Stop Fear of Flying With Hypnosis
Are vacation plans up in the air because you're afraid to fly? Is fear of flying a career barrier? Has fear of flying kept you from visiting loved ones? Don’t worry. You are not alone. The number of people who report fear of flying has doubled since the September 11th suicide hijackings. But hypnosis can help.
To get started, ask yourself:
What are you really afraid of?
Most people who are truly phobic
couldn't care less about terrorist takeovers.
Interestingly only 6% of people believe flying
is unsafe (Boeing 1980 study). Yet close to 30%
(5 times
as many) admit to being afraid of flying.
The vast majority of fear of flying is
irrational. The passenger
The truth is that most people think airplanes
are back
to being the safest way to travel. In 2010 there
were no fatalities in all domestic flights.
Zero. Compare this to car accident statistics.
If you accept this and yet are still terrified,
then you can work on panic as an emotional
problem rather than as
a realistic response to the risks attached to
flight.
How
hypnosis can help you quit
the Fearful Flying Club
If the problem seems too much for you to
handle, I would
suggest you schedule your first hypnosis session
as soon before
your flight as possible. I approach fear of
flying the
same way I treat any fear. First I probe for the
root cause of
the issue. Often there is a distinct origination
point that may have little or nothing to do with
flying. If this is found I help the client
hypnotically to reframe it in such a way that it
no longer applies
to flying. The next step is to desensitize the
fear. You will be guided through an imaginary
flight from packing to arriving. You will be
directed to gently experience a toned down
version of your fear and
to allow it to disappear and then to associate
feelings of enjoyment and relaxation while
flying. Other techniques include time
compression,
distraction/dissociation and somnambulism. In
time compression,
you are conditioned to experience the flight as
very short so it seems
to be “over almost as soon as they leave the
gate.”
The following is a list of
additional steps you can take right now to ease
your anxieties.
Fearless Flying Tips
· Arrive
at the airport early. You will be more relaxed
overall and
by checking in early you may have
your choice of seats.
· Ask
to visit the cockpit.
· Introduce
yourself to the pilot and crew.
· Request
a seat near the front where you will be less
aware of any turbulence
· Bring
a book, magazines, a Walkman with relaxing
tapes, or crossword puzzles. Don’t plan to just
sit there with nothing to do but worry.
·
Schedule non-stop flights whenever possible.
Minimizing the
number of take offs and landings AND waiting on the
ground between take offs will reduce your
overall anxiety.
·
Avoid smaller planes and propeller planes till
you are more
comfortable. They are as safe as the larger ones but
fearful flyers often feel safer in a bigger
aircraft.
·
Eat nutritiously the day of the flight and cut
back on caffeine.
·
Practice visualizing your flight and arriving at
your destination safely.
Trying to put the flight out of your mind
until you are onboard may seem like a good
idea. But it isn’t. The more emotional/mental
preparation you can do before hand the better.
The last thing
you want is to suddenly “find yourself”
on a plane
without having processed your anxiety
beforehand.
· Ask
for a aisle seat, especially if you feel any
claustrophobia. An aisle seat will let you
easily get up and move around rather than feel
penned in by other passengers.
Dear John,
I wanted to let you know how my trip, including
the
plane ride, went on November 25th.
I did
panic for 10 minutes when we left Boston to
Miami, but the
flight from Miami to Turks and Caicos
was wonderful! I didn't even have the
opportunity to listen to the cd's. I
simply repeated the mantra you taught me and it
worked beautifully. I'm not sure I'll ever be
completely comfortable
flying, but this was such a huge
change that my family no longer dread mentioning
"flying" around me. We are planning a trip
to the Grand Canyon for next August! Thank you
again for encouraging me to conquer this
fear...I don't think I could have done it
without your
help!
L.P. Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Dear John,
Thank you for helping me eliminate my
fear of flying.
The flight back home was nothing like the one
over to the states which I'd have to describe as
extremely uncomfortable in every way possible.
As you know, I was NOT looking forward to the
flight home. Discovering that I "inherited" my
little phobia about airplane travel from my
mother was an eye-opener and seemed to simply
dissolve away the fear. The results
exceeded my expectations.
D.M. Warwick, Rhode Island
I am back!!!...I think that my fear of flying dissappeared at least 75%, still I have respect for that animal in the sky...lol, my experience coming back was amazing...I handle every second of my flight very well...there was a point that i wanted some turbulence to test myself...no shaking, comfortable, but my next step is enjoying it, that is my goal. In the past just the thought of enjoying it seemed impossible, but now I am amaze that that may happen sometime in my life. Still I took some medication to calm my nerves...but there was a possibility that I didn't really need it...things are going much better...probably I will go back in two months to have an amazing time there in the beach...thanks again, you beat professional that were working on these for years!!!...I will give you a call soon for our next step!
E.F., Central Falls, Rhode Island
Listed as a fear of
flying
referral resource by T.F. Green Airport
