What is a phobia?

A phobia is an irrational fear of something. The reason why people with phobias have such an extreme response to a situation is that their fear is three-fold. The average person who finds themselves in a situation that they do not like, will experience the negative feelings attached to just that situation. Someone with a phobic response, experiences the fear that they are feeling in the moment, plus all the memories they have of the fear that they've experienced in the past PLUS the fear that they may feel in the future, should they find themselves having to deal with the situation again. This is why a phobic response is such an extreme response. The rational part of the brain knows that it is extreme, but cannot help in reducing the phobia. Hypnotherapy is an extremely effective way of dealing with fears and phobias as it re-programs the brain to experience different more positive emotions and feelings in that same situation in the future. It is very much like buying a new program for your computer and installing it. It now becomes available for use which means you can 'delete' the 'old' program.