Flying phobias are among the most common fears I work with. People with a fear of flying tend to be most visible during the holiday season. It’s useful to differentiate between anxiety about flying and an extreme and irrational fear of flying. A person with anxiety may get on the plane to fly, whereas the latter will not even entertain the possibility of getting on a plane. In fact, in most instances, merely thinking about flying or seeing a plane fly overhead can provoke an extreme and fearful response. I have had clients who got on a plane and then had to get off; the fear was so great. This is never popular with other travellers as it means the entire flight is then delayed!
Rather than analyse “why” the person has the fear, my approach to successfully working with this issue is to figure out “how” they are creating the fear, and then change the way they think and feel about it. In many instances, a person with this problem will become hyperaware of everything they hear and see around themselves. This hyperawareness creates an anxiety state that, in extreme cases, can result in a person literally shaking with fear when thinking about travelling in this way. Many find themselves thinking a series of very unhelpful thoughts to themselves in an anxious tone of voice. This is usually done as a commentary on how they are feeling or to anticipate a problem arising. Typical examples of such thoughts are
“I’m starting to feel anxious”
“What if the plane spins out of control?”
One key to overcoming this fear of flying is changing how these thoughts occur, and the Provocative Change Works exercises are an excellent way to achieve this.
In 2006, I helped a number of people with a fear of flying on my marathon 26-week stint on BBC radio, and some of the sessions, including one with a fear of flying, can be found at the ” BBC Radio Sessions” section of this website.
When working with people who have an extreme fear of flying, I use my Provocative Change Works approach (visit provocativechangeworks.com for more information and products), which combines insights from over two decades of studying personal development, NLP, Hypnotherapy, Provocative Therapy, and other approaches. My focus in client sessions is to explore “how” the client is creating the irrational fear, rather than “why” they have it. Many clients with fear of flying may have already tried traditional hypnosis, psychotherapy and occasionally exposure therapy before seeing me privately.
Many clients can be helped in 2 – 3 sessions or less, provided they follow the advice and listen back to the session recordings. A client in one of the BBC sessions, who had a fear of flying, took me just 20 minutes to bring about helpful change. After we changed the unhelpful internal suggestions he was making to himself, the rest was easy.
Client Feedback who had Flying Phobias
“My honeymoon was definitely enhanced by the fact I could cope with the flying experience and I think there was part of me that actually enjoyed the flying! So thank you very much for helping me with this, and it definitely worked. My partner was quite amazed at the difference in me.”
Jane T
“Just to confirm that following my 2 hour session July 4th 13.00 – 15.00; I went for a trial flight last November to Jersey and back from EMA. Thought it would be remiss of me if I didn’t tell you I have just returned from a holiday in China [Shanghai]. From one extreme to the other but… Listened to the CDs before setting off – enjoyed the experience – thank you!”
Harold
“You are a magician!”
Kim Vara
“Please to report success!! Slight nerves on takeoff but managed to watch the landing each time, and on the final leg looked out as we took off!
Brilliant
Many thanks”
Mary
“Hi Nick,
Just letting you know that I had no fear at all on my flights. I am over the moon. On the way to Spain we even had the seat belt sign on for half an hour due to bad turbulence and I wasn’t scared. On the way home I even went to sleep!!
We are already planning a trip to America to see my Auntie next year.
Thank you so much”
Deborah
I wanted to let you know that I made my flight to Seville, there and back again! It went so well that I’m currently browsing mini breaks for January because now I really think I’ve found my wings.
The flight out was good, we landed in Seville at sunset & the views were incredible. The way home was the real test: we were delayed by a couple of hours, it was dark which I usually hate & it was seat belts on for a bit of a bumpy ride. This would usually be a terrible combination for me but I stayed completely calm, watched the lights of Seville fade into the distance (I normally never look out of the window on takeoff) and then settled in to look at my holiday snaps. Not once did I feel panicked, concerned or that I was going to die! Listening to my recording in the days before we came home really helped.
I had a wonderful break, as did my long-suffering husband, so thank you – this will open up much for me and I wish I had found you sooner!
Hayley