Nothing to fear but fear itself ?! How NLP and Hypnotherapy can rid us of fear

Fear, and its partner in crime, anxiety, are built into our psyche and serve as vital responses to danger; when we experience fear, our survival instinct is fired and our bodies undergo significant physiological changes to meet with the perceived life-or-death threat. We are all aware of the adrenaline-drenched flight or fight response mediated to gear us up for battling or fleeing from peril. This served our prehistoric ancestors well, for their threats were physical and potentially lethal: battling wild predators or encountering a hostile tribe. Nowadays our fears are more often emotional than physical, yet our bodies launch exactly the same heightened mechanisms to maximise our ability to stay alive.

Fear is very much a protective mechanism, instigated by the automatic nervous system, including the unconscious mind. It can be highly appropriate to feel fear, even in our more sterile, health and safety conscious world, we can face physical danger, just as our ancient ancestors did. Equally, if we encounter poor health, we may be fearful in an entirely understandable manner. It is when the fear or anxiety reach inappropriate levels that fear begins to encroach on negatively on our lives. When we live in fear or anxiety, or suffer sustained worry as part of our work, home life, or even in our leisure time – ask any horse-rider if they know a nervous rider – we live with the flight or fight switch firmly and constantly in the on position, exhausting our endocrine system and neurology.

• What happens when we understand that our body is perfectly equipped to go into flight or fight mode the instant we meet with a real fear?
• That having that switch ‘on’ all the time actually dampens the ability to manage real danger?
• In confronting a real fear, we don’t have time to think, we act.
• We don’t have time to consider all the what ifs, we are catapulted into autodrive.
• We don’t need to generate the feelings of fear
• Creating the feelings of fear is based on old memories, not the here and now; it is based on how we have conned ourselves into believing that we’re inadequate for the task ahead (when the opposite is more often correct)
• Fear in these cases is not protective, it’s a second-hand emotion

Having a fear when there is nothing to fear tires us mentally and physically and does not in any way prepare us for real risk. In much the same way, more people fear flying than being in a car, when statistically, it is far more dangerous to drive than to fly. People’s unconscious perceptions are sometimes at odds with their logical deductions. People are quite conversant with the logic behind being confident and fearless, frequently citing how irrational or illogical their fear is, yet their unconscious minds continue to be triggered into habitual behaviours that lead to anxiety. So, the question is how to remove this mental conflict. It’s really not difficult! And I’m doing it every day!

Neurolinguistic programming and hypnotherapy provide an elegant set of techniques to conquer fears, no matter how long you’ve had the fear or how deep-seated it may be. We use specific language to communicate with the unconscious mind, the part than stores memories and emotions. Which, together with a rich complement of (quantum) linguistic tools, break down the fear, easily enabling the unconscious mind to accept a different, far more attractive perspective: one that does not lead to anxiety, but to confidence, calm and peace. We also have a very powerful intervention – Parts Integration – in our arsenal, which resolves conflicts of the mind; leaving the client feeling congruent in their thoughts about fear and clearer in their decisions and actions. This empowers them to be in harmony and live life to the full!

For more information about how to eliminate your fear or anxiety, as well as resolving many other issues of the mind, contact me at or see www.traceycolenlp.com

Start to be how you want to be! It’s easy!