All About Algophobia, the Fear of Pain, & How To Overcome it with CBT, Therapy & Counselling in Wolverhampton & West Midlands

What is Algophobia?

Algophobia is the Fear of Pain and seems to be an odd thing to describe as a phobia given that pain is generally unpleasant and so fear of it seems ‘reasonable’.

Pain is very rarely pleasant, however, with people suffering this phobia, they will often become very fearful and develop behaviours that are so over-cautious that they rarely venture outside or participate in any situation where pain could be a likely consequence.

From a developmental point of view, we need to be able to experience pain in order to be able to avoid stimuli that might be damaging our bodies.

Some people are born with a genetic deficit in which they are unable to experience pain, and unfortunately people with this condition rarely survive past approximately 14 years of age.

All phobias, regardless of what the feared object or circumstances are, produce feelings of Anxiety and Stress for the sufferer, and Algophobia is no different in this sense.

Whilst the feared object or situation may seem, to other people, to be ‘ridiculous’ or ‘silly’, the person who suffers from Algophobia knows only too well that the Anxiety that they experience is real enough.

We completely understand this here at TranceForm Psychology and will treat you and your Algophobia seriously.

For many years Psychologists have been aware that our minds are more than capable of producing a real biological reaction to any given situation and so as long as the Algophobia sufferer “believes” that the object or situation they fear represents danger to them, then they will experience real fear.

The majority of people who do suffer with Algophobia recognise that their fear is “irrational” but continue to experience it regardless of this knowledge. This is why simply being told to “snap out of it” rarely produces a solution!

Symptoms of Algophobia

The symptoms of Algophobia are very similar to other specific phobias and will often include:

• Anger problems
• Generalised Anxiety
• Social anxiety
• Control issues
• Feelings of depression
• Insomnia & sleeping problems
• Low Self-Esteem
• Low Self-Confidence
• Panic attacks
• Overthinking things
• Paranoia
• Stress
• Avoidance and safety behaviours

Algophobia Symptoms are generally automatic and uncontrollable and can seem to take over a person’s thoughts which frequently leads to extreme measures being taken to avoid the feared object or situation, what are known as “Safety” or “Avoidance” behaviours.

Unfortunately, for the sufferer, these safety behaviours have a paradoxical effect and actually reinforce the phobia rather than solve it!

Algophobia may be the result of negative emotional experiences that can be either directly or indirectly linked to the object or situational fear.

Over time, the symptoms often become “normalised” and “accepted” as limiting beliefs in that person’s life – “I’ve learnt to live with it.”

In just as many cases, Algophobia may have become worse over time as more and more sophisticated safety behaviours and routines are developed.

The good news is that the vast majority of people who suffer from Algophobia will find a course of Psychological Therapy helps enormously.

Therapy & Counselling for Algophobia

Tranceform Psychology can offer a range of different psychotherapy solutions for Algophobia which you can read about below.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Algophobia

If you’re committed to overcoming your Algophobia problems then we highly recommend following our Cognitive Behavioural Therapy programme.

The Tranceformental CBT programme is a highly successful & pragmatic psychological therapy course, run over 10 sessions, that will teach you everything you need to know to understand your problems.

It will also help you to identify how unhelpful thinking and limiting beliefs might be reinforcing the issues, and then show you how to make any changes to your unhelpful thinking styles or maladaptive safety behaviours that you may have developed as part of your coping strategies.

The programme is also available as an online self-help CBT programme.

Our Tranceformental CBT programme is an empirically supported approach used by mental health practitioners around the World.

Alternative Therapies for Algophobia

Although our preferred form of psychological therapy for Algophobia is Tranceformental CBT we also offer alternative psychotherapies for those who might prefer a different approach.

These include:

Psychodynamic therapy which focuses more on emotional problems and relies on the Therapeutic Relationship to bring about change. Available with Paul.

General Counselling which is less structured but still provides a safe and non-judgmental environment to discuss issues which is therapeutic in its own right.

Hypnotherapy is an alternative form of therapy that can be applied to a very wide range of problems and is available with Joan.

Free Initial Consultations for Algophobia

We offer all prospective clients a FREE initial consultation to discuss your Algophobia prior to commencing any treatment plans.

The consultation is free and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various psychological therapy options that are available to you and make a considered recommendation based on your individual personal circumstances.

Initial consultations are also available as part of our online therapy service.

At Tranceform Psychology we recognise the importance of the therapeutic relationship in helping people to bring about effective change, so its important to be able to ‘meet’ to discuss any therapy treatments BEFORE proceeding.

Our policy is to help people make a fully balanced & considered decision about undertaking work with us, including both the financial and personal implications.