Each time I take an airplane, the psychotherapist in me cannot resist casting a furtive eye over my fellow passengers in order to spot those who are looking really anxious and nervous about flying. More often than not, there's usually one or two who are displaying the classic symptoms of a fear of flying phobia.

Fear of flying is indeed a very common phobia. Together with the fear of spiders and the fear of public speaking, fear of flying is the most common phobia there is.

In our rational, conscious mind, of course, we may be only too well aware that flying is the safest means of public transport in existence. In terms of accidents and fatalities, it is much, much safer than driving, for example. The Federal Aviation Authority has researched and reviewed the accident rate for the past few years and, according to them, you would have to take one flight a day for the next 22,000 years in order to be the casualty of a crash in a commercial airplane.

These, surely, are pretty impressive odds in anyone's book!

The problem is, of course, that fear of flying - in common with all phobias - is not based in logic or rationality. It is a learned fear and, as such, it is generated by the subconscious mind. Fear is a feeling, and though feelings are interpreted by the conscious, analytical mind, they are not really generated there. They are driven by the subconscious, feeling mind. This explains why it is so very difficult to simply use logic and willpower to order them away.

The good news, of course, is that since this fear is learned - the fear of loud noises (startle reflex) and of falling (parachute reflex) are the only fears we are actually born with - then it can be un-learned.

There are many CD recordings available on the market that claim to remove the fear of flying and indeed, some of these may be useful in de-sensitizing the individual to a certain extent. They can assist in producing limited feelings of greater relaxation. But, such strategies work only at the symptom level, by attempting to 'suggest' away the fear, leaving the actual cause of the problem untouched. And, based on my own professional experience and training, if the 'driver', the cause of the fear is left untouched and untreated, it will indeed find some way to surface and persist.

Real and effective treatment for fear of flying need not be lengthy and it is a surprisingly simple process. Usually, this phobia can be treated and cleared in as little as two sessions of effective transformational hypnotherapy. The word 'effective' is key here, of course -- because of lack of proper training, many 'hypnotherapists' really do not know how to clear this phobia.

There is no real reason for you or anyone to hang on to this truly debilitating, intensely restricting fear. There really is no real reason to go on experiencing fear when flying or thinking about flying. In the hands of a fully trained, experienced transformational hypnotherapist, you can be rid of this handicapping fear and returned to your natural ability to travel and fly with ease.

Seek out an experienced and fully qualified transformational hypnotherapist and free yourself, once and for all, of your fear. You'll be really glad you did!