You just want to be able to book a flight and feel EXCITED and not FEARFUL. I understand
If you have developed a fear of flying, then you are certainly not alone. A recent article estimated that between 33% to 40% of people have some anxiety linked to flying. Hypnotherapy for fear of flying can be a very effective way to help relieve the stress associated with flying and give you back the confidence to calmly travel any distance by plane.
Perhaps you were a seasoned traveler and your anxiety is related to a specific event. It might be that you experienced bad turbulence on a flight, or were a passenger on a plane that had a difficult landing. This may now mean that you are experiencing an EMOTIONAL reaction each time you think about flying.
In this instance, you have developed a flying phobia (aerophobia). A series of hypnotherapy sessions can help you to overcome this response and enable you to feel calm when flying.
Hypnotherapy for fear of flying. How has my flying phobia developed?
A phobia can be described as an EXTREME, overwhelming, or debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, or feeling. When we experience a phobia, it can trigger an overwhelming physical and emotional response instantly engaging our fight/flight/ mode.
In simple terms, phobias are our brains’ way of trying to protect us. If you have for instance experienced severe turbulence then your brain will do all it can to try and stop you from putting yourself in this situation again. If your brain has perceived the situation to be so scary that it could endanger your life, then a little disaster movie has been lodged in a part of your brain responsible for memory.
Each time you think about flying your brain responds with fear. This will mean that your body temperature, heart rate, and breathing rate will rise as a result of the production of stress hormones, which can leave you feeling in a state of PANIC. We know this as your fight/flight response. Your body is preparing you to fight or flee from danger.
Thankfully it is possible to use hypnosis to safely and quickly remove this fear response so you can look forward to becoming a confident flyer again.
If you wish to find out more about phobias, please use the highlighted link.
It’s quick and EASY for you to overcome your fear of flying so you can LOOK FORWARD to flying again!
Hypnotherapy for flying – Why am I an anxious passenger?
It may well be that you don’t have a fear response to flying, in other words, you can board a plane, but you just don’t feel comfortable for the duration of the flight.
It’s quite common for people that I’ve worked with to have been able to bear flying short or familiar routes, but they have panicked at the thought of being in the air for an extended period of time. When they did reach their destination, especially if it was a short trip, they felt they couldn’t fully RELAX, as they knew that quite soon they would need to make the journey home.
Their general feelings of unease and a lack of confidence, however, stopped them from exploring new destinations more than a few hours away from them by air. They wanted to be able to fly long haul but they just couldn’t imagine being able to feel the way they did for hours on end.
Perhaps you too are finding your anxiety around flying RESTRICTIVE. Is it stopping you from visiting friends and relatives in different parts of the world? Is it stopping your family from holidaying in far-flung destinations?
Maybe you find that flying isn’t a pleasurable experience. You just want to be able to enjoy the experience of booking a family holiday knowing that you don’t need to feel DREAD building up inside you as your departure date approaches.
Imagine how DIFFERENT your life will be when you can board a plane with CONFIDENCE!
Where will you LOOK FORWARD to flying first?
Why have I created flying anxiety?
There can be a number of different reasons why flying is now causing you to be anxious which will be very individual to you. Usually, it will be related to negative experiences that you have had.
Perhaps your parents were anxious flyers and you have subconsciously learned that flying is to be feared. One client I worked with told me how as a child she and her mum would take a separate flight to her dad and brother in case there was a crash.
Another client’s fear of flying was not directly linked to flying itself. She recalled seeing armed Police at an airport and this unusual event was enough to signal to her brain that flying was dangerous.
Possibly you watched a disaster movie that involved a plane crash and now your subconscious brain has registered flying as something that is life-threatening.
Maybe a culmination of more minor events has meant that you have a gloomy perception of flying, so your thoughts around it are always negative. It’s not actually the flight that is causing your anxiety but the negative thoughts that you associate with it.
You can create anxiety as a one-off response to a life-threatening situation although it’s more common for it to build up over time. When this happens we tend to spend more time thinking from the primitive part of our brain, which thinks with EMOTION rather than logic.
The primitive brain – Your security guard
The primitive part of your brain is very negative and obsessional. It will always see things from the WORST possible perspective. It’s essentially looking out to protect you.
Our primitive brain very often gets things wrong though. It is said to have the emotional intelligence and rationale of a 4 to 5-year-old child. If you begin to think about driving in a negative way, then it will start to enter your thought processes more often.
Your primitive brain can then register flying as a threat. In its misguided attempt to keep you safe, the thought or act of flying can now be the focus for your anxiety and as it’s obsessional it will keep these worries playing out in your mind.
