There are thousands of fears and phobias, the majority of phobias have a great deal in common and hence they can be treated in a similar manner.

What is a ‘fear’? Fear is felt when we are in the presence of a real danger, in this way it is the feeling associated with our body preparing itself to either fight the source of the danger, or escape from it.

What is a phobia? A phobia is a similar, often extremely intense feeling of fear, which is caused this time, by a situation or object with doesn’t actually pose any real threat to our safety. Common with many phobias, is the feeling of loss of control in the given situation, this brings stress and anxiety, and often full scale panic. Often, the person will avoid the situation or object which brings these feelings, and when they avoid it, (and subsequently don’t get these feelings of anxiety), this only serves to re-enforce the link between the object or situation, and the fear.

Phobias are often caused by an intense feeling of terror being experienced as a child, becoming detached from the stimulus of that terror and becoming free to attach itself to another (innocuous) object or situation. Once the fear becomes attached to this secondary object, a link is established which will subsequently cause the fear to be felt when the (new) stimulus is present.

Public speaking is rated by people as one of the ten most fearful experiences in their lives. Just the thought of having to make speeches in public or giving professional presentations can give you butterflies in your stomach and make your legs feel like jelly.

Students present their work in front of the class; business people perform presentations or talk at big conferences, others may be too stressed to speak at small team meetings, or even with their boss and any other figure of authority. Even in social situations: talking at dinner parties, at weddings or at family gatherings, an ability to speak in public is a fact of life.

Whether its business presentations, speeches, speaking at a wedding, or giving academic presentations, hypnotherapy can help by building up your confidence and make you feel calm and relaxed.

Some people are confident in all life situations, they are experts in their field, know their subject, have done public speaking courses, but when they become the centre of attention, they become scared and go into panic mode destroying all their preparation, and limiting their effectiveness.

Hypnotherapy can be successful by: helping you cope and deal with stress, finding and solving the psychological cause of fear of public speaking; boosting your confidence; changing your audience perception from critical to extremely friendly; rehearsing your performance in the hypnotic state to make sure that you can deliver the best presentation.