Overcoming phobias

[julien]

Hello,

What is your insight on overcoming phobias ?

Personally, I suffer from Blood Phobia. I used to be scared by blood when I was a kid (it would make me feel like vomitting, sometimes) but I realized that it developped into a full-blown phobia recently (it started a few months ago when I fainted during a blood test; later on, it seemed to get even worse as I fainted before the blood test, but was very relaxed during the test itself, as if all my inner tension had vanished). I wouldn't like to follow some kind of creepy chemically-assisted therapy (like taking some medication before exposure to blood in order to feel more confident the following time) because I know those drugs get you dependent.

What's a decent solution ??? I have to undergo a blood test next week to renew my residence permit and I'm already freaking out

[Wanderer]

Why are you scared of blood?
Maybe you should cut yourself before the blood test and try and get use o the sight of blood. It might work... If not I'm sure there are websites online which could help. You could try giving blood, it feels great and even if you feint you'll have seen blood again.
Persistance may well be the key.

[ReallyGoodIdeas]

Hey Julien,

EFT is perfect for phobias. I've dealt with a couple of phobias myself with, a problem with dead animals, and heights. Check my homepage for a beginners guide and have a go! Also read up on the many posts on EFT in this forum. No needles or drugs this way! PM me if you need more info!

Joy to you
Hazel

[msd]

Originally Posted by ReallyGoodIdeas

Hey Julien,

EFT is perfect for phobias. I've dealt with a couple of phobias myself with, a problem with dead animals, and heights. Check my homepage for a beginners guide and have a go! Also read up on the many posts on EFT in this forum. No needles or drugs this way! PM me if you need more info!

Joy to you
Hazel

LOL ReallyGoodIdeas, I see that you swear by EFT just like I do. It's amazing how big of a difference it made and continues to make in my life. So it's always the first thing that I recommend to people, though some of my friends make fun of how ridiculous it looks. And that used to hurt, until I got the brilliant idea to EFT those feelings into oblivion. Anyways, Let me stop hijacking this thread. I feel like an EFT spokesman already

[Athena]

can also try working with a hypnotherapist.


good luck!

[AndyMartin]

Desensitization therapy has a strong track record, but my understanding is it's most effective in a controlled environment, so it might not do you good to just start exposing yourself to the fear.

EFT is supposed to be very effective for this, but it requires precise and comprehensive target phrasing, so you might need some help there as well.

Beginning to understand fear as living outside the present moment and instead living in a moment projected from fears and memories. Total acceptance of the present moment, complete experience of the fear--rejection of neither of these is key. You can overcome any fear by simply letting it be. Don't let your thoughts get wound up in it. Instead, just watch it. Watch how the fear creeps inside your mind and starts stirring up your emotions. Don't suppress either. Try to quiet your mind. If you can evoke the phobic response by visualizing blood, then you can practice this very easily. Just sit down in a relaxed environment, evoke the phobia, then let it settle around you without identifying yourself with the experience. It's a subtle turn of awareness, but when you find the switch you can apply it to any sort of fear.

Best of luck!
Andy

[Brutha]

Another way would be the NLP Phobia Cure either by a professional NLP Practictioner or via a article in the internet.

[rossio]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Another way would be the NLP Phobia Cure either by a professional NLP Practictioner or via a article in the internet.

Indeed - try doing the Swish pattern (heard it called lots of other things too). I think I first read about this in a Tony Robbins book (probably Awaken...) - but here is a good explanation:

The Swish Pattern

I have used this exercise for loads of things, from cutting out certain foods to helping me overcome my fear of public speaking.

It is surprisingly effective!

Good luck!
Ross

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by rossio

Indeed - try doing the Swish pattern (heard it called lots of other things too). I think I first read about this in a Tony Robbins book (probably Awaken...) - but here is a good explanation:

The Swish Pattern

I have used this exercise for loads of things, from cutting out certain foods to helping me overcome my fear of public speaking.

It is surprisingly effective!

Good luck!
Ross

The NLP fast phobia cure is a different process from the swish pattern, I forget which books you can find it in but I'll look it up for you later at home.

