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The fear of heights, known as acrophobia, is a very common fear experienced by people of all walks of life. In fact, researchers have shown that to a certain extent, a fear of heights is natural to most people and animals. What turns a natural fear of heights into a phobia is that the fear is so extreme that it is deemed overblown, or it gets in the way of a person's daily activities. In an effort to evade heights, people with acrophobia may refuse to approach balconies, tall buildings, and other common situations and areas. In many people, merely thinking about heights can be enough to trigger an anxiety attack.

Acrophobia can be set off in any elevated location that makes a person feel nervous. This includes bridges, rooftops, staircases, ladders, roller coasters, and many other situations we encounter in daily life. Many people with a fear of heights may feel comfortable in some areas, like their own two-story home, but panic in other situations, such as when they are going up a ladder.

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

Acrophobia can be especially crippling because sufferers may find themselves emotionally overwhelmed in situations where they must remain calm and relaxed in order to remain 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 which causes physical harm. Or, a person might start shaking so violently that they risk falling and getting hurt. It is thus crucial for people whose fear of heights could be harmful to get treatment for their phobia.

In the past, treatments included exposing a patient to heights so they could try to "face their fear." This approach proves upsetting and unsuccessful for the majority of people. Other, more functional treatments include anti-anxiety medication and therapy. Hypnotherapy is an ideal option because it is safe, effective, and non-invasive.

Conventional hypnosis works by using direct post-hypnotic suggestions to "tell" people what to do. In today's society, this approach is often ineffective. In the world today, people are very independent minded and will resist post-hypnotic suggestions by unconsciously refusing their orders. Expert hypnosis practitioners now use more advanced Ericksonian hypnotherapy techniques to circumvent this obstacle.

Ericksonian hypnosis, as developed by Dr. Milton Erickson, is a much more effective kind of hypnotherapy than conventional methods. It uses indirect suggestions hidden in metaphors, stories, and conversation to direct your unconscious into a different, phobia-free line of thought. This is effective because it is far harder for the unconscious mind to reject suggestions placed in a dialogue, than direct post-hypnotic suggestions that are obvious to the mind.

A good hypnotherapy program combines a variety of techniques to ensure it will work for all users. The combination of multiple Ericksonian hypnosis therapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques is ideal for nearly everybody trying to rid him or herself of a phobia.

The combined program starts with a relaxation therapy session. When your mind is calm and clear, NLP techniques can be applied to eliminate a phobia. All phobias arise from the same type of thought process, so all it takes is one hypnosis phobia program with the right design to cure any fear, or even more than one phobia.

Summary: Several types of therapy depend on willpower to treat a phobia, but this often does not work because phobias stem from the unconscious mind. The techniques of Ericksonian hypnosis and NLP are especially effective at treating phobias because they operate at the unconscious level of the mind. Phobias are set off when the feeling of fear is unconsciously connected to mental imagery, such as the view from a high point. By disconnecting or separating the feeling of fear from the image, certain hypnotic and NLP techniques can forever eliminate a phobia very quickly.

Hypnotherapy sessions can help a person quickly and effortlessly vanquish a fear of heights. It is among the safest forms of phobia remedies available, with no side effects. For men and women looking to overcome acrophobia or any other anxiety disorder, hypnotherapy offers a balanced form of stress-free phobia relief.