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

Woman with a blushing red face covering her mouth.

What is Blushing?

Blushing is the involuntary reddening of the face, usually (but not always) triggered by an emotional experience such as embarrassment or stress and invariably occurs when you ‘need it least’!

More often than not, other areas of the body such as the neck, ears and upper chest can also be affected.

Blushing affects men and women in roughly equal numbers.

As well as causing redness, it can also make the affected area actually feel hot – often described as feeling “flush.”

Although this is a normal reaction to certain situations, most people feel very self-conscious when they Blush and would like to be able to stop those “inappropriate” blushes.

Worrying about blushing in public is known as Erythrophobia.

What Causes Blushing?

“Normally” you blush when a strong emotional trigger stimulates the nervous system to widen the blood vessels in the face, technically known as “vasodilation.”

This increases the flow of blood into the blood vessels just underneath the skin, causing your face to turn red.

It can be triggered by both Psychological as well as Physical causes, such as:

Social Anxiety (social phobia) – the fear of social situations and being around people (psychological).
Rosacea – a skin condition that mainly affects the face (physiological).
Female Menopause (physiological).
Some medications – for example Tamoxifen used in breast cancer treatment (physiological).
It can also be triggered by alcohol consumption, hot drinks, eating hot or spicy food and strenuous exercise.

We recommend that you consult your GP prior to contacting us in order to rule out any of the physiological causes listed above.

Do I Need Therapy for Blushing?

Most people will blush from time to time, and it’s not usually a cause for concern.

However, if you blush frequently it can have a significant negative impact and lead to the avoidance of certain situations or interacting with other people.

If it has become a problem then consider making an appointment to come along for one of our free initial consultations where we can discuss the types of therapy available.

Therapy & Counselling for Blushing

We offer a number of different types of therapy and counselling for Blushing and related problems.

Choosing the most suitable therapy depends on a number of different considerations including factors such as:

How long you have had the problem.
Your personal preferences.
How your problem is affecting you today.

You can read more about the different types of therapy for Blushing on the following links:

Although all therapies use slightly different approaches, the one thing they all have in common is the relationship that is formed between the client and therapist.

Furthermore, research also suggests that therapy relationship may be the most important factor in achieving a good therapy outcome.

Free Initial Consultations for Blushing

We offer all prospective clients a FREE initial consultation to discuss your fear of blushing 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.