Overcoming a Phobia: A Journey from Travel Anxiety to Holiday Bliss
- Rosalind Dodd
- Feb 26
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 14
Introduction
I was first contacted by Bill because he had trouble sleeping. Over a period of time, his ability to sleep, fall asleep and stay asleep had eroded. He was exhausted. We thought that would be the main focus of his treatment, but it turned out there was something else Bill wanted to do. He and his wife were planning a trip to Paris and then on to the South of France by train in spring (it was autumn), and he wanted to book the tickets and go. However, Bill had a phobia about travelling on trains, and his wife hated planes. So he made the brave decision to tackle his travel phobia. Bill's phobia had prevented him from travelling for more than ten years, and he and his wife were ecstatic to finally embark on a holiday.
Understanding Phobias
Phobias can come in many shapes and forms and have usually formed to protect us. For types of phobias, please click here. Our brain possesses an exceptional threat detection system, known as the flight, fight, and freeze system. When we sense a threat, this system immediately jumps into action in order to (what it perceives as) save our lives. It's a great system, without which you wouldn't be here, reading this today. A little bit of anxiety is good for us; it makes us alert and ready for action. However, sometimes the system doesn't work and can become overactivated. This can be for a number of reasons: a traumatic event occurs, we're really tired, or we have lots on, meaning that we're just less able to cope. When we are in a stressful situation, our threat detection brain immediately goes to whatever saved us last time, even if this isn't the most rational response. If you survived an encounter with a spider by screaming and jumping about or fainting, that's what the brain will decide to do again. It's almost as if you've got a pre-existing template in your brain that it will refer to. Solution focused therapy and hypnotherapy aim to break these old templates and build new ones. In neuroscience terms, you're breaking an old pathway and forming a new one in our work together.
Travel phobia can take many forms: fear of flying, fear of tube travel or trains, and fear of motorway driving. It can be a very specific part of the travel, such as fear of getting on and off slip roads, or it can be a much broader fear of feeling confined and not able to escape. Therefore, a client can often feel trapped or unable to travel. Avoidance reinforces our fear, meaning it gets harder and harder to contemplate.
The Turning Point
In Bill's case, he began to recognise that this fear was holding him back from enjoying life, spending quality time with his wife, and taking time out to have a really good rest and see the world. All of these things were really important to him. He understood that he couldn't see the world without change and willingness to confront the phobia. His wife and family were tremendously supportive, and he knew the gift at the end of treatment would be a fantastic and long-yearned-for trip overseas.
The Journey to Overcoming Fear
Bill and I worked in several ways to understand his phobia and also develop ways to overcome it. We used tools from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and neuroscience to understand thoughts and feelings related to travel and how to make a difference to them.
We also used something called the rewind technique in hypnotherapy as a form of safe and non-traumatic exposure therapy. This is a way to break the template or negative belief system mentioned in the introduction to this blog.
Finally, we helped Bill with relaxation techniques, including self-hypnosis and other techniques to help manage his anxiety during travel. Bill also worked on other areas while we worked together to help him sleep better and help him to feel more in control of life in general. He was certainly very busy in his day-to-day job, and this had also contributed to a constant feeling of being 'on the go.' Examining this, being realistic about how much he was taking on, and examining how sustainable this was and what need within him this busyness was fulfilling helped him break free of old patterns and figure out new ways to work.
Bill and I worked to re-frame his thoughts into something much more useful and rational to him. He had to work really hard to break free of his old belief systems and imagine his best-case scenario rather than the worst case. This is solution focused work at its finest: focusing on the solution rather than the problem and bringing that solution to life. Again, this is at the heart of building new neural pathways and laying old ones to rest. Bill did a wonderful job of writing what's called a 'reframe'. He wrote out the whole day of travel as if it went really well, from getting on the train in Leatherhead in Surrey to arriving at St Pancras, to travelling to Paris, and then down to the South of France. It was a long and detailed piece which including the ways he intended to keep himself busy during the journey, but also relaxation techniques as well as appreciating all that train travel has to offer. As well as working through this piece together, I read this to Bill while he was relaxing in hypnosis to help the template settle while his mind was rested - essentially when our defences are relaxing too!
Achieving the Goal
Shortly after our final session, I got a WhatsApp message from Bill with a photo of him beside a Eurostar train, and another from Paris. He was ecstatic! He was on his first holiday in ten years with his delighted wife! They had had a wonderful journey, not a blip on the horizon. He'd been able to tackle his avoidance, stand down his fears, and enjoy travel. And wow, did he feel the benefits. I mentioned he'd had a very busy working life without enough time off, which had in some ways compounded the problem. So going on holiday also gave Bill some much-needed R&R, time out to contemplate life, and time to recharge. As well as the absolute pleasure of travel, full stop. He was so pleased with himself, and I was so touched by seeing his achievement.
Lessons Learned
Through our journey together, Bill learnt about the need for persistence and self-compassion during the journey of overcoming fears. He discovered that establishing attainable goals can gradually yield substantial change. He allowed himself to step outside of his comfort zone and imagine what life would look like without his phobia and go for it!
And finally...
Facing phobias is a form of liberation. It is very difficult to do alone, which is why solution focused hypnotherapy can help make a big difference. Without our phobias, we can live life without bounds and enjoy the things we would really like to do. Shame around our phobias can also bind us, so it is great to be able to release ourselves from shame and take a step forward.
If you are suffering from a phobia, there is help, and I would encourage you to allow yourself change, even though it may at first feel uncomfortable to pick up the phone or make contact. Anxiety doesn't have to dictate your life choices.
Questions this blog can help with
How can hypnotherapy help with fear of flying?
Can hypnosis cure my fear of travelling on trains?
Why do I panic in underground transport systems?
How many sessions of hypnotherapy needed for travel phobia?
Is hypnotherapy effective for claustrophobia on public transport?
What causes extreme anxiety when travelling?
How to overcome fear of the Eurostar tunnel?
Can I use self-hypnosis for travel anxiety?
Will my travel phobia ever go away completely?
What's the success rate of hypnotherapy for travel fears?
How to prepare for a long journey with travel anxiety?
Are there hypnotherapy recordings for train journeys?
What happens in a hypnotherapy session for travel phobia?
Can hypnosis help with panic attacks on public transport?
How to find a hypnotherapist specialising in travel fears?
Categories
Travel anxiety
Fear of flying
Claustrophobia therapy
Tunnel phobia treatment
Public transport anxiety
Fear of trains
Underground phobia
Hypnotherapy for travel fears
Travel phobia treatment
Eurostar anxiety
Overcome travel fears
Hypnosis for claustrophobia
Transportation anxiety solutions
Fear of enclosed spaces
Travel confidence hypnotherapy
Journey anxiety help
Panic attacks while traveling
Travel-related PTSD
Vacation anxiety relief
Clinical hypnotherapy for phobias
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