Claustrophobia – Fear of Enclosed Spaces

Claustrophobia is the Fear of Enclosed Spaces or small spaces either with or without people within that space.

This is a relatively common phobia and is often associated with the idea of being ‘trapped’, sometimes even in a metaphorical way (for example being trapped in an abusive relationship).

It is commonly experienced as a fear of being in a lift, particularly when the lift is full with people.

All phobias, regardless of what the feared object or circumstances are, produce feelings of Anxiety and Stress for the sufferer, and Claustrophobia 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 Claustrophobia knows only too well that the Anxiety that they experience is real enough.

We completely understand this and will treat you and your Claustrophobia 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 Claustrophobia 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 Claustrophobia 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!

Claustrophobia Symptoms

The symptoms of Claustrophobia 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

Claustrophobia 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!

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

Psychological Therapy for Claustrophobia

If you’re committed to overcoming your Claustrophobia problems then we highly recommend following our Advanced Tranceformental CBT programme with Paul which is available as an Online Therapy as well as a self-help CBT programme.

The Tranceformental programme is a highly successful & pragmatic psychotherapy course, run over 10 sessions, that will teach you everything you need to know to understand your problem, identify how unhelpful thinking and limiting beliefs might be reinforcing the issue, 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.

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

Alternative Therapy Options for Claustrophobia

Although our preferred form of psychotherapy for Claustrophobia 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 Claustrophobia

We offer all prospective clients an initial consultation to discuss your Claustrophobia prior to commencing any treatment plans.

The consultation is free and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various 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 our change programmes 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.