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To learn more about phobias and effective methods for overcoming them, we reached out to Christopher Paul Jones, Harley Streets’ leading phobia specialist, bestselling author, and speaker. Jones conquered his fear of public speaking, snakes, bugs, and flying, so he understands how scary it can be to take the first step towards change. Scroll down to read the exclusive interview!

Phobias can significantly impact people’s daily lives. Whether it's a fear of heights, spiders, public speaking, or enclosed spaces, they can elicit strong emotional and physical responses. According to Christopher Paul Jones, a phobia is “an automated, overactive response where the brain instantly associates fight, flight or freeze to something that isn’t proportionally dangerous or is relatively benign. Examples of this could be seeing a spider, not being able to go outdoors or being unable to get into a lift because of the reactions these things induce.”

Jones shared some common symptoms of phobias: 

• Sweating
• Chest pain and tightness
• Increased heart rate
• Hot or cold flushes
• Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
• Feeling dizzy, faint or light-headed
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling like you are smothered or choking

“In terms of how phobias get created, they can be influenced by several factors, such as upbringing and lifestyle; however, the main one is conditioning, as shown in the study of Pavlov’s dog.

Pavlov demonstrated that dogs could be conditioned to respond to certain stimuli. In his experiment, he rang a bell and presented a dog with food. After a time, the dog began to anticipate food when it heard the bell and would start to salivate, regardless of whether the food was present. The dog’s response demonstrated the basic principle of classical conditioning. Unconditioned stimulus (ringing the bell) became conditioned stimulus, which led to a conditioned response: salivation. It is the same principle for humans.”

“Seeking professional help when dealing with phobias is really important,” Jones shared. Coping with intense fears on our own can be challenging, and having the support of a trained professional makes a significant difference in the journey towards overcoming them. “While some things fade over time, like a fear of the dark going away as you get older, most will not, so telling yourself to [be bad] it up or just power through isn’t usually enough,” the therapist added.

“Many traditional therapies, such as counseling, can often be ineffectual as it involves rationalizing your fear. Generally, tools that tap into the subconscious and change the conditioned response are preferable. I personally recommend an integrated approach using various tools, as everyone is different, and this is what I do in my practice.”

If you’re someone who’s trying to overcome your phobias, Jones has some useful tips for you. First of all, it is important to figure out what you are really afraid of. “A lot of the time, people think they are afraid of one thing when in reality, it’s actually something else.”

“Getting clear on what has to happen for you to have a phobic response and spotting differences is a great exercise to facilitate this. For example, if you are afraid of lifts, ask yourself, ‘Would a glass one be better or worse?’ If a glass one is better, it’s likely you are claustrophobic, and if it’s worse, you potentially have a fear of heights. It’s the same with flying. If you think flying is more dangerous than driving, what is the difference in your mind between the two? It’s about finding that contrast and going from there.”

Once you have done this step described above, you could then use a “reconditioning technique” to replace the negative trigger with a positive one. According to Jones, one technique that can be very effective is anchoring.

Here are the steps that you can follow:

• Decide how you want to feel – happy, confident, calm, etc.
• Remember a time when you felt this way.
• Choose an anchor you can do easily, like squeezing your fist. 
• Visualize the memory and relive it in as much detail as you can, and as the confident feeling grows, squeeze your fist, releasing it when the feeling starts to subside.
• Test the anchor by squeezing your fist to see if you can naturally access the positive feeling.

“If it doesn’t work the first time, repeat the steps above, as it may take a few tries to reach the desired positive state. When it is strong enough, it will override the negative feeling and take it out.”

Phobias, those gripping fears that send shivers down our spines, have been subject to a variety of misconceptions and myths. The biggest misconception, according to Jones, is that phobias are a sign of weakness or a lack of intellect, and people will use any ‘reason or excuse’ to try to make sense of how they feel. “Another common myth is that facing your fear head-on (exposure therapy) is the way to solve it, and most of the time, this fails, as it is not about understanding, determination, or strength of will."

When something happened in the past that scared you, similar situations can bring back that fear even if they don't seem as scary. The level of fear you experience may not match the current situation because these memories are stored based on how old you were when they happened. So, sometimes you might feel more scared than you need to be because of how your brain remembers those past events.

“An example would be a 2-year-old getting lost in a shopping mall. While it may seem insignificant to an adult, ten minutes is a long time for a very young child as they haven’t been alive that long, so while an adult may dismiss this because it doesn’t seem significant enough, it’s not always the case. With that said, it could, of course, be a major childhood trauma that induces a negative response,” Jones added.

It is important to note that what you are phobic of may not always be the trigger. “If you have a fear of skydiving, for example, it may not be jumping out of a plane that you are scared of; it could be that you fear being out of control, as once you’ve jumped, there’s no going back.”

According to Jones, trying to untangle phobias logically doesn’t get you very far because “they are neither proportional nor rational but based on emotion. The key is to try and ‘talk’ to that part of your mind that doesn’t work on logic. This essentially means tapping into the unconscious or subconscious mind, or whatever you choose to call it, as this is where emotions are stored.”

To learn more about Christopher Paul Jones and his work, we recommend checking out his website, as well as Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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