Hello
This article continues the theme of looking at different treatments that people have tried. Again, re-iterating the mantra, 'There is no best therapy - just the one(s) that work for you!' Another thing to say at this point is that we will not be talking about drugs. We see drugs as a short term solution towards helping with a fear of flying..
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is definitely one of the main treatments we hear talked aside from Hypnotherapy.
-------------------------------------------
Potted History
There are a lot of names associated with modern day CBT, but originally probably Beck and Ellis are the two most commonly spoken of. CBT is effective for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including mood, anxiety, personality, eating, substance abuse and even psychotic disorders. Many CBT treatment programs for specific disorders have been evaluated for efficacy; the health-care trend of evidence-based treatment, where specific treatments for symptom-based diagnoses are recommended, has favoured CBT over other approaches such as psychodynamic treatments. In fact, the last Government were so impressed with the evidenced based side, that they have included it in the NICE guidelines. Plus, they put aside a sum of money for GPs to be able to refer appropriate patients on for treatment courtesy of the last government. Neat?!
So, is it the 'wonder-treatment?'
For some people, it can be very effective very quickly. It seems to help a lot with anxieties and phobias. There has been some debate as to whether it lasts long term though...Some people just need the time that other treatments such as counselling or psychotherapy offer. There is also a pressure on therapists using Government funded CBT to deliver results within very few sessions. You can argue whether this is good or bad but our view is that it very much depends on the individual being helped. Some individuals can be helped very quickly as this particular study shows study
So, in summary, it is probably a thumbs up from us towards CBT as an approach. We certainly recommend that people who need help with other anxieties after our course, give it a try.
------------------------------------------
Disclaimer... As always, these are our views and we could be talking twaddle! All of these blogs are just meant to help...
-------------------------------------------
Take care
Paul & Richard
Virgin Flying Without Fear
=========================
Future Dates
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Gatwick 18th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
London Luton 26th August Special One-Off Refresher course (Can only be booked by calling 01423 714900)
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
Monday, 30 July 2012
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Which treatment is best - EMDR?
We are carrying on the series about which treatments are best to help fear of flying... We get asked this question quite a lot. We always try to find out what other treatments our clients have tried before we see them. Or, even after they have seen us as they seek treatment for other fears and phobias.
One of the treatments that has been mentioned occasionally but not often is EMDR - eye movement and desensitisation reprocessing. In normal speak, our understanding...
------------------------------------
When something has happened to you of a traumatic nature, the theory goes that your brain can't cope with it normally. This means a separate area of your head is created where it sits and festers. The data is so overwhelming the host can't cope with it. Part of the the brain wants to deal with it and gives the host lots of flashbacks which can be frequent or just occur when triggered by a specific smell or noise. These can seriously limit a person's life and cause them to tailor their life around avoiding or managing the waves of fear and panic - the person literally re-lives it all the time. It would be a bit like have nightmares whilst you are awake.
-----------------------------------
This has been most commonly used with post traumatic stress disorder such as those soldiers who have been in combat or someone that has been seriously assaulted... In fact, any form of trauma.
-----------------------------------
The link with fear of flying? (As we see it)
We don't see an obvious link with the majority of clients that we see. However, there have been some trials in the EMDR world of helping people with anxiety disorders. So, it remains to be seen whether there will be a growth in this area too...EMDR, as a treatment, has only been around since 1989 so it may become an even bigger player in the future and its help extend beyond where it currently operates. Who knows...
------------------------------------
Disclaimer: We are not trained in EMDR. We have put this article together drawing from sources such as Wiki, Paul 's partner (she is trained in CBT, EMDR, Solution focussed Therapy, Psychodynamic counselling) and what we have learned from running fear of flying courses for over 15 years!
There is one truism/adage that we keep banging on about in this series. It is this: 'There is no best therapy - just the one(s) that work for you!'
Take care
Paul and Richard
Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear
--------------------------------
Future Courses
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Gatwick 18th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
London Luton 26th August Special One-Off Refresher course
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
Monday, 23 July 2012
Special offer to ex-clients
STOP
PRESS!!
