It’s amazing how fear can play tricks with us. So, let’s find out in today’s blog a little more around the subject of fear and how the mind processes it.
The focus this last couple of weeks has been of FEAR! Fear can surface in numerous ways, with anything. It’s interesting to know that we are only born with two fears, the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All our other fears have been created by us, through our life experiences and perceptions about those experiences. We can only learn and process life from our own experiences nobody else’s, therefore everyone’s perception will be different.
How does our Subconscious process Fear?
Like stress, a fearful response can occur with a thought. It is a thought. It’s a physical response that your body has practiced from your thoughts, memories, and reactions from previous experiences, particularly a fearful one! Your subconscious remembers those experiences when you find yourself in similar situations. Just thinking about those situations that created that fearful moment initially within you can strike an adverse bodily response.
Cynophobia ‘The Big T-Rex!’
For example, let’s use an irrational fear, fear of dogs, known as ‘Cynophobia’, as today’s testimonial is just that. Say you had ‘what seemed to you’ at the time a very big dog running towards you when you were a toddler. This dog was observed, ‘by you’, like a big, massive T-Rex coming at you! As a child our minds are very creative. Now, remembering that the subconscious doesn’t understand the difference between reality or whether we are thinking it, the thoughts of a T-Rex coming at you could allow strong emotional responses to come into our mind, especially in a two-year-old. This would instantly create a fear response.
To add to it…if your parent or guardian responded in a way to protect you, suddenly whisking you off out the way of the so observed T-Rex dog! that would reaffirm within you what you were experiencing. ‘He’s going to bite me!’. It’s the emotional response to that situation that creates the deeper-seated memory.
Why and How does this Keep Happening?
Every experience you have is recorded in your subconscious mind. It is then filed away in your memory bank or memory library so to speak (See The Mind). These experiences will include every second of your life, right back to the third trimester in your mother’s womb.
Now, consciously we can’t remember every single experience in our life, but our subconscious does. The T-Rex coming at you probably is a memory you will surely remember as an adult. It’s also likely you have told the story repeatedly to friends and family of how awful it was at the time. Now, from YOUR perspective, it might have been awful back then, when in fact it was just a big playful, bouncy dog just wanting lots of love.
When we experience something fearful, stressful, or frightening and there is strong emotion attached to it, the subconscious logs it away very quickly in that memory library. Each time it is triggered you add more emotion to it. Strengthening the thoughts, reactions, and physical responses, thus creating a habit and a belief around the thoughts and response. All this coming from what was originally a lovely playful dog wanting a great big fuss!
Each time that child then sees a dog, that memory along with the thoughts and responses reappear, it then builds and builds, creating a stronger fear. It’s how fears expand and trick the mind. The subconscious is also known as the ‘monkey brain’ and our body starts to respond in the same way that it did initially. We must remember each situation is about perspective too. We all have our own perspective, which of course comes from our experiences. Changing our perspective can switch a situation and tip it on its head.
Why does the Subconscious think it’s Protecting us?
We learn a lot from our experiences, and so does the subconscious. Remembering everything about the situation. It remembers the temperature of the room, colours, sounds, textures and of course your feelings, responses and especially your emotions.
When we find ourselves in these similar situations again, the subconscious ‘pattern matches’. In an instant it brings back the information from the previous experience ‘The Big T-Rex!’ and creates a response in the same way. If you responded in panic, fear, anxiousness, heart racing or a particular bodily response, those feelings arise within you instantly to protect you when it finds itself in that position again.
The subconscious thinks it must respond this way because it doesn’t know any different, it’s been wired that way.
The Power of Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis allows access to the powerful part of our subconscious mind (see Hypnosis). Once in a state of Hypnosis you can be guided to create positive changes to release the anxiety, stress, fear, and feelings associated with our experiences. Our subconscious doesn’t understand the difference between reality or whether we are imagining it, so imagine what you can change when you are in a state of hypnosis being guided to create positive change.
I liken it to ‘updating your App’ on your mobile phone or computer. The subconscious works in the very same way. We are literally all a walking set of programs. Your brain fires and wires from our experiences so imagine what you can rewire, just by a change of perspective about your experiences. It can create amazing changes to allow you to move forward in a positive way.
Final Words
It has been lovely to receive amazing news of a client having success after just one session back in August 2021. I received a lovely message letting me know of the success for overcoming her fear of dogs. Sadly, our beautiful dog Tess lost her life to cancer very suddenly last October, we had no idea at all that she was ill. It came as such a shock to us all, she really is sadly missed.
Tess used to help me with clients suffering from fear of dogs. After each session I would bring her into the therapy room and allow my client to meet her, it was always with great success. Working alongside me she has helped so many people overcome their fears, she was just totally amazing. This client was the last one to be helped by our Tess. I know now that she works through me as her energy here can still be felt.
I am commemorating this Blog and wonderful Testimonial in remembrance to Tess, she will always stay in our hearts, she was by far the most special dog we could ever have wished to have had in our lives.
Testimonial
I cannot thank Michelle enough for the massive difference she has made to my Daughter’s life. From a very young age my Daughter had developed a phobia of dogs. It stopped her being invited over to friends homes if they owned dogs and would cause her severe anxiety if she came within a few metres of a dog. Over the next few years we tried many different techniques to overcome her fears but nothing ever worked. That was until she met Michelle.
She made my Daughter feel at ease and took time to explore what may have lead to these fears. By the end of the first session Michelle, along with her wonderful dog Tess, helped my Daughter to begin to overcome her fears. It was amazing to see how quickly the change occurred. My Daughter has now gone from strength to strength and was recently was able to stay overnight with a friend who owned dogs. This would never have been possible without Michelle’s help.
You can read more Testimonials here
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