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

About the Fear of Balloons

The Fear of Balloons is Technically Known as Globophobia and is commonly picked-up in childhood, usually from being ‘startled’ by a balloon popping unexpectedly.

People who have any type of traumatic experience in which loud noises were a component of the experience may also react to the sound of a balloon popping, in these cases it may be post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

All phobias, regardless of what the feared object or circumstances are, produce feelings of Anxiety and Stress for the sufferer, and the Fear of Balloons is no different.

Whilst the feared object or situation may seem, to other people, to be ‘ridiculous’ or ‘silly’, the person who suffers from Globophobia 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 Fear of Balloons seriously and with ‘unconditional positive regard’.

It has long been understood within the world of psychology that our minds are more than capable of producing a real biological reaction to any given situation.

As long as the Globophobia sufferer “believes” that the object or situation they fear represents a real danger to them, then they will experience real fear with all of the associated symptoms.

This ‘reaction’ itself is not ‘faulty’ – the problem isn’t the Anxiety that is experienced, but the ‘idea’ or ‘thoughts’ that go into creating this reaction!

Fear of Balloons Symptoms

The symptoms of the Fear of Balloons are very similar to other specific phobias and will often include:

• Fear or anxiety about being in the presence of Balloons.
• Panic attacks or anxiety attacks in situations where Balloons are present or anticipated to be present.
• Safety behaviours or avoidance of situations that may involve Balloons, such as children’s parties or weddings.
• Physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, and shortness of breath when faced with Balloons.
• Feeling of helplessness or being out of control in the presence of Balloons.
• Obsessive thoughts (OCD) or nightmares related to Balloons.
• Depression, irritability, or other mood changes related to Balloons.

Globophobia 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 Fear of Balloons rather than solve it!

Your Fear of Balloons may be the result of negative experiences that can be either directly or indirectly linked to the object or situational fear.

Over time, these symptoms can become “normalised” and “accepted” as limiting beliefs in that person’s life – “you have learnt to live with it.”

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

The good news is that the vast majority of people who suffer with a Fear of Balloons will find that a course of Psychological Therapy will help enormously by helping to change the fundamental thinking contributing to the problem in the first place.

Therapy & Counselling for the Fear of Balloons

Tranceform offer a range of psychological therapy and counselling solutions for the fear of balloons which you can read about below.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for the Fear of Balloons

If you’re committed to overcoming your globophobia problems then we highly recommend following our Tranceformental CBT 10 session programme.

The Tranceformental 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 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 evidence-based, research supported approach used by mental health practitioners around the World.

Alternative Therapies for a Fear of Balloons

Although our preferred form of psychological therapy for globophobia 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

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