Phobia Treatments - what are the available treatments for Phobias?

Whenever I see it used I have to cringe. The process is clearly straightforward - slowly over a long period of time bring the client and the stimulus closer and closer together, maybe even starting with pictures of the stimulus, until the client can remain in the same room without fleeing.

Aside from the issue of how long this process takes, the results are invariably poor.

The best result achievable is that the client is able to gain enough self control in the presence of the stimulus not to run away, but that is when the treatment stops.

Turning a phobia into anxiety is hardly a cure.

EFT

Now EFT is quite new, and I must confess I have little experience of it. I know that in the UK, Paul McKenna uses it alongside NLP, and from my past experiences of Paul and his work purely by Paul's involvement in EFT I believe there must be some value to it.

From what I have seen of EFT seems to work in a similar way to NLP - in regards to phobias. Like NLP, results seem far better than aversion therapy in that the client becomes rather ambivalent to the phobia stimulus rather than just less apprehensive. The article Hypnosis, NLP, and EFT - a Comparison covers EFT in a little more detail.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

As NLP is the subject of this website, you have probably worked out for yourself that of all phobia treatments, this is the treatment for your phobia that I recommend. The NLP Fast Phobia cure is effective, incredibly quick, and provides a proper result in that the phobia is gone - completely gone! With NLP we don't just reach the point where the client can be in the same room as the stimulus without us having pulled them in while dragging their fingernails across the floor and stop! We cure the phobia - completely. In regard to phobias, comparing NLP to aversion therapy - NLP is quicker (and therefore cheaper), less stressful, properly verifiable, and results in complete ambivalence to the stimulus as opposed to apprehension.

Hypnosis for Phobias

Hypnosis is very useful for a number of issues and I promote several hypnosis products, but I feel that due to the specific nature of phobias, NLP or EFT are usually much better phobia treatments. Hypnosis tends to be more useful for more complex issues such as weight loss or confidence, but if you discover that you have a fear rather than a phobia (read NLP Phobia Cure - how do I use NLP to cure a Phobia? to find out if you have a fear or a phobia), then hypnosis can give good results.