phobia

Three children celebrating a birthday with cake and balloons.

Are You Ready For Shark Week?

Written by: Debbie

It’s Shark Week! Discovery Channel is hosting the annual week of (mis)information about sharks. Don’t get me wrong, there is legitimate information shared, but unfortunately there is also a lot of myth that is shared. This disappoints marine biologists like Ellen Prager. To quote an article posted on npr.org, “Ellen Prager, a marine scientist who has taught at the University of Miami and writes books for children about sharks, says she and her colleagues have a list of things that drive them crazy about Shark Week, such as the emphasis on sharks attacking people and feeding frenzies.”

I too, have a concern. While I am not a shark expert and I do have a healthy respect for sharks, I am of the opinion that the media will forgo fact for the sake of ratings on many occasions. This feeds into fears and phobias. Recent media reports of shark attacks along the coast of North Carolina and Florida have everyone believing that we are in danger practically as we park in the beach parking lots.

About a year ago I was walking along the causeway with a friend when we looked down from a bridge into the waters below. There were sharks swimming around and fishermen on shore trying to catch them. I found this fascinating. My friend couldn’t get away fast enough. Even from this safe distance, she was afraid. Now, unless you believe the ridiculousness of the Sharknado movies, it’s obvious that the sharks were not going to rise up out of the waters, fly above a bridge and bite us. That did not make her reaction any less real to her. The sight of those creatures started her pulse racing more than the fast pace of our walk ever did.

I understand completely how that feels. In the past I had a phobic reaction to snakes as a result of an unfortunate encounter I had with a rattle snake while on a school camping trip. I held onto the sensations and fears for almost 20 years. It wasn’t until I realized how that phobia was holding me back that I was even willing to address it. I offered to help my friend with her shark phobia, but for now, she is not ready to release it.

The problem with holding on to fears that are not rational is that it can lead us to make decisions that are bad for us. For example, a fear of flying can greatly affect a person’s ability to perform their job if air travel is required, the same with fear of driving. I have worked with people who feared public speaking. Imagine that fear being so great that a simple elevator speech in a networking group becomes too much? I had a client who was so phobic about elevators he had to turn down a promotion because it meant he would have to climb 15 flights of stairs. After our working together, he was able to not only take the elevator, he could take the promotion!

If you watch Shark Week…

If you watch Shark Week and all the hype, enjoy. Remember to check facts, to keep aware of the difference between reality and fiction. If there is anything that seems to cause an intense reaction in you, breathe deeply though it. Should you have any phobias that are holding you back, now might be the time to eliminate those sharks from the murky waters of your deeper mind and begin to live freely again.

A glass filled with ice cubes held up indoors.

Overcoming Phobias

Written by: Debbie

I was recently asked if hypnosis could help one overcome a phobia of spiders. This individual had tried to do some searching online, but only came up with sites of hypnotists who included pictures of the spiders! Really, this is how you help someone? By scaring them off with visuals? Funny, that wasn’t a part of my training.

Hypnosis does help with fears and phobias. It is how I overcame a phobia of snakes.

What is a phobia?

First of all, let’s define what a phobia is. According to the Mayo Clinic website:

A phobia is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that poses little real danger but provokes anxiety and avoidance. Unlike the brief anxiety most people feel when they give a speech or take a test, a phobia is long lasting, causes intense physical and psychological reactions, and can affect your ability to function normally at work or in social settings.

So, while phobias may not post a real threat to one’s safety, they can create a lot of havoc in one’s life. I have worked with many people who have phobias. Often they are embarrassed by their fears. What has happened is that in meaning to help; people tell them all the logical reasons that their phobia is wrong. The problem with that is that if in fact it was just logic, they would already be over it. The first thing I try to express to my client is that they are not crazy or all that different. In fact, most people have some form of “irrational behavior”. I mean really, is it all that rational for a ball player to have to put on his right sock and right shoe before his left sock and left shoe in order not to jinx a game? Is it rational that if things don’t go perfectly, we decide we are a failure? Yet, people have irrational thoughts and behaviors every day.

How to handle phobias?

