Fear of Dogs and dog phobias are surprisingly common. A person may have had a specific incident in their life where something happened to create this fear, or they may have the anxiety without being able to reference such an event. Either way, it really doesn’t matter how the fear was created; the important thing is to change the unhelpful behaviour in the here and now and for the future!
I have seen many clients of all ages with this problem, and in my experience, simply talking about a fear of dogs, no matter how well-meaning, does not often help change the problematic feeling. The key is to change the thinking pattern that creates the fear of dogs. This requires working very precisely and not getting too hung up on analysing past events! Many clients I see for this issue have previously had general hypnotherapy, counselling and CBT, without success. Also, in almost every instance, the sessions have not been recorded for the client to listen back to, which is a key aspect of the PCW process. I would expect somebody with a fear of dogs to feel significantly better after just a couple of sessions, and most clients I see for any phobia find it resolved in 2 – 3 sessions if they follow my advice.
I see clients in my UK clinics and work via Skype, which also works surprisingly well. Before agreeing on a date for clinical time, every client is asked to complete a full set of client notes. This ensures that all clinical time is used to best effect