Emotional Freedom Starts Here |
Dr. John J. Murphy Psychologist and Hypnotherapist | Beverly Hills, CA |
The fear of flying program consists of three 2-hour sessions (totaling about 6 hours), usually spaced out one session per day days. You can have the three days one after the other, all in one week, or all in one month. If you know you have a flight coming up soon, contact me as soon as possible to ensure you can have all three sessions before the flight.
Way back in 1796 a man named Edward Jenner discovered that if you expose a weakened variation of smallpox – known as cowpox-- into a person, that person developed immunity to both cowpox and smallpox. This was significant because the cowpox was significantly less harmful than smallpox and would protect the person from future outbreaks of smallpox.
About 150 years later, a man named Joseph Wolpe found that when you mix relaxation with a stimulus that normally elicits fear in an animal or person, the old relationship between stimulus and fear breaks down. In other words, if a snake makes Mary panic but you’re able to relax her every time she sees a snake, Mary will soon no longer have the panic reflex.
Putting these two concepts together, we have systematic desensitization. We can break up the unwanted association between snakes and panic by first using a weakened variation. We first find that Mary has *some* anxiety when seeing a picture of a snake. There is some anxiety but not nearly the same level of actually seeing a live snake. By paring relaxation to seeing a picture of a snake, the panic is broken down a little. It is then much easier for Mary to see a video of a snake. Again, there is some anxiety, but it’s anxiety in a weakened form.
By creating a hierarchy of fears relating to the phobia and working to associate relaxation with each level of fear, we can actually quite rapidly approach the point where Mary is able to handle the snake without any panic or anxiety. At this point, nearly everyone with a snake phobia would gasp at the prospect of actually handling a snake. Keep in mind that most processes in the human body are based upon gradual steps. And what works for snake phobics works for flight phobics.
Take the concept of exersice: when I first started running, I could barely run more than 2 minutes at a time. My goal was to run for thirty minutes straight. If I had simply woken up every morning and forced myself to run for thirty minutes, chances are I would become frustrated, overwhelmed, and I would quit. By starting small (at 2 minutes) and adding a minute or two of running in between walking, I was able to run for thirty minutes in just about a month. Each time I would see the next level of running (i.e. five minute run, followed by 2 minutes of walking) I would think “how on earth will I ever be able to run this amount.” But then I’d be able to do it, because it was a small, gradual change.
As I’ve worked with phobia treatments, I’ve found that the process of alleviating a phobia can be even quicker than acclimating to an exercise routine. By having the right hierarchy, right exposure techniques, and right relaxation methods, a person can go from a fear of flying to being able to fly comfortable in as little as three sessions.
The fear of flying program is a mix of hypnotherapy and virtual reality therapy. The therapeutic techniques are mainly cognitive/behavioral therapy. I was a hypnotherapist several years before becoming a psychologist, so I tend to use a mix of both hypnosis and virtual reality for the program based upon the client’s wishes and his or her flying experience. The benefits of this mix are:
1. No dependence on hypnosis or virtual reality therapy, in case “cybersickness” is an issue or if someone is reluctant about hypnosis.
2. Typically, the client feels an improvement after the first session.
3. There’s a very high success rate in a very short amount of time.
The virtual reality program is essentially a mini simulator where you feel like you’re in an airport or an airplane. Although no one would ever actually believe they are literally in an airplane, a person often feels the same way in the virtual environment as they would in a real environment. Why? To use an analogy, if someone is hiking and is worried about snakes, every rustling of a nearby bush will cause the person to *feel* that worry, even if rationally the snake really isn’t there. The way the virtual reality program works is that the level of realism, and thus the level of worry, can be controlled so that the level of anxiety is reduced and controllable.
During our first session, please tell me if you have any vestibule abnormalities, seizure disorders, or migraines. Those with a heart condition must obtain medical permission from a qualified physician for use of virtual reality therapy.
The main use of the hypnosis is as a relaxant. I’ve found that with hypnosis a person can relax quite quickly and easily. There are quite a bit of variations for hypnosis, from a deep trance to the type where a person simply hears a passage with eyes open. There are also other techniques that don’t involve hypnosis, for those who might feel uncomfortable with it. Generally speaking, I use hypnosis techniques that involve biofeedback or conditions where the persons eyes are open. People are generally the most comfortable with these techniques.
The first session starts with obtaining a patient history, giving an overview of the process, and introducing the virtual reality equipment and software. We then discuss the relaxation process and demonstrate how it works. From that point, we establish a general hierarchy of what is stressful about flying and go over the myths and realities about airplane travel. Then, we start the virtual reality program, sticking to the very manageable environments (i.e. the airport), associating the relaxation with the environment. Thus, the goal of the first session is mostly to gain confidence that the process works.
The second session starts off where the first session finished. There’s a twenty minute virtual environment then twenty minutes of relaxation as well as discussing more misconceptions about flying, then another virtual environment.
The third session is more of a review than anything else. We either focus on the more difficult aspects of flying (i.e. turbulence, the takeoff, the landing), of, if the flight already occurred, we focus on any anxiety experienced during that flight.
Since I started this program in May of 2007, I’ve had 34 participants in the program, 32 of whom have been able to fly for a success rate of about 94%. The total cost of the three sessions is $200 per session, or $600 total. This can be paid at the end of the first session. Keep in mind, at this time I take either cash or check (not credit cards), and insurance generally does not cover treatment for phobias.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to click here to contact me.