So what is Claustrophobia? Claustrophobia is often described as a fear of enclosed place. A more accurate description might be a fear of not having an easy escape route.

People often feel they have to know they can get out of a situation if they choose and they fear feeling trapped. They may want to know they can get to a safe place and the safe place is often home.

Claustrophobia is a conditioned or learned response and the good news is that what has been learnt can be unlearnt. The fear response may have developed by experiencing a feeling of being trapped on a train, or bus or elevator at some time or perhaps it was on a plane or in a crowded room when you first noticed yourself responding in this way or perhaps since you first had this experience the fear may have shown up in more and more situations.

Perhaps the comfort zone you once felt has been narrowed right down or perhaps you simply got into the habit of feeling you always had to know you could get home easily or there was an easy quick exit for you. Of course, responding to situations like this can really limit life. Maybe travelling wasn’t so easy or being in crowded places.

The fact is that the fear response can become linked to anything in life. What we really need to be doing is to put your life back on track is to start unhooking the trigger points from these situations so that you can start to feel naturally relaxed and in control during these times.

Everything you learn here, you can do for yourself too, and the more you practise, the stronger the association can be between these times and relaxation and calm.

Therefore, allow hypnotherapy and counselling to assist you to:

• use your innate ability to “unhook” from the trigger points.
• learn to use the subconscious mind to act spontaneously, in a calm and relaxed way;
• Engage all of the body’s senses to create the life you want – see it, feel it, hear it, taste it or even smell the life you would like to have and all of the components that go with it; and
• Imagine you, can do it easily now – create the images of how you wish to respond to those fearful situations and live your life to the fullest!

For further information contact us on (03) 5223 2370 or via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Karen Holt Clinical Hypnotherapy and Counselling
Clinical Hypnotherapist
AMAHS, MASCH, NFH

Image credit: flickr.com