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The Hypnotherapy Centre
Tel: 01753 853124
Watergate House, Straight Road, Old Windsor, Berkshire
Company Registration No. 4772149
Spider & Other Animal Phobias
Arguably animal phobias are the most common of phobias, we all know somebody who is afraid of spiders (or birds, dogs, snakes, etc.). Many psychologists believe that we are born with certain fears, in order to improve our chances of survival; thus, for example, humans may have an innate fear of spiders because our ancestors were frequently encountered venomous. However, in the UK we don’t encounter potentially lethal spiders in the wild therefore what might have been a helpful fear in some circumstances serves no purpose in most peoples’s. It is also probable that we ‘learn’ our fears as a child from our parents or others to who we are close. Thus, a child may ‘learn’ from her mother’s behaviour that fear is an appropriate response to spiders (or other benign animals).
Fortunately it is possible to recondition inappropriate fear responses through a gentle and progressive exposure to the feared animal. Within hypnosis the client can achieve a level of calm to confront the feared animal in their imagination, to be followed by confrontation in the real world. However It is very important to understand that the therapist will never suddenly confront the client with the feared animal and that even imaginary exposure will take take place at the clients’ pace.
