All About Amaxophobia, the Fear of Riding in Cars, & How To Overcome it with CBT, Therapy & Counselling in Wolverhampton & West Midlands

What is Amaxophobia?

Amaxophobia is the Fear of Riding in Cars and is frequently about specific types of roads such as motorways which may be ‘more difficult to get off’.

Amaxophobia sufferers may become “back seat drivers” which can distract the driver and increase the odds of the car crashing due to the constant stressing and verbalising. In this sense, sufferers may also have control issues and dislike other people being in control of the car.

In addition, Amaxophobics may have a fear of enclosed spaces or being trapped in a vehicle.

They may try to look for jobs or careers that do not require using cars, which may limit potential lifetime achievements.

All phobias, regardless of what the feared object or circumstances are, produce feelings of Anxiety and Stress for the sufferer, and Amaxophobia 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 Amaxophobia 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 Amaxophobia seriously.

The majority of people who do suffer with Amaxophobia 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!

Amaxophobia Symptoms

The symptoms of Amaxophobia 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

Amaxophobia 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!

Amaxophobia 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, Amaxophobia 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 Amaxophobia will find a course of Psychological Therapy helps enormously.

Therapy & Counselling for Amaxophobia

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

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Amaxophobia

If you’re committed to overcoming your Amaxophobia 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.

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

Alternative Therapies for Amaxophobia

Although our preferred form of psychological therapy for Amaxophobia 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 Amaxophobia

We offer all prospective clients a FREE initial consultation to discuss your Amaxophobia 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.