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The main cause is driving test anxiety. If your instructor has advised you to book the test, he or she must think that you are already safe to drive. But the test situation is much more stressful than a driving lesson. This raises anxiety, and anxious people make mistakes.
Because in the driving lesson, it’s your instructor with whom you have a friendly relationship, who has been helping you for weeks or months, who will correct you immediately if you’re going wrong. If the lesson doesn’t go so well, you just hope to do better next week. In the driving test, the examiner has to take a formal and rather distant approach so that he treats everyone equally. You’ve never met them before, and because they don’t give much away, you tend to fear the worst about what they’re really thinking. They will not correct you or comment as you go along, but instead will wait until the end before telling you if you have passed or failed. If you fail it will be some time before you can attempt the test again. It’s an especially anxious time if you don’t like being watched and judged.
Yes, I have helped someone pass the test who had failed eleven times!
Here’s what a previous client says about how he got help for driving test anxiety from my services.
“I needed hypnotherapy to help me with driving exam nervousness. I choose Pete Luce as he had good credentials and his background in mental health nursing, which meant he had real clinical healthcare experience. Through the whole consultation and hypnotherapy session, I felt relaxed and confident that Pete Luce was able to help me. I did finally able to overcome my exam nerves and passed the driving test with the help of hypnotherapy. I’m happy to recommend Pete Luce for his down to earth professionalism.“
Most people have two or three sessions but even one session can make a big difference.
Mainly by helping you control your anxiety symptoms and focus on driving instead of worrying about being watched. Also by helping you detach from the memory of past failures, putting them behind you. CLICK HERE for more detailed information on what happens in a therapy session.
Yes. It may go back to childhood. Perhaps parents or teachers have been very critical, standing over you waiting to pounce on any slight mistake. So as an adult you get extremely embarrassed by slight errors which others have observed and noted down.
Yes. I’ve explained in more detail HERE how phobias develop when our brain mistakes an everyday experience or situation for a real danger. This triggers the “fight or flight response” in which our body is immediately prepared to fight or run away. Unfortunately you will not pass the driving test by jumping out of the car and running away, or by attacking your examiner! But that is what your body’s fight-or-flight reaction has primed you for. Before even getting into the car you may be in a state of high alertness, vigilant, with muscles tensed.
The slightest shock can then tip you over into full-on fight-or-flight response. Your memory may also undermine your confidence, when you find yourself remembering and dwelling on your previous failed tests.
Some people pass their test but never develop confidence in driving without supervision, or else they lose their confidence after an accident or some other bad experience. Hypnotherapy can also help to overcome this problem. For more information click HERE.
Yes there are many. This is my favourite, because I like the woman’s calm approach. Her Youtube video about how to pass the practical driving test, is especially detailed, with commentary, marking sheet points, and inset showing pedals.
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Remember to tick the consent box or the form won’t send! I see all my clients in Exeter, at Holmedale Health, twelve minutes walk from the Cathedral. You can also use this form to contact me with any other questions you might have. I reply in person (not an AI-generated email) to every genuine inquiry.
