Are phobias treatable?

Yes. Phobias are often highly treatable. Therapy focuses on the fear cycle and the avoidance patterns that keep fear strong.

Will therapy force me to face my fear immediately?

No. Effective therapy is paced and collaborative. The aim is gradual, structured progress that builds confidence without overwhelming you.

Why does avoiding make it worse?

Avoidance reduces fear in the short term, which teaches the brain that avoidance was necessary for safety. Over time, fear spreads and strengthens. Therapy helps you change that learning safely.

Can you help with fear of flying or fear of driving?

Yes. These are common situational phobias. Therapy focuses on the fear-of-fear cycle, avoidance, and safety behaviours that maintain it.

Can you help with needle phobia?

Yes. Therapy can be very helpful for needle and medical fears, especially when avoidance is affecting healthcare access.

Do you offer phobia therapy in London and online?

Yes. We offer therapy in London and online across the UK.

Phobia Therapy

A phobia is an intense fear response that feels immediate and overpowering, even when you know logically that the situation is unlikely to be dangerous. Phobias can be linked to specific things (such as flying, needles, vomiting, dogs, spiders, heights) or situations (such as driving, crowds, enclosed spaces). The fear can show up as panic symptoms, dread, avoidance, or a strong need to escape.

The hardest part is often how quickly the fear takes over. You may organise your life around avoiding triggers, or you may endure situations with intense distress. Over time, avoidance tends to spread, and life can become smaller.

At Hampstead Psychology, we offer evidence-based therapy for phobias in London and online across the UK. We help you understand the fear cycle and reduce avoidance in a paced, structured way so confidence returns.

This page is for information and does not replace a clinical assessment, diagnosis, or medical advice.

When a phobia starts to take over

You might recognise some of these experiences:

You feel a surge of panic or dread when you’re near the feared thing or situation.
You avoid triggers completely, or you go through with things but feel terrified.
Your body reacts strongly: racing heart, nausea, dizziness, breathlessness, trembling.
You plan routes, holidays, work, or daily routines around avoiding the trigger.
You feel embarrassed that the fear feels “too much,” and you keep it private.
The fear has spread over time, so more and more situations feel risky.
You feel trapped because avoiding helps short-term but makes life smaller.
You rely on safety behaviours: reassurance, checking, distractions, escape plans.
You dread upcoming events (flights, medical appointments, driving) for weeks beforehand.
You worry you’ll lose control, faint, panic, or be unable to cope.

If this fits, you’re not weak. Phobias are very common and often highly treatable. Therapy helps you reduce the fear response and rebuild a sense of safety through structured, step-by-step change.

How phobias can show up

Specific object or animal fears

Some phobias are centred on a particular object or animal. The fear may not be about the object itself, but about what your mind predicts will happen in the moment: contamination, harm, loss of control, unbearable anxiety. Therapy helps you retrain the fear prediction system.

Situational phobias

Phobias can also be about situations such as flying, lifts, driving, bridges, tunnels, or enclosed spaces. These often involve fears about panic, escape, or being trapped. Therapy focuses on the fear-of-fear cycle and avoidance patterns that keep the phobia strong.

Needle phobia and medical fears

Needles, blood, and medical procedures can provoke intense fear and avoidance, which can make healthcare harder to access. Therapy works carefully and practically to reduce fear responses and support you to engage with healthcare when needed.

Emetophobia (fear of vomiting) and contamination-related fears

Some phobias are linked to bodily sensations, illness fears, or contamination. People often avoid foods, travel, certain places, or social situations. Therapy helps reduce threat monitoring and safety behaviours in a paced way.

Related difficulties we often see alongside phobias

Phobias often overlap with panic symptoms, general anxiety, health anxiety, avoidance patterns, and sleep disruption. Many people also experience shame or self-criticism because they feel they “should be over it.”

Therapy takes the whole picture into account while focusing on the phobia cycle.

What keeps phobias going

Phobias are often maintained by a loop that makes sense in the moment.

A trigger appears (or the thought of it appears).
Your mind predicts danger and your body enters threat mode.
You escape, avoid, or use safety strategies to get through.
Relief follows, which teaches the brain: “Avoidance kept me safe.”
Next time the fear feels stronger and arrives earlier.

Therapy helps you step out of this loop by changing the fear prediction system and reducing avoidance and safety behaviours gradually, so your brain learns a new association: “I can cope, and I am safe enough.”

How therapy for phobias helps

At Hampstead Psychology, we use approaches that are widely used in evidence-based psychological practice. For phobias, therapy is typically CBT-informed and often involves graded exposure principles, tailored carefully and collaboratively. We may also integrate ACT and compassion-focused work, especially when shame and fear of anxiety are central.

In practice, therapy involves mapping your specific fear cycle, identifying the triggers and safety behaviours, and creating a paced plan to reduce avoidance. The work is structured and step-by-step. You will not be forced into anything. Progress comes from repeated experiences of coping, not from willpower or pushing through in a way that overwhelms you.

What to expect from sessions

We begin by understanding what the phobia is, how it developed, what maintains it now, and what it has been costing you. We build a shared map and agree clear goals for therapy.

Sessions are collaborative and practical. You’ll leave with insight that feels usable and a plan of steps to try between sessions, reviewed and refined over time. The pace matters, because confidence grows through steady, achievable progress.

How long does therapy take?

This varies. Some phobias respond well to focused work over a shorter period, especially when the problem is well defined and avoidance patterns are clear. Others take longer, particularly when the phobia is intertwined with panic, health anxiety, OCD-style processes, or broader anxiety patterns.

We review progress together so therapy stays purposeful and aligned with your goals.

Phobia therapy in Hampstead and online

We offer therapy for phobias in person in London and online across the UK. Online sessions can work very well, and for many phobias it can be helpful to practise changes in real-life contexts between sessions.

Take the next step

If a phobia has been shrinking your life, limiting choices, or keeping you on edge, you don’t have to manage it alone. With the right support, fear can reduce and confidence can return, step by step.

Contact Hampstead Psychology to enquire about OCD therapy in London or online.

Useful links: Anxiety Therapy, Panic Attacks, Health Anxiety Therapy, OCD Therapy, Stress and Burnout, Fees, Meet the Team, Contact.

Urgent Help

If you are worried about immediate risk to your safety, call 999 or go to A&E. If you need urgent support but it isn’t an emergency, contact NHS 111 or your GP. You can also contact Samaritans on 116 123 (24/7).

Meet The Team

At Hampstead Psychology, all of our psychologists have extensive training to doctoral level and decades of experience in their field of expertise. You will be matched with a psychologist that has the knowledge and skill to help you understand and overcome your problem - not just in the short term but for good.