Overcome a Fear of Flying with Hypnosis

What is Fear of Flying?

The Fear of flying, also known as aviophobia or aerophobia, is when you are frightened of being on a plane while in flight, but can also include the time leading up to going to the airport. This common fear/phobia can hold people back, stopping them from travelling, seeing the world and even connecting with loved ones.  

Hypnotherapy for fear of flying can help

A popular treatment method for fear of flying is hypnosis or hypnotherapy, which helps you connect your subconscious. The goal is to change your thoughts and behaviors associated with flying, making the journey a more positive experience. Fear of flying is one of the most common fears or phobias, with an estimated 1 in 10 people experiencing flight anxiety or even panic. To those who do not experience the anxiety, this may seem like an irrational fear, but our minds will create feelings of anxiety when it believes we are in danger. Protecting ourselves is the primary function of our subconscious mind, so if we see something as a threat, the fight/flight part of our mind will automatically take actions to prevent it. This is where hypnotherapy comes in. During hypnosis, we help you change the negative associations you have with flying and replace them with positive associations, allowing you to be more comfortable with the entire experience.  

Living with a fear of flying  

Having a fear of flying can often interfere with vacations and or business trips. This can lead to people avoiding career paths, holidays or vacations that involve travel. There are many aspects of flying that can lead to feelings of fear or anxiety, including fear of having a panic attack, fearing the plane will go down, claustrophobia or being out of control. Other common symptoms include sweating, dry mouth, panic attacks, blurred vision, racing heartbeat and even nausea. This could be you or you may even have a completely different fear or symptom. The point is, these are real to you and if you're afraid of flying, anything from booking a vacation, arriving at an airport or even thinking about getting on a plane can trigger feelings of fear and anxiety. It’s important to note that not everyone who suffers from fear of flying will experience the same amount of anxiety. Experiences can range from mild anxiety before flying, to a state of terror which can prevent a person from getting on the plane. Everyone is different.

What causes the fear of flying?  

When we are born, there are only two fears we have. Fear of falling and fear of loud noises. Everything else, including the Fear of flying, is something we have learned. It may stem from childhood (maybe your parents had a similar fear) or you may have developed the fear after suffering a bad experience (such as bad turbulence or the plane making an rough landing).

From the time we are born until we are about 8 years old we learn, and the way we learn is through positive and negative association. We identify something and then we form a positive or negative association with it. For example, most kids when they're growing up like cakes and cookies right (Positives)? Well when I was a kid I didn't like vegetables (Negatives). So in this case, we would say negative associations to vegetables and positive associations to sweet stuff. As we continue to grow up, we form positive and negative associations about pretty much everything in our life and this becomes our life script. In this case, at some point or for some reason, you developed a fear of flying.Now, it's important to bear in mind that being afraid of flying may not only be a single fear or phobia, but could also stem from other fears and phobias, such as claustrophobia, fear of heights or agoraphobia. That being said, if you can successfully identify what triggers your fear or anxiety, you've taken the first step in overcoming it.  

Can you overcome fear of flying?  

Can you overcome fear of flying? Yes you can! Many of those who don't suffer from a fear of flying don't understand how it feels. They might try to reassure you, quoting statistics and personal experiences. But to those living with a fear of flying, these reassuring words are not always helpful. They may, in fact, do the opposite, making you feel like the fear is just weakness, and that is not the case.

With a fear of flying, one of the biggest factors is anticipatory anxiety; the fear experienced in anticipation of taking a flight. The good news is that with hypnosis I can help you access the subconscious mind and work to change the negative association you have, enabling you to overcome the fear of flying.

I want you to know that fear of flying can affect anyone and overcoming the fear of flying takes a lot of courage, but it is possible to overcome with hypnotherapy, and I can help.  

Hypnotherapy Process: What to Expect  

A popular treatment method for fear of flying is hypnotherapy, which connects you with the subconscious part of your mind. The goal is to change your thoughts and behaviors associated with flying, making it a more positive experience. Re-evaluating the reaction our subconscious mind creates can often help us to regain control over a fear and feel more at ease when anxious feelings arise. How do we do this? We use the power of suggestion and relaxation techniques to help you feel safe and become more relaxed, calm and in control of your feelings and fears.

During your initial consultation, the hypnotherapist will spend time getting to know you and you’ll talk about the What, When’s and Where’s regarding your fear of flying and when finished, if you’re ready, book your first session.

On the day of your first session, I will get you to a state of deep relaxation using hypnosis, but I want you to know that you are in complete control during the process and the hypnotherapist will use your own words, sentiments and expressions to create a customized script that focuses on the changes you want to make, allowing you to rewrite the negatives and transform them into positive beliefs and behaviors.

Change your mind and you'll change your life. What are you afraid of? 

David Klaproth is a clinically trained and certified hypnotherapist, with a degree in mind body psychology from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, College of Hypnotherapy, in Tarzana, California. He specializes in stress, anxiety, stop smoking, confidence and general self-improvement. He helps clients world wide online become happier, healthier and more productive, becoming the person they really want to be. For more information, visit http://www.KlaprothHypnosis.com