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

What is Erythrophobia?

Erythrophobia is the Fear of Blushing or the fear of going red and is intimately tied-in with the symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder, the fear of people negatively judging you.

This is a commonly occurring phobia but can be very debilitating for those who suffer from it.

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

We completely understand this and will treat you and your Erythrophobia seriously.

It is now widely accepted that our minds are more than capable of producing a real biological reaction to any given situation and so as long as the Erythrophobia 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 Erythrophobia recognise that their fear is “irrational” but continue to experience it regardless of this knowledge.

Symptoms of Erythrophobia

Erythrophobia, the fear of blushing, can manifest in various symptoms that can significantly impact one’s daily life.

Common symptoms include intense anxiety and fear of situations that may trigger blushing, such as social interactions or public speaking.

Individuals with erythrophobia may also experience rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, and a strong desire to avoid situations that may lead to blushing.

This fear can lead to feelings of embarrassment, self-consciousness, and low self-esteem.

Erythrophobia 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!

Erythrophobia 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 a limiting belief in that person’s life – “I’ve learnt to live with it.”

In just as many cases, Erythrophobia 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 Erythrophobia will find a course of Psychotherapy helps enormously.

Almost every phobia responds well to psychological interventions.

Therapy & Counselling for Erythrophobia

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

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Erythrophobia

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

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 Erythrophobia

Although our preferred form of psychological therapy for erythrophobia 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 Erythrophobia

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

The consultation is free and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various 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.