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

What is The Fear of Heights?

The Fear of Heights is also known as Acrophobia and is one of the most commonly known phobias.

There are many who consider a fear of heights to be completely ‘rational’ rather than ‘irrational’ and so dispute its classification as a phobia.

There is also some evidence that suggests a human developmental trait which causes people to over-estimate the actual height they see as a form of ‘safety’ and survival instinct which leads to the natural instinct to ‘pull-back’ from high places

Fear is the emotional experience that we have when we perceive there to be some sort of threat in our immediate location or context, or even that a threat may present itself in the future (anticipatory anxiety) and this is certainly true for somebody who has a fear of Heights.

The important thing to be aware of is that we only need to perceive (believe) that something is a threat in order to trigger the fear reaction and just as importantly, what one person perceives to be a threat may not be regarded as threatening to somebody else.

In other words, the fear of Heights is a highly individual experience based on the subjective belief that Heights represents a threat to that individual.

Many people do not really understand or have a great deal of sympathy for people who suffer with the fear of Heights as it may not be something they personally experience, however, for the person suffering this fear the stress and anxiety that they experience is real and not imagined.

We are fully aware of the subjective nature of individual fears and will treat you and your Fear of Heights seriously when you consult us for help.

Fear of Heights Symptoms

The symptoms associated with the fear of Heights have much in common with other fears and phobias and may 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

Often the symptoms of Acrophobia can seem to occur without the object of fear even being present indicating that the fear of Heights has become normalised into everyday life.

This normalisation process often results in the development and use of safety behaviours in an attempt to prevent exposure to triggering events which, paradoxically, may cause the problem to get worse.

In other words, safety behaviours tend to reinforce the fear of Heights rather than diminish it!

Acrophobia may be the result of earlier traumatic experiences that can be directly (or indirectly) linked to a specific object or situation, but this is not always the case because fears can also be inherited as learned behaviours from the social context in which a person is brought up.

The good news is that the majority of people who suffer with a fear of Heights will find a course of psychotherapy highly beneficial.

You can read more about the different types of psychological therapy for the fear of Heights below.

Therapy & Counselling for the Fear of Heights

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

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for the Fear of Heights

If you’re determined to overcome your Fear of Heights then we highly recommend following our 10 session Tranceformental CBT programme with Paul.

T-CBT is a clinically proven psychotherapy course that will teach you everything you need to know to understand your problem, identify any limiting beliefs and unhelpful thinking styles that you might have developed in order to cope, and then provide guidance on how to make changes to your thinking and behaviours to irradicate the problems.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has an excellent track-record with problems based on anxiety and fearful cognitions (thoughts) which are key factors in the fear of Heights.

Alternative Psychotherapies for the Fear of Heights

Although we generally recommend CBT for Acrophobia, we also offer alternative psychotherapies for people preferring a different approach.

These include:

Psychodynamic therapy which focuses on understanding why the problem has arisen and relies on the therapy relationship to bring about change.

Counselling which is less formally structured than CBT but still provides a safe and non-judgmental environment in which to discuss issues. Talking problems through with a skilled counsellor is often therapeutic in its own right.

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

Free Initial Consultations for the Fear of Heights

We offer all prospective clients FREE initial consultations to discuss your Acrophobia problems prior to commencing any psychotherapy programmes.

The consultation and lasts around 50 minutes.

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

Initial consultations are also available online.

We recognise the importance of the therapy relationship in helping people to bring about effective change, so it is important to meet (either face-to-face or online) before deciding to follow a course of psychotherapy.

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