Fear of Spiders

Yes, hypnotherapy is a very effective therapy for this problem

You can read HERE about the main elements of hypnotic treatment for phobia.
Many people avoid therapy for arachnophobia because they imagine the therapist will suddenly open a huge box full of spiders!
This technique is called “flooding” but it would never be used by any competent therapist as it would likely make the client worse.
In effective phobia treatment the therapist should never spring any surprise on the client which they’re not yet ready to deal with.
For more about how hypnotherapy can help to overcome phobias, click HERE. For more about how it feels to have hypnosis, click HERE.

Many people avoid therapy for arachnophobia because they imagine the therapist will suddenly open a huge box full of spiders!
This technique is called “flooding” but it would never be used by any competent therapist as it would likely make the client worse.
In effective phobia treatment the therapist should never spring any surprise on the client which they’re not yet ready to deal with.

People who have fear of spiders are especially bothered in the autumn, when spiders tend to come into the house.
Their main problem is embarrassment at having to get someone else to remove the spider.
Of course they know that the spider is entirely harmless but this makes them feel worse, not better.
This is because they feel stupid or ridiculous.
In extreme cases I have known people to remain outside their home, or locked in a bedroom, for hours, until their partner or housemate comes home and can deal with the spider.
People with arachnophobia can sometimes get very strange ideas while they’re looking at a spider, which they would never have at other times.
For instance they may become convinced that the spider knows how scared they are and is taunting them maliciously by moving towards them!
An ordinary gadren shed like this one can be a terrifying place for people with arachnophobia!

Fear of spiders is the most common animal-related phobia in Britain, even though there are no dangerous spiders in this country.
No one really knows why fear of spiders is so common.
It could be a built-in memory inherited from our distant ancestors.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago our ancestors maybe lived in areas where poisonous spiders did exist. So maybe the memory is passed down from our ancestors, but remains dormant in most people?

No, some people rather admire them! The Scottish national hero, Robert the Bruce, watched a spider while hiding from his enemies in a cave.
The spider’s perseverance inspired him to continue fighting for his country’s independence.

It’s often not clear why the full-on spider phobia occurs in certain people.
Perhaps some of us inherit a stronger version of the memory from ancient times.
Or perhaps arachnophobia, like other phobias, results from a traumatic event in childhood.
Now of course the spider itself cannot really traumatise a child.
It cannot sting you like a bee or wasp, or even make an annoying sound like a fly.
Maybe a small baby could be traumatised by encountering a spider at the same time as he senses anxiety from adults due to some other cause.
But these are just theories.
We have no real way of knowing what a baby might have experienced at a very early age before he has the words to tell us.
Fortunately a phobia can be treated even when we don’t know what originally caused it. 
Interestingly, I find that some people with arachnophobia are less scared of tarantulas (the extremely large furry spiders) than of the normal spiders you might find in your home.
Perhaps because the tarantula is so big that it doesn’t feel like a spider.
Or it may be because the ordinary house spiders move much faster.

Therapy sessions are £60 per session, which is about the average going rate in this area.
How many sessions you need varies from person to person, as no two people are the same. However in my experience it’s normally between three and eight sessions.

Yes, this is not like seeing a hairdresser where you keep on going back on a regular basis.

You can contact me now by calling 01392574669 or use the contact form below.
Remember to tick the “consent” box or the form won’t send.
I see clients in Exeter, at Holmedale Health near Magdalene Road car park.
IMPORTANT: Autumn is the best time to have hypnotherapy for fear of spiders, because that’s when they come in the house. So if you’re reading this at some other time of year, join my mailing list and get back to me around September!