity here is assuring yourself you are safe and continue watching.

Hypnotherapy for phobias works! Focus on the first time you feel the fear and continue breathing when you pinpoint the cause, continue watching and imagine releasing the problem away. And I would like to add one more thing about the most successful approach to treating your disorder. In today’s world, many states do not require any licensing for hypnosis practitioners. As a result, strangers in the medical field take 1-3 days of classes from the same strangers and immediately attend to practice this complicated and specific form of treatment. These people do not know the anatomy, physiology, and classification of the medical condition. They take the most problematic medical cases without understanding the mechanism of the disorder and very often miss severe illnesses that require professional medical attention and when their treatment appears to be ineffective it is too late to fix the problem.

That’s why we believe that hypnotherapy treatment should be performed by medical doctors trained in this field only.

Hypnotherapists with a real medical background can differentiate between acquired and organic disorders and apply a treatment the right way. The tandem between internal medicine practitioners and hypnotherapy is crucial.

Hypnosis Treatment for Phobias in Philadelphia

Hypnotherapy near me is the most popular search on Google today. When you are looking for hypnotherapy near me to treat medical conditions (depression, anxiety, insomnia, fears, etc.) you would like to find not just the best hypnotist, but the best hypnosis in the Philadelphia clinic. And don’t forget that a good hypnotherapist is first of all medical doctor, who understands the mechanism of medical conditions and knows how to apply the bests customized hypnosis techniques.

Philadelphia Hypnotherapy Clinic is the #1 treatment center in the tri-state area, directed by the medical doctor and internationally recognized hypnotherapist Victor Tsan. Trained by the best in the world hypnotherapist alive Johnathan Royle, Victor Tsan using the most advanced hypnotic techniques. As per Johnathan Royle, “Dr. Tsan has a special gift to hypnotize people. When he performs his sessions the patients’ life changes on a spot”.

Contact our clinic by calling (267) 403-3085 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Tsan and have your first session of hypnosis for fears and phobias.

At the Philadelphia Hypnotherapy Clinic, you will benefit from the best services available in this field. The sessions will feature two main parts. One of them is linked to a desensitization hierarchy, while the other is meant to teach the patient self-relaxation methods. So, with professional aid and proper hypnotherapy methods adapted to your particular phobia, you will be able to overcome it. You are not compelled to live with your fear.

You can start dealing with it by attending 5 to 8 hypnosis sessions. It will aid you in regaining control over your life, which will make you feel free from all the constraints you have felt before.