Once the individual realizes that they don’t need to be embarrassed, we work on relaxation techniques. Deep breathing and muscle relaxation will help one understand that they are in control of their body, not the panic attack. It gives them a renewed sense of self control and a method to use during stressful situations. From there we can begin to challenge the negative thoughts. First by putting them into a category, such as fortune telling (the spider is going to crawl on me and bite me), over generalizing (once a dog bit me, so all dogs will now bite me) or catastrophizing (the person next to me coughed, they probably have Ebola and now I will too).

From there we work the “magic” of trance. It is during this time that we can imagine being in the presence of whatever causes the phobic reaction as calm and in control as if we were enjoying a day at the beach (or park if you are phobic of water). Giving the person a physical reminder of being calm and in control such as touching their ring finger is a useful tool for after the session as well.

Not all sessions go exactly the way I have described above, each session is as different as the person in the chair. What is a common thread however is that when leaving my office there is a much calmer and happier person than the one that first arrived.

Walt Disney’s Secret Fear (And What It Teaches Us About Overcoming Phobias)

Written by: Debbie

Why Do We Sometimes Celebrate Fear?

Did you know that Walt Disney reportedly had a surprising fear?

Keep reading — it might change how you think about your own.

Halloween is one of the few times each year when we intentionally celebrate fear. We build haunted houses, tell ghost stories, and watch zombie movies. For many people, that controlled rush of adrenaline feels thrilling.

In fact, some individuals even chase that sensation repeatedly.

However, what about the people who don’t enjoy fear at all? What about those who feel consumed by it?

That kind of fear is different.

When Fear Helps — And When It Hurts

Fear can serve an important purpose. If a hungry tiger stands nearby, fear activates the fight-or-flight response and prepares the body to survive. In that situation, fear protects you.

Yet most modern fears are not life-or-death threats.

Instead, they involve flying, public speaking, medical procedures, driving, or social situations. Although these fears feel intense, they rarely signal true danger.

Over time, unmanaged fear can begin to limit life. When fear becomes persistent and overwhelming, it may develop into a phobia. At that point, willpower alone often isn’t enough.

That’s when professional support — including tools such as hypnosis — can help retrain the mind and calm the nervous system.

Practical Steps for Overcoming Fear

While deeper phobias may require professional guidance, many fears respond well to simple awareness practices.

1. Cultivate Awareness

First, acknowledge that fear limits your enjoyment of life. Many people become so accustomed to anxious thoughts that they stop noticing how much control fear has taken.

2. Identify the Specific Fear

Next, clarify what you’re actually afraid of. What images appear in your mind? What story plays out in those mental scenes? Often, fear grows stronger when left undefined.

3. Become Curious

Rather than fighting the fear immediately, observe it. Where do you feel it in your body? What thoughts fuel it? How do you react when it appears?

Curiosity reduces intensity.

4. Use Your Breath

Then, slow your breathing. Inhale calm. Exhale tension. As you breathe, imagine the fear shrinking or even turning into a cartoon version of itself. Visualization shifts emotional charge.

5. Change the Emotional Tone

You might even print or draw an image that represents your fear. Humor can reduce power. When you treat fear as something smaller than you, your nervous system begins to recalibrate.

6. Imagine Life Without the Fear

Finally, picture yourself free from it. How would you stand? Speak? Move? Think? Practicing that version of yourself builds new neural pathways.

Walt Disney’s Surprising Phobia

Reports suggest that Walt Disney struggled with musophobia — a fear of mice.

Ironically, he went on to create Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and an entire entertainment empire built around animated mice.

Whether or not that creative act consciously addressed his fear, the symbolism is powerful. By transforming something frightening into something playful, he shifted its meaning.

He turned fear into imagination.

When Fear Becomes a Phobia

If your fear has crossed into phobia territory, you already know it isn’t logical. You may understand intellectually that you are safe, yet your body reacts as if danger is imminent.

At that stage, professional help can make a meaningful difference.

Hypnosis, in particular, helps rewire fear responses by working directly with the subconscious patterns that fuel them. Rather than forcing yourself to “be brave,” hypnosis can help you feel naturally calmer and more confident.

Releasing Fear and Living Fully

Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said,

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Perhaps it’s time to release fear and reclaim your sense of freedom.

You don’t have to remain controlled by it.

Fear can warn you — but it does not have to rule you.