As a one off special, we are trialling a refresher course rate at Luton on the 26th August. The whole day for £100 + VAT including refreshments and flight. Some people contact us almost embarrassed that they have flown happily for a few years after the course but have started to have ‘dark thoughts’ all over again. There is no shame in this. We see beating a fear of flying as a process; a determined process to get rid of it for good. There may be ‘blips’ along the way and this is perfectly okay. We would be delighted to see you again if you need a top up. Please call the office to book this 01423 714900.
Take Care
Paul + Richard
Virgin Flying Without Fear
P.S. This course is running the same day as our regular Luton 26th August course
As a one off special, we are trialling a refresher course rate at Luton on the 26th August. The whole day for £100 + VAT including refreshments and flight. Some people contact us almost embarrassed that they have flown happily for a few years after the course but have started to have ‘dark thoughts’ all over again. There is no shame in this. We see beating a fear of flying as a process; a determined process to get rid of it for good. There may be ‘blips’ along the way and this is perfectly okay. We would be delighted to see you again if you need a top up. Please call the office to book this 01423 714900.
Take Care
Paul + Richard
Virgin Flying Without Fear
P.S. This course is running the same day as our regular Luton 26th August course
Thursday, 19 July 2012
What aircraft type do you use?
This is a question that comes up every week from people enquiring about the course.
We encourage potential clients to ask anything that they want to before attending our course. This question is quite a curious one though.
First of all, we always answer happily straight away: 'We use commercial jets just as you would take for domestic or European destinations. Typically, our aircraft seat between 130-280 people depending on location.'
The next question we get asked sometimes is this: 'Do you use Virgin aircraft?'
Our answer is this: 'We use the right size aircraft that is fit for purpose. Currently, the Virgin aircraft are just too darn big for us! They are, after all, a long haul carrier predominantly.'
So far, do these seem reasonable questions? Yes they are. However, there is a hidden demon within these questions...
------------------------------------------
STOP PRESS!!
As a one off special, we are trialling a refresher course rate at Luton on the 26th August. The whole day for £100 + VAT including refreshments and flight. Some people contact us almost embarrassed that they have flown happily for a few years after the course but have started to have ‘dark thoughts’ all over again. There is no shame in this. We see beating a fear of flying as a process; a determined process to get rid of it for good. There may be ‘blips’ along the way and this is perfectly okay. We would be delighted to see you again if you need a top up. Please call the office to book this 01423 714900.
END
-------------------------------------------
Allow us to explain:
When you attend our course, our sole purpose is to get you flying, get you flying again or keep you flying comfortably. Obviously, it is great if you fly with Virgin. However, we always say this... Anything that flies into European, UK, or parts of the developed world airspace has to meet the same international safety standards. Anything that can land into the UK has to meet the same standards as everyone else safety wise within the UK. We just want to get you flying again!
That means Easy Jet, Virgin, BA, Ryanair, Monarch, Flybe, BMI, Thomson, Thomas Cook etc etc are all meeting the same safety standard. They will go about it differently but we are all subject to the same spot checks by CAA who can sit in on any safety training the airline conducts. It has to all meet a certain standard or else....
So what does this mean to you?
Needing to know about the aircraft type is a reasonable question if you are thinking 'I want my meal to be included in the price of the ticket...' Or, 'I would like the baggage to be included in the price..' Or, 'I want an actual seat number allocated and not join a rugby scrum for first come first served.' But in terms of safety, it makes no difference. If we set up a rule in our head, 'I will only fly Virgin or only BA and not...' due to a safety reason that we have decided is true for us - then we are in trouble. Why?
You could be in danger of setting up a safety behaviour around flying. 'I will only fly if it is BA.' 'I will only fly during daylight hours because it is safer.' 'I will only fly if I can sit over the wing.' 'I will only fly if...'
These limiting beliefs need to be challenged eventually. They don't keep us any safer actually... They just make us feel safer. Nothing wrong with this if we can see it for what it is and accept that eventually, as part of our process of getting rid of the 'fear,' we need to make plans to challenge some of these rules we are living by.
What is the harm if they make us feel safe?
