A Phobia is described as an irrational, persistent, and excessive fear of a situation or thing. A phobia lacks any logical basis. For example, there are people who are afraid of dogs or dolphins, which have not experienced any negative events with these animals. Some phobias can be directly linked to a past event, but still, there is no logical reason to have the phobia. These phobias lie within the subconscious mind, so it would follow that hypnosis would be the means to eliminating them.
Some phobias are complex to define and are related to some prior event or trauma. For example, prior to be attacked by a dog as a child, the person was eating ice cream at a picnic. The person can develop a phobia of ice cream or outdoor events such as picnics. Some people are plagued by phobias that are linked to a low self-esteem, such a person with a phobia of public speaking. In general, the emotional issues must be worked through to effectively disarm the phobia. In this instance, the person may need to undergo psychotherapy prior to the hypnosis.
In general, hypnotherapy is effective when the reason for the fear is identified. Utilizing hypnotherapy in the treatment of phobias requires a deep state of hypnosis to undergo regression therapy to identify the source of the phobia. Many times the regression therapy resolves more than just the source of the phobia, but also the phobia itself.
Hypnotherapists are professionals, trained to understand the nature of phobias. They are not judgmental as the fear is real. If you have a phobia that may by all appearances seems trivial, it certainly is not. A consultation with a hypnotherapist will assist in evaluating your condition and develop a treatment strategy.