All About Aviophobia, the Fear of Flying, and How to Overcome it with Psychological Therapy & Counselling

What is Aviophobia?

Aviophobia is the Fear of Flying and, like all other fears and phobias, can be a cause of significant anxiety and stress if you suffer from it.

There may be a number of reasons why you developed Aviophobia, for example:

• Negative experiences with Flying in the past such as bad turbulence.
• Growing up with a parent who suffered from Aviophobia.
• Needing to be in control.

Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence that Aviophobia is the result of any kind of biological fault or chemical imbalance in spite of the traction that biomedical models of mental illness are given in the media.

On the contrary, Aviophobia is much more likely to be the result of your own, subjective evaluation (meaning-making) of what happened to you and is therefore better described as a psychosocial phenomenon.

Aviophobia Symptoms & Behaviours

All phobias, including Aviophobia, create feelings of anxiety because phobic objects or situations are always perceived as a threat.

Consequently, the symptoms of Aviophobia are both specific and generic and may include:

• Anxiety or panic attacks before or during a flight.
• Fear of crashing or turbulence.
• Physical symptoms such as sweating, shaking, palpitations, and difficulty breathing.
• Avoiding flying or feeling extreme distress at the thought of flying.
• Needing to have control over the situation, such as avoiding certain seats or needing to know the flight plan in advance.
• Fear of enclosed spaces or heights, which may exacerbate the fear of flying.
• Feeling detached from oneself or feeling like one is not in control of their body.
• Negative thoughts or catastrophising, such as imagining the worst-case scenario.

You may have all, some or even different symptoms to these listed here and this is due to the subjective nature of Aviophobia.

However, you should also be aware that many of these somatic symptoms (symptoms felt in the body) WILL subside over time and rarely last for more than 20 to 30 minutes.

What Causes Aviophobia?

It’s possible that your Aviophobia may be the result of traumatic events or adverse situations that you experienced when growing-up.

For example, you may have had a particularly bad experience when a flight was very bumpy, or had a difficult landing.

However, because a Fear of Flying is by no means universal, the most likely explanation for your Aviophobia is the way you understood and made sense of your earlier experiences around which you have built a set of beliefs.

Statistically, flying is much safer than driving a car but most people don’t develop a phobia of driving.

Counselling and Therapy for Aviophobia

We offer a number of different types of therapy and counselling for Aviophobia the Fear of Flying.

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

• How long you have had your phobia.
• Your personal preferences.
• How your phobia is affecting you today.

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

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Aviophobia
• Counselling for Aviophobia
• Pluralistic Therapy for the Fear of Flying

Although all forms of psychotherapy 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 the therapy relationship may be the most important factor in achieving a good therapy outcome.

Fear of Flying Hypnosis

You may also be interested in Joan’s 4 session fear of flying hypnosis course.

Behaviour Change Framework – BCF

All of our counselling sessions and programmes are enhanced by applying the Behaviour Change Framework (BCF).

This scientifically proven protocol clearly defines the incremental stages of behaviour change that you need to go through in order to achieve long lasting and sustainable change.

Drawn from the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (TTM), the framework provides a roadmap that not only gauges the current stage of progression through the change process, but also indicates if more change is required before entering the next phase of therapy or coaching.

In this way, we are able to ensure that you get the best possible level of support in overcoming your problems as well as ensuring that we don’t terminate the change process prematurely.

You can read more about the Science of Change here.

Arrange your FREE initial consultation here.

If you’d like to find out more about overcoming Aviophobia or recovering from related mental health problems then why not arrange a free initial consultation with us.

During this consultation we will discuss your particular phobia and the different types of mental health counselling we offer without you having to commit to any counselling going forward.

The consultation lasts around 50 minutes and is a great opportunity to meet with either Paul or Joan and decide if you would like to proceed with any support.