You know those ’10 tips to X’ articles that are ten a penny. I just caught this one on Fear of Flying which highlights what’s wrong with well intentioned and plausible but utterly wrong-headed writing:
https://www.inc.com/amy-morin/6-therapist-recommended-strategies-that-will-help-you-conquer-your-fear-of-flying.html
So if you are afraid of flying, here’s what you should do, they say….
– Learning about flying
– Accept Your Anxiety
– Exposure Therapy
– Relaxation Techniques
– Medicate Yourself!!!!
– Create a Flight Plan
This is just terrible advice. These are examples of ‘coping strategies’, several of which include a great deal of suffering by the person. ‘Learning about Flying’ is a *rational* strategy and completely misses the point; fear isn’t generated by that part of the brain. Fear is a limbic system response and no amount of statistics is going to change that response. ‘Exposure Therapy’ makes people suffer, it’s slow and often doesn’t work. ‘Relaxation Techniques’, again, is an admission of failure, the person is already stressed.
“After 10 years of suffering extreme anxiety when flying I visited Simon after a google search on the advice of a friend. In one 90 minute session with Simon my life has changed. I got to the core of my fear and unlocked a trauma that I wasn’t aware had impacted me so deeply. I fly frequently now with ease and have processed my phobia in a logical way that connected with me. I recommend Simon to anyone and everyone.”
Scott, HR Director/Fear of Flying
The solution is always to permanently remove the fear generation response in the limbic system. A good therapist should be able to do this in a session, using trance (hypnosis) or advanced cognitive methods. This is well known and any therapist booking people in for six sessions is a fraud. Don’t suffer this nonsense. A quick session with a Cognitive Hypnotherapist or other, similar, competent therapist is all you need.
Fly safe, fly happy. Stop coping.
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