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The fear of heights, also called acrophobia, is a very common phobia experienced by men and women of all walks of life. Studies suggest that to a certain extent, being afraid of heights is natural to many people and animals. What turns a common fear of heights into a phobia is that the feeling is so severe that it is viewed as overblown, or it gets in the way of a person's day-to-day activities. In an effort to avoid heights, people with acrophobia may refuse to approach balconies, tall buildings, and other frequently encountered areas and situations. In many people, just thinking about heights can trigger a panic attack.

The fear of heights can be triggered in any high-up area that makes a person feel anxious. This includes ladders, bridges, staircases, roller coasters, rooftops, and several other places we visit in our day-to-day lives. Many people with a phobia of heights feel fine in some areas, like their own balcony, but breakdown in other situations, such as when they are going up a ladder.

Acrophobia can cause intense symptoms, including nausea, shaking, anxiety attacks, fainting, dizziness, sweating, and many others. Unlike many other common phobias, numerous people with acrophobia do not respond frantically but instead become frozen with fear or "petrified." For instance, a person might climb up a ladder, but suddenly feel they are too high up to get down and become stuck in this manner.

Acrophobia can be especially crippling because sufferers often find themselves emotionally overwhelmed in situations where they need to keep calm and relaxed in order to keep safe. People who find themselves in a high up location, such as the top of a staircase or a ladder, may suffer a panic attack resulting in physical injury. Or, a sufferer might start trembling so hard that they risk falling and getting hurt. It is thus crucial for people whose phobia could be harmful to get treatment for their fear.

Past treatments involved repeatedly exposing a patient to heights so they would to "face their fear." This method proves traumatic and unsuccessful for the majority of people. Other, more effective treatments include medication and counseling. Hypnotherapy is an ideal treatment because it is safe, effective, and non-invasive.

Conventional hypnosis works through direct post-hypnotic suggestions. In modern society, this method is often ineffective. These days, people are very independent minded and will resist direct suggestions by unconsciously refusing their orders. Knowledgeable hypnotherapists now utilize more advanced Ericksonian hypnotherapy techniques to circumvent this obstacle.

Ericksonian hypnosis therapy, as developed by Dr. Milton Erickson, is a greatly improved form of hypnosis than conventional methods. It uses indirect suggestions embedded in metaphors, conversation, and stories to direct your unconscious mind into a new, phobia-free thought process. This is effective because it is much harder for the unconscious to reject suggestions planted in a dialogue, than direct post-hypnotic suggestions that are apparent to the conscious mind.

A well-designed hypnotherapy program combines a variety of different techniques to ensure it will work for everyone. The combination of several Ericksonian hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques is perfect for virtually everybody trying to beat a phobia.

The combined program starts with a relaxation therapy session. Once you feel clear and relaxed, NLP techniques can be applied to cure a phobia. All phobias stem from the same type of thought process, so all it takes is one hypnosis phobia program with the correct formulation to cure any phobia, or even multiple phobias.

Summary: Several types of therapy depend on willpower to resolve a phobia, but this often doesn't work because phobias are rooted deep within the unconscious mind. The techniques found in Ericksonian hypnosis therapy and NLP are especially good at treating phobias because they work at the unconscious level of the mind. Phobias are triggered when the emotion of fear is unconsciously connected to a vivid mental image, such as looking down from a high point. By disassociating or separating the feeling of fear from the image, certain hypnosis and NLP techniques can forever eliminate a fear very quickly.

Hypnotherapy sessions can help an individual quickly and effortlessly conquer a fear of heights. It is among the safest types of phobia therapies available, with no negative side effects. For men and women trying to fight the fear of heights or any other anxiety disorder, hypnosis offers a balanced type of anxiety-free phobia treatment.

Alan B. Densky, CH has been treating irrational fears using NLP since 1978. He offers panic attacks NLP & hypnosis CDs plus a broad range of Hypnosis CDs for stress & depression related symptoms. Visit his website for free NLP downloads.