Do you avoid going up to your office building’s roof, even when the weather’s great outside and your colleagues are all heading up? Is riding a rollercoaster the last thing you’d want to do, despite all your friends trying to get you to join them? Does the mere idea of climbing a ladder or crossing a bridge give you sweaty palms?

Your intense fear of heights has a name: acrophobia.

Acrophobia affects around 1 in 20 adults. It causes severe distress, panic, and anxiety. Individuals who have acrophobia experience lightheadedness at the sight or thought of heights. They may also experience tightness in their chest, increased heartbeat, and profuse sweating in such scenarios. Unsurprisingly, then, they go out of their way to avoid places and situations where they may encounter heights, even if it causes them much inconvenience.

So, how can you overcome your fear of heights? This is where hypnosis comes in.

How Hypnosis Can Help Counter Acrophobia

Hypnosis typically incorporates a number of techniques that help in treating phobias of all kinds. The remedies used in this treatment method allow the hypnotist to taper into your subconscious, where your fear lies. Using various strategies, the hypnotist then helps you dissociate from the emotion of terror and separate the feeling of fear from mental imagery. In this case, the imagery would be something like you being on top of a cliff or looking down from a high building.

In this process, your subconscious also learns a new response to your fear. This helps in eventually eliminating the fear altogether as you learn and adapt to new ways of responding to terrorizing situations (i.e., being around heights). Thus, hypnosis helps in overcoming the feelings of panic and anxiety that you used to associate with heights and allows you to be freed from your fear.

Hypnosis works fairly quickly and is extremely effective in treating irrational fears. You may only require a few sessions before you’re freed from your fear of heights.

Combining Hypnosis with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT may also be used alongside hypnosis in helping eliminate your fear. This form of therapy involves reframing your negative thoughts regarding heights. It may also incorporate elements of exposure therapy within your setting.

For instance, you may be asked to watch videos of people walking on a tightrope or climb a step ladder to help combat your fear. However, this is done once you’ve learned the relaxation techniques that can equip you in such scenarios. Together, CBT and hypnosis prove to be highly effective in countering acrophobia.

Rekha Shrivastava at Blossom Hypnosis uses subconscious mind healing techniques to help treat anxiety and various phobias.

Book a Skype consultation with her today or visit her clinic in Pittsford, NY.