Health & Wellbeing Scared of flying, or maybe you faint at the

WHAT IS A PHOBIA?
If you suffer from a phobia, know that 
you’re not alone. “A phobia is an incredibly 
common thing,” says Richard Hennessy HPD, 
hypnotherapist and owner of the Sheffield 
Wellness Centre (sheffieldwellnesscentre.
co.uk). “It’s estimated that 10 million people 
have one in the UK. For the majority of these 
people, it has no significant impact on a day-
to-day basis. However, for a small percentage 
of them, it does have an effect – sometimes 
to a debilitating degree.” So, what actually is 
it? “Phobias are deep seated fears or traumas 
that are attached to emotions we have been 
unable to deal with due to the nature of 
them, such as abuse, neglect, abandonment, 
shame or guilt,” says Laura Steventon, stress 
relief and self-worth therapist and advanced 
therapy and coaching BWRT practitioner 
I
know all too well the feeling of being afraid of 
something. I am terrified of the dentist, to the 
extent that, once I left home and had no one to 
force me to attend, I didn’t go. For eight years. 
Finally, things came to a head this Spring, when the 
fear of a potentially loose tooth became worse than 
my fear of the dentist, and I finally (tearily) booked 
an appointment. Before I visited the dreaded chair,
I researched as many calming techniques as possible 
to prepare myself, and read every review I could find 
of the doctor I’d booked to see. While I can’t say it 
was fun, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting and I felt 
so relieved afterwards. If you suffer from a phobia, 
there is help out there to stop you getting to the 
point I did – as the experts are here to show you.

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adding that there are some 
questions to consider. 
“How much of your mental 
space is your phobia taking 
up? Do you think about it 
upon waking, or only when 
confronted with it? What 
are the physical reactions 
you have to your phobia if 
any, and how severe are 
they? Does your phobia 
get in the way of you doing 
things or going places? 
Ultimately, is your quality of 
life being affected? If you 
identify the phobia has got 
out of control, there are
steps to overcome it.”