How to tackle your fears

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The world of phobias is a complex one, ranging from the common such as claustrophobia and arachnophobia to the unusual (there are hundreds, including turophobia – fear of cheese and papyrophobia – fear of paper). Add in social phobias and anxieties, and it becomes even more complicated.

Christopher Paul Jones is a leading expert on phobias and anxiety. Based in south west London, and practising in Harley Street, he has developed what he calls the Integrated Change System, which can be helpful in tackling a wide range of issues. There are elements of CBT, clinical hypnotherapy, eye movement desensitisation, reprocessing (confusing the emotional and logical halves of your brain) and positive associations. He’s also compiled his years of research into a hugely practical guide in his book Face Your Fears.

As someone with a deep-rooted social anxiety (which has led to phobias such as glossophobia – public speaking – and erythrophobia – fear of blushing), I was keen to find out more and went along to his Harley Street office.

Christopher once suffered phobias himself including flying, public speaking and bugs. He wanted to take control of his life and learned several types of therapy. He was able to let go of his fears and it set him on the path to becoming a therapist. His own experiences make empathetic, intuitive and very easy to talk to. The session can involve tears, as it can mean heading back to some painful memories, but it is also insightful and, importantly, fun.

Some of the techniques involve scrambling the brain’s thought process. One method had me giving a comedy cartoon character type voice to some negative self-talk, and rewinding a past incident as if it was just a scene in a movie. These approaches really confuse the mind and diffuse some of the power you have given to a particular episode in your life.

I also tried techniques such as tapping pressure points to relax and calm the mind. Another method involves going back in your mind to a joyous occasion you have experienced, then squeezing your fist until the emotions you associate with that are really powerful. When you are in a situation that provokes your fear or phobia, you can use that same action again to trigger joyful emotions, which will outweigh the anxiety. Developing your peripheral vision is another powerful idea (see below).

Christopher has had clients whose phobias have been conquered in one session. But it isn’t always a quick fix, and is more about learning techniques that will help to manage your fear.

It is hard to suddenly drop the deep-held beliefs you hold, but I feel much more in control knowing that I have a toolkit I can utilise when needed and I’m gradually learning to incorporate his techniques into my life. Indeed, the tapping idea I use for relaxation generally; I’ve found I can adapt peripheral vision for situations where I am faced with eye contact that I sometimes find difficult, and the fist-pumping can be done anywhere: even if you don’t have a phobia, try it as it will give you a daily boost of positivity!

christopherpauljones.com

Going into peripheral vision

Focusing on one thing such as writing an email is useful when finishing a task, but not helpful when applied to fear. It can make you more anxious but by widening your vision and expanding your focus to the external world you can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms you.

1: Stand up straight, feet shoulder width apart.

2. Smile

3: Stretch both arms out in front of you and touch your index fingers together.

4: Choose a spot on the wall just above eye level

5: Keeping your eyes fixed in this spot, slowly move your fingers apart, keeping your arms at shoulder level.

6: Stretching your arms out to the sides and looking straight ahead at the spot on the wall all the time, use your peripheral vision to keep both fingers in view at all times – you should find you see more detail around you.

7: Keeping your view wide, let your arms drop to the sides. This is open awareness. Self-talk and internal chatter should start to dissipate.