25/03/2010

Hypnotherapy helps woman overcome phobia of snakes

A woman with a crippling fear of snakes has found a phobia cure in hypnotherapy, reports American newspaper The Washington City Paper.

The story of 'Kimberly' was recently taken up by the newspapers city desk, who saw her post requesting a recommendation for hypnotherapy phobia treatment on a local social network. 

In her post Kimberly said: "I need to overcome my paralysing fear of snakes. Any recommendations for a hypnotherapist?"

The paper got in touch with her and found out more about her situation. Kimberly had suffered from a paralysing fear of serpents her entire life but until recently, she says that it had never been much of a problem. However, when she discovered a few of them in her holiday home's garage, this changed.

"I freeze up, have a panic attack" she told the city desk. "I can't breathe."

She immediately fled her holiday homestead and returned to the city. Even after having the snakes removed, she found that she was scared to go back. She decided that it was time to remove her fear entirely.

Kimberly says that she had already had psychotherapy for her phobia in the past but that it hadn't had a lasting effect. She believed that hypnotherapy could help her "re-program the way I think of snakes and react to them" and banish her lingering concerns over her country house. 

The Washington City Paper's reporters took up her request and went in search of hypnotherapists in the area. Eventually they got in touch with a member of the The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, who agreed to treat Kimberly and pointed the newspaper towards a fellow member for information on the process as they didn't want to step outside of their patient/clinician relationship.

Whilst Learita Scott, a retired hypnotherapist, explained to the paper about hypnotherapy treatment, Kimberly went for several sessions with her colleague. "There's nothing magic about hypnosis," Scott explained, saying that the idea is to teach the client to relax and move to a point where they can overcome their fears internally without the interference of their subconscious. "Hypnosis is done with the respect or concern for the client" says Scott.

Meanwhile, Kimberly reported back to the city desk after having two sessions of hypnotherapy. When asked if the sessions had any effect on her phobia, Kimberly gave an ecstatic "Yes!"

"I can't believe it after 40-plus years" said Kimberly.