What is Thalassophobia?
A confession to make!
I am a therapist, yet I am a human being too, and something I have struggled with throughout my life is a fear of deep water—or to be more precise, the vastness of that deep water and the possibility of what lurks beneath the surface.
As someone who helps others navigate their fears, I find it’s time to shine a light and overcome my own.
This is a short-ish blog post about how I used my own therapeutic approach from Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy (QCH) to work through a and controlling this phobia.
I am work in progress, yet I am now able to feel much better about thing about the deep (and the creatures that lurk beneath).
What is Thalassophobia?
Thalassophobia is more than just a fear; it is an overwhelming dread of the seemingly boundless and obscure depths that may hide all sorts of unnamed real and imaginart terrors. It’s a phobia that captures the essence of the unknown—the sea as a mysterious, unfathomable place.
Being lost in a lifeboat floating out over the large expanse, forget about it.
Spotting the signals
For me this issue was at it’s worst when I was on a sailing trip with friends around the coast of Majorca in 2018.. I don’t sail that often (obviously), yet on this particular trip there was news of a great white shark being spotted off of the coast of the island and this send my imagination into overdrive - Warning the link has a massive shark in the article.
Recognising the symptoms
I had all the classic symptoms a racing heart, sudden chills, a desperate need to flee (not good on a boat), the physical and emotional symptoms were quite overwhelming. I tried to laugh it off, yet I was scared of something awful coming from the deep.
Determined to overcome my fear, I tried to swim between boats (at night), which was a terrible idea, because I was terrified when I got to the other boat and then I realised I would have to swim back….
The common symptoms of Thalassophobia
QCH to my rescue
It was bad. Yet, at the same time I was training to be a Quest Cognitive hypnotherapist, so I figured I could use my training to understand and hopefully overcome this issue. It worked.
Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy offers a promising solution to phobias. This innovative therapy combines hyper personalised approach to the power of hypnosis to access and reprogram the subconscious fears.
For me this was the fear of sharks and the deep water they swam in, nd it was rooted surprise surprise in watching Jaw’s at too early an age.
Moving through Thalassophobia using Quest
I used tools such as visualization, the fast phobia cure/rewind method to tackle this phobia head-on, transforming the source of into fear into an everyday memory - Lastly I did exposure therapy and also recorded a self-hypnosis loop.
The process was painless and it gave me back some control over my own mind and body.
The best part!!! I was able to go Whale watching for my birthday on a long needed holiday to Mexico with my girlfriend.. It was so worth all the effort, Whales are incredible.
The outcome?
As a therapist and fellow traveler on this journey through personal fears, I understand both the challenges and the victories involved in facing one’s deepest phobias.
If you, like me, have felt held back by thalassophobia, it’s time to explore how Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy can offer you a lifeline. Reach out, take that brave first step, and let’s navigate these waters together towards a fearless future.
Be well,
Richard
