Fear of dogs - leading to a phobia

We are a nation of animal lovers in general, but dogs? They are top of the list! 

There are so many varieties now from micro dogs that you can fit in your pocket, to dogs so big you could ride them like a horse! The breed can dictate a certain level of fear such at Pitbull's, their reputation comes from owners who breed and train them to be vicious, but if given as a puppy to a loving caring trainer - that's exactly the nature they would have.

Part of the fear of dogs comes from knowing their wild roots, all dogs were originally wild and have a mind of their own - and our subconscious is aware of this. Add to that knowledge, a bad experience with a dog - perhaps as a child - as most children will approach an unfriendly dog at some point and either get barked at or bitten, and you can see where that fear expands and becomes a phobia.

As with any phobia, hypnotherapists look for the 'initial sensitising event' or I.S.E, either through the consultation process or if the client is unaware what caused the fear, through regression. Sometimes just remembering the I.S.E is enough for the client to realise nothing really bad happened - say they got barked at and it made them jump - that's all it might take to set up a phobic response. 

Other cases need more work. Inner child work can be done to give the clients inner child at that age all the knowledge they have gained about dogs since then, to help the subconscious let go of the fear.

Dogs if treated with care and love will give you that back. If you have been phobic about them and would like to remove that irrational response to barking or dogs in general, please contact your local hypnotherapist.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Hypnotherapy Directory are reviewed by our editorial team.

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