The fear of heights, also called acrophobia, is an extremely common fear experienced by people of all walks of life. In fact, researchers have shown that to some extent, a fear of heights is natural to most people and animals. What transforms a natural fear of heights into a phobia is that the fear is so strong that it is viewed as overblown, or it gets in the way of a person’s daily activities. In an effort to evade heights, individuals with acrophobia may refuse to approach tall buildings, balconies, and other frequently encountered areas and situations. In many individuals, merely thinking about heights can be enough to trigger an anxiety attack.

Acrophobia can be triggered in any elevated area that makes a person feel anxious. This includes roller coasters, bridges, rooftops, ladders, staircases, and several other areas we visit in day to day life. Many individuals with a fear of heights feel comfortable in some places, like their own two-story home, but breakdown in other places, such as when they are going up a ladder.

Acrophobia can cause very severe symptoms, including anxiety attacks, nausea, dizziness, fainting, shaking, sweating, and many others. Unlike many common phobias, many individuals with a fear of heights don’t respond by getting “hysterical,” but instead become frozen with fear or “petrified.” For instance, a person might climb a ladder, but suddenly feel too nervous to climb down and become stuck in this manner.

The fear of heights can be particularly crippling because sufferers often find themselves panicking in situations where they need to remain calm and relaxed in order to remain safe. People who find themselves in a high up place, such as the top of a ladder or a staircase, may suffer an anxiety attack which leads to injury. Or, a person might start shaking so hard that they risk getting hurt. It is thus important for people whose acrophobia could be dangerous to get help for their phobia.

In the past, treatments included repeatedly exposing a patient to heights so they could try to “face their fear.” This approach proves stressful and ineffective for the majority of people. Other, more effective treatments include anti-anxiety medication and counseling. Hypnosis therapy is an ideal option because it’s effective, safe, and non-invasive.

Traditional hypnosis works by using post-hypnotic suggestions. In our society, this method is often ineffective. In the world today, people are very independent minded and will resist direct suggestions by unconsciously rejecting their instructions. Skilled hypnotherapists now utilize more sophisticated Ericksonian hypnotherapy techniques to avoid this problem.

Ericksonian hypnotherapy, as developed by Milton Erickson, MD, is a much improved type of hypnosis than conventional methods. It makes use of indirect suggestions rooted in conversation, stories, and metaphors to direct your unconscious into a new, phobia-free thought process. This works because it’s much more difficult for the unconscious mind to resist suggestions hidden in a dialogue, than direct post-hypnotic suggestions that are obvious to the mind.

A good hypnosis therapy program combines many different techniques to ensure it will work for all users. The combination of numerous Ericksonian hypnosis therapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques is ideal for nearly everybody trying to beat a phobia.

The combined program starts with relaxation hypnosis. Once your mind is clear and calm, NLP techniques can be applied to cure a phobia. All phobias arise from the same type of thought process, so all you need is a single hypnosis phobia program with the right design to vanquish any fear, or even more than one phobia.

Summary: Many forms of therapy rely on conscious effort to resolve a phobia, but this frequently doesn’t work because phobias stem from the unconscious mind. The techniques found in Ericksonian hypnotherapy and NLP are particularly effective at treating phobias because they operate at this unconscious level. Phobias are triggered when the emotion of fear is unconsciously linked to mental imagery, such as the view from a high position. By removing or disassociating the feeling of anxiety from the image, certain hypnotic and NLP techniques can forever eliminate a fear very rapidly.

Hypnosis therapy sessions can help an individual quickly and effortlessly vanquish a fear of heights. Hypnosis is among the safest forms of phobia remedies ever designed, with no side effects. For men and women looking to fight the fear of heights or any other panic disorder, hypnosis provides a well-balanced type of stress-free phobia relief.

Alan B. Densky, CH has been eliminating phobias using Hypnotism since 1978. He offers how to overcome fear hypnosis and NLP CDs plus a broad range of Hypnotherapy CDs for stress & depression related symptoms. Visit his website for free hypnotism MP3’s.

– Alan Densky