A few years ago when I cured myself of my driving phobia using hypnotherapy, I asked for friends as volunteers who had phobias to try and see if hypnotherapy could help them too –Mia’s phobia was that of toadstools. Her first memories of the phobia developing were on holiday with her grandmother in the Wye Valley; as they walked up a path, some toadstools were in the way and for whatever reason, she freaked out. Even looking at a mushroom in a supermarket would bring on the same panic, and unfortunately for her, she also kept horses in a field covered in toadstool rings. She also did not “believe” in hypnotherapy, but as it had had such a dramatic effect on me, she was willing to “risk it”.
At the initial consultation, Mia learned about what was happening in her head regarding the irrational thoughts and the fight and flight response. She was given a CD to listen to each night and I asked her how she slept; she responded with: “fine no problems there”. I explained the benefits of good sleep and the role REM plays, and that hypnosis was like daydreaming. The explanation helped her understand the problem better and she reported that she didn’t feel quite as skeptical as she first had.
A few days later, I saw Mia whilst out for a walk and she reported that she was already feeling so much better. She had started to sleep really well and realised that previously she hadn’t been, reporting that she was mulling over things in her mind constantly so that often it would take up to an hour to go to sleep. Mia was also looking forward to the first session; the session itself was very relaxing, although she still couldn’t look at the toadstools as she walked across the field. Following the first session, an odd thing happened as she left my house – she felt her senses had been enhanced and could see colours more clearly and the flowers smelt stronger.
At work, she found she was being more effective and was finding it easier to remember to do things instead of writing them all down.
During the second session, I used the Rewind technique to scramble the memories of the first encounter and the daily encounters of toadstools when she cleaned out the horses. Mia’s riding was improving too; that Saturday she had gone out riding along a footpath, and where there were two bollards, a whole group of children with bikes were milling about as a number were trying to put a chain back on one of them. She took a deep breath and relaxed and the horse walked on by without a murmur – Mia was really impressed. Although she didn’t feel any different when she left this time – no bright colours and enhanced senses -, she had noticed some toadstools by the gate to the field at the weekend, and instead of having to look straight ahead, she stopped and made herself look down at them and was amazed she didn’t feel alarmed. The next day she even pointed them out to her husband who was surprised she’d even mentioned them, let alone pointed them out! At the last session, we went through how she’d like her day with the horses to be; being relaxed certainly was helping the horses as much as Mia herself. I asked if she’d like to see a photo of a mushroom but, at that time, she declined because she wanted to do it in her own time. However, the overall experience was worthwhile and Mia had gained a lot more than expected and was sleeping better.
About six weeks after the final session, she wrote to me and admitted that despite originally thinking it was all a load of “baloney” she was now completely converted to the merits of hypnotherapy.
Mia said she wasn’t a 100% over her fungi phobia but she can look at them in the field and in the supermarket now without freaking out. At no point does she think she’ll ever eat one!
However, the most dramatic difference has been in her riding. She’s always been a bit nervous cantering, as her horse is quite a handful sometimes, especially around pushbikes, but she went out on Saturday with a friend and led all the way past several push bikes and the horse didn’t bat an eyelid.
Her husband went out in the field with her and had a canter, she completed 3 dressage tests all involving canter and was placed 3rd and 6th! Since then, she’s been involved in shows, has bought a new horse and her instructor “can’t believe what she is seeing”!
For Mia, this aspect was probably the most important thing addressed during her therapy.
. She said: “…with the fungus, it is a pain in the arse – but I’ve lived with it so long it’s just a nuisance now. The horse riding is another thing altogether – it’s made such a difference to my life in a good way”.
Disclaimer:
Hypnotherapy is effective, however, results may vary and success in not guaranteed. Full client commitment is important. Please read FAQ’s for more details.
Penny Ling is a widely experienced hypnotherapist who has worked with everyone from top executives to stroke victims since 2007. She has been editor of Hypnotherapy Today Magazine and is a supervisor and mentor for members of the AfSFH and NCH.
Read Penny’s inspiring story “How I beat all my phobias”, or find out more how hypnotherapy could help your problem by downloading “How Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help with life”. Feel free to send Penny a message here.
