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Christopher Paul Jones Phobia Clinic, Harley Street

The Blurb

Do you have a phobia? Heights? Boats? Small spaces? These types of phobias tend to come later in life, as I’ve found with mine: flying.

I can’t say I have ever loved flying. While I know all of the statistics (it’s the safest mode of travel; safer than sleeping in your own bed etc.) it still just feels a little unnatural to me. And after a couple of very bumpy flights (where we were absolutely fine), my phobia got worse. Now, I haven’t let this stop me from flying, but I have had to find coping mechanisms on flights, like breathing techniques, taking calming drops… a strong G&T.

When I heard about Christopher Paul Jones, a phobia expert, who was willing to talk to me about my phobia, I was eager to see how he could help me. Based on Harley Street, Mr Jones sees patients for all types of phobias. And apparently, he once cured a woman’s phobia of flying in 5 minutes.

The treatment is a one-hour session, where we discuss my phobia, as well as techniques to overcome it.

The Process

On arriving at Harley Street, I was shown to Mr Jones’ room. A spacious, empty room with two chairs and a table in it.

After introducing himself, we began to discuss my phobias. He then proceeded to tell me facts about flying, and why it is safe. Of course, he knows this won’t help me, because I’ve conditioned my body to feel afraid when I feel turbulence but it doesn’t hurt.

We spoke a little about my life and childhood, and quite quickly we concluded that I don’t like to feel out of control, something I’ve been aware of for a while. This is especially true when it comes to movement. I’m a runner and cyclist. I don’t like rollercoasters, I prefer to be the one driving (unless I’ve established you’re a good driver and I can trust you), and the list goes on… So, you can see how flying fits into this.

Mr Jones asked me: ‘Would you rather be flying the plane?’ I didn’t hesitate to answer: ‘Yes!’

As we continued to talk, we also realised that trust comes with my controlling feeling. If you trust the person you’re giving control to, you feel safe.

Once we’d established this, we moved onto some techniques, starting with waving a pen-like instrument, with a light on the end, in front of my eyes, side to side, up and down. I admit, I was stifling laughter at this point, thinking ‘what is this guy doing’. I’m not the yoga / meditative type…

But I managed to calm myself, as I really did want to give this my full attention. I followed the light, conscious of my breathing, and he spoke a little but mostly I just followed it.

We continued to talk a little more after, delving into my childhood, as he wanted to see where my need for control came from. At first, I felt like he was being intrusive, but I had to remind myself he’s a specialist and trying to help me.

Mr Jones then asked me to stand up, in the middle of the room. He asked me to relax, close my eyes, and let myself be guided by the direction my body wanted to sway. He started asking me a lot of questions, some quite deep, others lighter. My body began to move, my subconscious answering his questions without me speaking. If I swayed forward, this would signal yes; backwards, no; and side to side alluded uncertainty.

During this exercise, any emotions I’d been trying to suppress came forward. I don’t like crying and being vulnerable in front of people, so it took a lot for me to allow myself to. We continued through the practice, finishing with Mr Jones asking me if my body was ready to let go of my fear of flying – I think I swayed left and right mostly, tipping forward like I wanted to but wasn’t quite ready.

We finished up the session with some conditioning. He wanted to condition an action to trigger an emotion of comfort and happiness, which I could use when I was anxious during a flight. Pressing my thumb and forefinger together, I’d think of an emotion that made me really happy, letting go when the emotion left me. I did this multiple times.

Now, he did say that if my anxiety was too strong, surpassing my happy emotion, it might not work.

The Results

Mr Jones didn’t have long. In two days time I was due to fly to South Africa, a 11.5 hour flight, where I’d then have two internal flights on a small plane.

We were in a huge A380, so the take off was incredibly smooth. When turbulence hit, I’d still grab my partner’s hand, give it a squeeze and press my fingers together to evoke positive emotions. But for the most part, the flight went well.

On the first internal flight, I cried. I was tired from my lack of sleep on the overnight plane, which increased my anxiety during the very bumpy flight. I felt like we were a tiny paper plane, rattling through the air. 40 minutes later I was safely back on the ground, feeling a bit silly…

The next flight I was much more positive, I think it helped that we were flying over the majestic mountains, back to my second home: Cape Town.

In a nutshell, my session with Mr Jones was incredibly insightful and gave me a lot to think about. It brought forward memories I had locked away and made me think about the why behind my actions and anxieties.

I wouldn’t say I’m cured of my phobia after one session. I know for most people it takes longer than that, so perhaps I will have another one in the future.

But one thing is for sure, I will keep getting on that plane. Because life is too short to not take every adventure we can.

The Details

Christopher Paul Jones is Harley Street’s leading phobia specialist, bestselling author, and speaker. Mr Jones has created the Integrated Change System™, a seven-step system combining the most cutting-edge tools.

If you’re interested in reading more about this system, you can find all you need and more in his book, ‘Face Your Fears’, or book a session!

christopherpauljones.com

2 Harley St, London W1G 9PA

Tried & Tested |