Does seeing a spider make you scream? Would you love to go abroad but won't book a holiday as you are petrified of flying? Do you avoid sitting outside because of your fear of wasps or bees? Do you go to extreme lengths to avoid encountering your phobia? Be reassured, you are not alone. The fear response to a phobia can be overwhelming and intense. In some cases phobias can really begin to take over people's lives.

There are hundreds of different phobias. Here are just a few:

• Aerophobia - fear of flying
• Aracnophobia - fear of spiders
• Claustrophobia - fear of enclosed spaces
• Emetophobia - fear of vomiting
• Lygophobia - fear of darkness
• Melissophobia - fear of bees
• Odontophobia - fear of dentists
• Phobophobia - fear of phobias
• Triskaidekaphobia - fear of the number 13 

An early negative childhood experience could be linked to a simple phobia, for example, if you got trapped in a confined space while once playing hide and seek, you may go on to develop a fear of enclosed spaces when you are older.  Also there are some phobias that can be "learnt". If someone in your family has a fear of dogs (Cynophobia) you may also develop the same fear yourself.

You are not born with a phobia. A phobia is a learnt behaviour which means something happened in your life to create it.  The good news is this behaviour can be 'un-learnt', enabling you to move forward in your life feeling free of your fear and more confident. Overcoming your fear or phobia is empowering and I have often had clients say that positive change has occurred elsewhere in their lives due to their increased confidence. Hypnotherapy is the most effective approach in treating phobias.