A travel phobia relates to any prolonged fear associated with travelling. This can include flight phobia, driving phobia, bus and train phobia or problems travelling on any vehicle. Some people develop severe panic reactions when driving a vehicle, while others have difficulties being a passenger. In many instances, individuals with travel phobia become anxious before the journey—for example, in a car park or at the train station. The treatment of these phobias usually involves creating a hierarchy of potentially anxiety provoking situations. The therapist then works through each scenario, step-by-step in order gradually to reduce the anxiety. This process is called systematic desensitization. This technique, which was introduced into the literature in the 1950s, is most powerful when it is combined with hypnosis: in the zone, the therapist is able more easily to pair relaxation with the potentially anxiety-provoking situation, thus reducing the intensity of the fear. Some clinicians combine the use of hypnosis with in vivo exposure (Kraft & Kraft, 2010). And, indeed, clients who both practise exposure therapy and use self hypnosis often achieve quicker results.
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David Kraft is an experienced integrative psychotherapist. He has been practising for over twelve years and has helped a huge number of people with phobic anxiety. David’s approach is to combine psychodynamically-oriented psychotherapy with behaviour therapy, and part of the latter process is to use hypnosis in order to effect change in a shorter period of time. David has two clinics—one in the West End and the other in Enfield.