Cognitive Hypnotherapy
Help for Phobias in
Godalming, Surrey
When Phobias Begin
to Take Over
Does your fear feel bigger than you?
Whether it's flying, heights, needles, driving, spiders, medical procedures or something you've never quite been able to explain to anyone, a phobia can quietly shape your whole life.
You may plan routes around it, turn down invitations because of it, or feel a wave of dread the moment you know you'll have to face it.
One of the things most of my clients say at some point is "I know this sounds stupid but..." and perhaps the hardest part is that you already know the fear doesn't make sense but knowing that doesn't make it go away.
That's because phobias don't live in the logical, conscious part of your mind. They live deeper, hidden away in the more powerful unconscious mind.
As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist in Godalming, Surrey, I help clients gently resolve the unconscious patterns behind their phobias, so situations that once felt impossible begin to feel manageable, and then more ordinary.
Living with a phobia can feel limiting and exhausting. I offer a free discovery call that lets you talk it through in a calm, safe space, with no judgment, pressure or commitment.
700+
Clients Helped
17+
Years Experience
NCH & CNHC
Registered Hypnotherapist
90+
Reviews & Testimonials
Why Phobias Develop
A phobia is your mind's protection system working too well.
At some point, often in childhood, and sometimes in a moment you don't even consciously remember, your unconscious mind learned that something was dangerous. Perhaps there was a frightening experience, or you absorbed the fear from someone close to you.
Perhaps it began during a stressful period when your mind was already on high alert.
From that moment on, your unconscious treats that experience as trigger and a genuine threat. When you encounter it, or even think about it, your survival brain reacts instantly: racing heart, tight chest, the overwhelming urge to escape. It's not weakness and it's not silliness. It's a protective pattern that has simply outlived its usefulness.
The good news is that what the mind has learned, it can also update.
Common Phobias I work with
Phobias come in many forms, and I've worked with many of them over the years, including:
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Fear of flying
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Fear of driving (on motorways)
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Fear of heights
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Fear of leaving home
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Fear of needles, injections or medical procedures
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Fear of driving or motorways
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Fear of spiders, dogs birds or other animals
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Fear of vomiting (emetophobia)
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Fear of enclosed spaces such as lifts or tunnels, tubes and trains
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Fear of public speaking
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Fear of buttons
If your particular fear isn't listed here, please don't worry, the approach works with the pattern behind the fear, whatever its focus. You're also very welcome to ask me about it on a discovery call.
How Cognitive Hypnotherapy helps Phobias
Willpower alone rarely resolves a phobia, because the fear response is triggered before your conscious mind has a chance to reason with it.
Cognitive Hypnotherapy works differently. Using a gently relaxed, focused state, we work directly with the unconscious mind, where the fear pattern is actually stored.
Together we can:
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Identify where and how the fear first took hold
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Reduce the emotional charge attached to the trigger
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Update your mind's outdated assessment of the danger
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Build calm, confident responses instead of panic
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Help you approach situations you've been avoiding, slowly, in tiny steps, at your own pace
Rather than asking you to repeatedly face your fear and endure it, the aim is to resolve the pattern at its root, so the fear response simply doesn't fire the way it used to.
A Calm and Gentle Approach
to Therapy
My sessions are calm, supportive and tailored to each individual person.
Hypnosis is simply a deeply relaxed and focused state, similar to being absorbed in a book or a film where your mind becomes fully engaged in the experience.
You remain aware and in control throughout the session.
We use a relaxed state of mind because it becomes easier to explore the unconscious patterns that are driving anxiety and panic responses, allowing us to gently update them.
Many clients find the experience deeply calming and reassuring.
Evidence-Based Cognitive Hypnotherapy
I use Cognitive Hypnotherapy because it is a modern, evidence-based therapeutic approach designed to create meaningful and lasting change.
Since 2011, I have been a member of the Quest Institute Research Team, which evaluates the effectiveness of Cognitive Hypnotherapy using outcome measures commonly used within the NHS.
A study by the Quest Institute, published in the Mental Health Review Journal, found that Cognitive Hypnotherapy showed a 71% success rate for anxiety and depression — higher than the 42% reported for some talking therapies in the same research. As with all therapies, individual results vary.
Client Success Stories
Phobias
I felt extremely safe with Laurie at every session. I was very apprehensive about starting hypnotherapy but Laurie put me at ease immediately and constantly checked in with me throughout the sessions.
I originally went for my phobia of pigeons but was in a car accident prior to my first session, which Laurie allowed us to focus on and then we moved onto the pigeons too.
I felt extremely calm and safe with Laurie and she has given me coping mechanisms for the future. I managed to get back into my car after my accident and then I feel less scared about the thought of pigeons.
Laurie is just lovely and hoping the results make a big impact to my life.
CJ Milford, Surrey
I started seeing Laurie in late September mainly for my fear of heights but it was obvious from the outset that I had other problems that were linked. We concentrated on the height problem over the next couple of months until I gradually started implementing the techniques that Laurie had taught me. My first challenge was walking cliffs in Dorset which I did find difficult but this was my first attempt at such a thing for over 25 years, so was to be expected. Over the Xmas holidays I stood in the middle of a narrow bridge in London and looked out across the Thames (This I have not been able to do previously, I used to walk really quickly over it not daring to look either side). I was beginning to get better! In January I was in Hong Kong and stood on the roof of a 34 storey building even looking over the edge at one point, I also went to the highest point of Hong Kong Island and stood on the viewing point. Most recently I stood near the edge of the Grand Canyon. I cannot thank Laurie enough for the help that she has given me. I use the techniques not just for my height phobia but whenever I feel anxious and the more I practise the better things are. It really has changed my life. Next challenge Spinaker Tower in Portsmouth.”
RS London
I’ve just returned from 5 weeks travelling, where for the first time in my life I managed to go up mountains in both coaches and on trains – over really high viaducts etc. – as you know normally I would have avoided heights like the plague but now have hardly any hesitation in trying new “highs”. As you know I was also terrified of going in a helicopter again after my past experiences but managed to go in one for about 2 and a half hours over the Grand Canyon – I must say I was apprehensive before going in it but practiced all the things you have taught me over the half a dozen sessions I spent with you and after the first 5 minutes in the air I managed to relax totally and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I could have spent all day in the air! I can’t start to tell you how much this has all changed my life for the better and feel you have supplied me with the “tools” I need to overcome any fears in the future.
JF Guildford
Taking the First Step
Towards Calm
I offer Cognitive Hypnotherapy for phobias in person at Luck's Yard Clinic, Godalming, Surrey which is convenient for Guildford, Haslemere, Farnham, Woking, Cranleigh and Weybridge and online across the UK via Zoom.
Phobias are closely connected with anxiety and panic, so you may also find it helpful to read about [hypnotherapy for anxiety] and [hypnotherapy for panic attacks].
If your fear has been limiting your life, it doesn't have to stay that way. I warmly invite you to get in touch using the form below.