As someone who's coached and seen hundreds of people go through the NLP fast phobia cure, I'd have to tell you it works for some, and not for others. I've seen it help people overcome phobias of heights, cockroaches and snakes, but nothing for others.

That's why I'd recommend working one-on-one with a (competent!) NLP practitioner if you want to go that route, because she be flexible and mix and match strategies to help you overcome your fears.

[ReallyGoodIdeas]

Originally Posted by AndyMartin

EFT is supposed to be very effective for this, but it requires precise and comprehensive target phrasing, so you might need some help there as well.

Well, I find (I admit I teach EFT these days, I love it so much) that the words come to you if you still your mind a bit and start doing it. That's the good thing, EFT helps you figure out what's in behind what you start with.

msd: I loved it so much I left work to start teaching it! I used to be scared about being self-employed but I did EFT on it! :-)

See my first phobia cure on myself for a bit of detail about how it works:
EFT Newcomer takes care of her own phobia of dead animals

Julien - Email me if you try and you get stuck. I can help with the words. Or check out the other posts here on EFT.

Good luck
Hazel

[WISDOM N POWER]

Hello!

This is my first post and the post on Overcoming Phobias caught my eye.

Just last night I was reading from a book by Dr. Joseph Murphy called The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. The very chapter I completed spoke about mastering fears of all kinds. If I may, I'd like to share what it said so that all who read it may benefit:

"Man is born woth only two fears, the fear of falling and the fear of loud noise. All other fears were given to you by parents, relatives, teachers, and all those who influenced your early years. Abnormal fear takes place when one let's his imagination run wild.

Here is a MASTER TECHNIQUE FOR OVERCOMING ANY PARTICULAR FEAR:

Suppose you are afraid of swimming. Begin now to sit still for five minutes three or four times a day, and imagine you are swimming. Actually, you are swimming in your mind. It is a subjective experience. Mentally you have projected yourself into the water. You feel the chill of the water and the movement of your arms and legs. It is all real, vivid, and a joyous activity of the mind. It is not idle daydreaming, for you know that what you are experiencing in your imagination will be developed in your subconscious mind. Then you will be compelled to express the image and likeness of the picture yu impressed on your deeper mind. This is the LAW of the subconscious. Knowing that as you continue to this mentally, you will do it physically with ease & comfort.

Fear is a thought in your mind, and is not real. You/We are afraid of your/our own thoughts. When you affirm positively that you are going to master your fears, and you come to a definite decision in your conscious mind, you release the POWER of the SUBCONSCIOUS, which flows in response to the nature of your thought. (This applies to ANYTHING WE EVER THINK - what we think about with any level of emotion, we bring upon ourselves and into our life experience. It cannot help but happen to us. It is the LAW of the UNIVERSE. It is obedient to our every thought & feeling).

As with your fear of blood, you are creating frightful images in your mind regarding blood. Substitute those images with images in which you are calm, powerful, peaceful, knowing that you can never be harmed by anything you do not first mentally allow to harm you.

You are already more powerful than you realize - you simply have to turn negative power around and use that power for your good and personal peace.

I hope that helps.

If you are interested in taking in some truly wise & powerful info in addition to what Steve Pavlina has here on his site, you are free to visit:
Applying the Law of Attraction Free Ebook Directory. You will never be the same again once you absorb this wisdom waiting for you. I personally suggest reading YOUR INVISIBLE POWER first (the last book on the list).

DiEdra

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Alvin

The NLP fast phobia cure is a different process from the swish pattern, I forget which books you can find it in but I'll look it up for you later at home.

As someone who's coached and seen hundreds of people go through the NLP fast phobia cure, I'd have to tell you it works for some, and not for others. I've seen it help people overcome phobias of heights, cockroaches and snakes, but nothing for others.

That's why I'd recommend working one-on-one with a (competent!) NLP practitioner if you want to go that route, because she be flexible and mix and match strategies to help you overcome your fears.

You can find the NLP fast phobia cure in NLP: The New Technology. There might be others but I don't have them at the moment.

[rossio]

Hey Alvin

Cheers for the pointer. I actually have this book so I will have to look it up tonight!

Have a great day
Ross