Planet NLP: How do I fix a phobia with NLP

Applying NLP to Real World Issues

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How do I fix a Phobia with NLP? Chris Harrison - July 2007 ©2007 PlanetNLP Ltd

Before fixing a phobia it is important to be sure that it is a phobia you are dealing with. Many people have various fears, and dislikes, but a phobia is something different.
	A phobia is much more extreme. So how do you tell the difference? How extreme is extreme enough? If, for example, you think you have a flying phobia, but can get on an airplane and fly, then you probably have a fear. If you have a spider phobia, and run shaking out of the room when a spider appears on the television, then you have a phobia. In both cases, the first step is to work out what happens in your mind when the fear/phobia begins.
The worm story in the Content Primer is a good example of the kind of process you will be running through in your mind when the phobia kicks in.

Once you have worked out what happens in your mind then you have a decision to make as to how to resolve the issue.

If the image is a moving image (likely to be classed as a phobia) then run through the phobia cure.

If the image is a still image (likely to be a simple fear), then use the swish or the whiteout pattern instead.

One reason for this differentiation is that the phobia cure is based around the representation being a moving image, and cannot easily be used on a still image.

Coincidentally, It also seem to be the movement in the image that separates a phobia from a fear.

If you would like to see how others deal with their phobias there is a great blog and lots of general phobia information at love-my-phobia.com.