In its misguided attempt to keep you SAFE your primitive brain will see flying as a THREAT
It’s OBSESSIONAL so it will keep worries playing out in your mind!
How can I stop these anxious thoughts?
Solution focused hypnotherapy uses a combination of talking therapy and hypnosis to help you to achieve freedom from your anxiety around flying. It is very outcome-focused. There is no need for you to visit your past and try to analyse when or why your anxiety started. Our talk is focused is on how you want to feel, think and act in the FUTURE.
You may find that other aspects of your life are contributing factors to your flying anxiety. All negative thoughts will create anxiety. You might be worried about relationships and money or feel under pressure at work. All of these situations will contribute to you thinking from the primitive, emotional part of your brain as opposed to the intelligent, logical part.
How long will it take to stop being a nervous flyer and how much does hypnotherapy for flying anxiety cost?
It is not possible to give an exact time scale due to a number of factors, however, my previous clients have successfully used hypnotherapy for flying anxiety to overcome their fear within 6 sessions, with a vast majority achieving it in just 3. The difference will usually come down to how much other anxiety you currently have in your life.
You can find out the cost of hypnotherapy by using the highlighted link.
How can we work together?
One of the major benefits of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is that it can be carried out online via Zoom. So no matter where you are reading this blog from, using the internet means that I am able to use hypnotherapy to help you achieve freedom from your flying anxiety. As your therapy will take place in your home it may actually be more beneficial.
Being able to relax in a familiar environment may make it easier for you to enter a naturally relaxed trance state more quickly, making the therapy more effective than if you went to an unfamiliar therapy room.
I have used online hypnotherapy to help many people break free from the anxiety that was holding them back in life. If you would like to find out more about online hypnotherapy please use the highlighted link.
You too can feel RELAXED when you’re waiting for your flight!
Two happy, confident former clients ready to board a plane
How I helped Dee overcome her flying phobia
What is hypnosis and why is it such an effective flying anxiety treatment?
You will probably have heard of both the terms hypnosis and trance. They can really be thought of as being interchangeable, as they both describe a time when you experience a shift in your conscious awareness. It’s often described as being in a daydream. So when you gaze out of the window you have gone into trance.
You may recall a time when you’ve been in conversation with a friend and tried to remember the name of a film or book. No matter how hard you try when you are consciously thinking about it you can’t recall the name. It’s only later at home when you are daydreaming that the name pops into your head.
During the daydreaming state, your conscious and unconscious minds have worked together to give you the answer you were looking for. Hypnosis is a great PROBLEM-SOLVING state that we naturally go into many times during our day.
During hypnosis, when your brain is relaxed, it is more open to suggestions as the parts of your brain that create anxiety become less predominant. Your subconscious brain receives the message that you are a relaxed confident flyer and then works towards making this future a reality.
How does hypnosis for fear of flying anxiety work?
During the light trance state used in solution focused hypnotherapy, your brain will take the negative emotional edge of older memories. By mimicking your REM dream state, hypnosis helps you to relieve stress. It allows you to take control of your thoughts and think with logic and reason.
It also completely shuts off your supply of noradrenaline, one of your body’s main stress hormones. You, therefore, come back to full consciousness feeling calm and relaxed.
During hypnosis, our brain waves alter. When we are awake and especially if we are anxious our beta waves are predominant. However, when we are in a relaxed trance state this activity lessens. Our alpha and theta waves become more influential which enables us to visualise and then come up with solutions to our problems.
Just like we do when we are in our natural REM dream state. It’s no coincidence that most languages in the world have a version of our ‘sleep on it’ to describe the amazing ability of our dream state to solve our PROBLEMS.
Why I believe I’m the right person to help you
I have spent my working life helping people to reach their potential. I get enormous satisfaction from helping people to change and become the best version of themselves.
I am a qualified hypnotherapist and a member of a number of awarding bodies which means I have to adhere to strict codes of conduct and continue to develop myself professionally. You can be sure your mental health is in a safe empathetic pair of hands.
I am one of the most highly reviewed hypnotherapists in the UK because I get results for my clients.
Based on the RESULTS I achieve for my clients and the standard of my work I have won several nationally recognised awards.
How do I find out more about using hypnosis for flying anxiety?
If you would like to find out more about how together we can use hypnosis for fear of flying to enable you to fly with confidence, then please get in touch using this link, or if you are ready to book an initial consultation please use the button below.
I look forward to helping you fly with ease!
Think Better – Feel Better – Sleep Better
Author: Ian Murton HPD DSFH AfSFH Reg NCH Reg CNHC Reg is an award-winning Solution Focused Hypnotherapist running sessions via Zoom from his home on the Bedfordshire/ Hertfordshire border
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