Sitting out the fear.

Published on 19/10/2005
News & Star - Carlisle,Cumbria,UK

The fear of flying (aviophobia) is a bit irrational – you’re more likely to be killed by a donkey or a falling coconut – but it is thought to affect about 10 million UK residents to a degree.

With me, just a touch of turbulence reduces me to sobs and wide-eyed panic. And the six major air disasters this summer haven’t helped.

Dr Richard Bradley is a clinical hypnotherapist, who has been practising for 14 years. He runs clinics at Carlisle, Dumfries and Corbridge. Most of his patients are aged between their late-teens to early 20s, but he has successfully treated people as young as seven and as old as 87.

He estimates that more than 90 per cent of his patients are cured through hypnotherapy: “Some go away after a couple of sessions and never experience their problem again. Others leave with a far more positive mental attitude. However it affects you, it always helps.”

Problems which can be eased range from phobias to panic attacks, depression, chronic pain and even childbirth.

Dr Bradley has treated the fear of flying hundreds of times and is confident he can help me.

We begin with a preliminary chat which allows Dr Bradley to analyse me and to decide the best way to help me.

“There are two main methods of hypnosis,” said Dr Bradley. “I treat 20 per cent of my patients through classic hypnotism, where you simply tell the patient to stop doing what they are doing. For example, I would tell a smoker they are a non-smoker and when they wake up they will oblige.

“The remaining 80 per cent are treated using Erickson hypnotism, a more complex method in which I will tell a metaphorical story which is embedded with suggestions to help the patient. It’s a less obvious method which appeals to the subconscious mind".

Dr Bradley asks me to consider why I am afraid of flying. Is it a fear of small spaces or a fear of death? I tell him it is probably a bit of both. And the fact that I am a bit of a control freak. I certainly don’t like the lack of control when sitting in a plane. And probably not when I am under the control of a hypnotist, either.

He also asks me about my experiences, my attitude to work and my personality traits, much like a counselling session.

An hour later Dr Bradley tells me he will use the Erickson method with me. While I’m getting comfortable on the couch Dr Bradley dismisses a few of my stereotypical beliefs about hypnotism.

“Nothing strange is going to happen. I’m not going to knock you out and become a mad magician.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about hypnotism. Television and entertainment would have you believe that we are in control and you won’t remember anything, but hypnotherapy is actually more about encouraging you to take control.”

My next 35 minutes are spent under hypnosis. Dr Bradley’s soothing voice lulls me into a semi-sleep and he talks me through the process, telling me I’ll feel light and relaxed or heavy and numbed, but relaxed. I feel the latter. It is a case of lying on the couch, listening to his words and using my imagination.

It is a pleasant experience that instilled a calmness in me. But has it helped me tackle my fear? As yet, I can’t be sure. My next flight is at Christmas.

The calmness I felt during the session remains and I am taking a far more positive outlook when reading about the horrors of a plane crash.

Muriel Pink, of Langholm, was hypnotised by Dr Bradley two years ago and was amazed by the positive effect it had on her.

“I had an overwhelming sense of fear and was always afraid to be away from my house for too long. It had been with me since childhood and I was scared something awful had happened and I had forgotten about it.”

Muriel visited Dr Bradley three times but only needed two sessions to overcome her fear. “It was amazing. It just evaporated. It wasn’t like I felt dramatically different after a session, I just slowly realised the fear had gone.

“On the third session with Dr Bradley we dealt with another problem: my inability to get out of bed in the morning. I used to stay in bed, even when I knew I was late for something. After one session that problem was gone too.

“I recommended Dr Bradley to one of my friends who wanted to quit smoking. One hypnotherapy session and she has not picked up a cigarette since. That’s 42 years of smoking out the window!”

Hypnotherapy doesn’t require the practitioner to be medically qualified but has been offered within some health clinics for several years.

“The NHS approached hypnotherapists to see who would be willing to work with doctors and consultants,” said Dr Bradley. “It isn’t easy to get onto their official register. You must pass a strict process of validation in addition to the General Qualification in Hypnotherapy Practice.”
 

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