Imagine you have booked BA, as you will only fly BA. You have booked your safest seat which is no.36F right over the wing! Then, at the holiday destination, they have changed aircraft type and carrier. They cannot honour your over wing seat and it is first come first served... Now your safety behaviours have been taken from you. Where does that leave you?
We want to encourage you eventually to become more flexible with yourself. Fear can make us quite fixed and rigid about the conditions with which we will fly...
As always, these blogs are meant with good intention and never to offend...
Take care
Paul & Richard
Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear
==========================
Future Dates
London Luton 26th August
London Luton 26th August Special One-Off Refresher course
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Gatwick 18th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
We encourage potential clients to ask anything that they want to before attending our course. This question is quite a curious one though.
First of all, we always answer happily straight away: 'We use commercial jets just as you would take for domestic or European destinations. Typically, our aircraft seat between 130-280 people depending on location.'
The next question we get asked sometimes is this: 'Do you use Virgin aircraft?'Our answer is this: 'We use the right size aircraft that is fit for purpose. Currently, the Virgin aircraft are just too darn big for us! They are, after all, a long haul carrier predominantly.'
So far, do these seem reasonable questions? Yes they are. However, there is a hidden demon within these questions...
------------------------------------------
STOP PRESS!!
As a one off special, we are trialling a refresher course rate at Luton on the 26th August. The whole day for £100 + VAT including refreshments and flight. Some people contact us almost embarrassed that they have flown happily for a few years after the course but have started to have ‘dark thoughts’ all over again. There is no shame in this. We see beating a fear of flying as a process; a determined process to get rid of it for good. There may be ‘blips’ along the way and this is perfectly okay. We would be delighted to see you again if you need a top up. Please call the office to book this 01423 714900.
END
-------------------------------------------
Allow us to explain:
When you attend our course, our sole purpose is to get you flying, get you flying again or keep you flying comfortably. Obviously, it is great if you fly with Virgin. However, we always say this... Anything that flies into European, UK, or parts of the developed world airspace has to meet the same international safety standards. Anything that can land into the UK has to meet the same standards as everyone else safety wise within the UK. We just want to get you flying again!
That means Easy Jet, Virgin, BA, Ryanair, Monarch, Flybe, BMI, Thomson, Thomas Cook etc etc are all meeting the same safety standard. They will go about it differently but we are all subject to the same spot checks by CAA who can sit in on any safety training the airline conducts. It has to all meet a certain standard or else....
So what does this mean to you?
Needing to know about the aircraft type is a reasonable question if you are thinking 'I want my meal to be included in the price of the ticket...' Or, 'I would like the baggage to be included in the price..' Or, 'I want an actual seat number allocated and not join a rugby scrum for first come first served.' But in terms of safety, it makes no difference. If we set up a rule in our head, 'I will only fly Virgin or only BA and not...' due to a safety reason that we have decided is true for us - then we are in trouble. Why?
You could be in danger of setting up a safety behaviour around flying. 'I will only fly if it is BA.' 'I will only fly during daylight hours because it is safer.' 'I will only fly if I can sit over the wing.' 'I will only fly if...'
These limiting beliefs need to be challenged eventually. They don't keep us any safer actually... They just make us feel safer. Nothing wrong with this if we can see it for what it is and accept that eventually, as part of our process of getting rid of the 'fear,' we need to make plans to challenge some of these rules we are living by.
What is the harm if they make us feel safe?
Imagine you have booked BA, as you will only fly BA. You have booked your safest seat which is no.36F right over the wing! Then, at the holiday destination, they have changed aircraft type and carrier. They cannot honour your over wing seat and it is first come first served... Now your safety behaviours have been taken from you. Where does that leave you?
We want to encourage you eventually to become more flexible with yourself. Fear can make us quite fixed and rigid about the conditions with which we will fly...
As always, these blogs are meant with good intention and never to offend...
Take care
Paul & Richard
Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear
==========================
Future Dates
London Luton 26th August
London Luton 26th August Special One-Off Refresher course
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Gatwick 18th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
Monday, 16 July 2012
Which treatment is best - Counselling?
Continuing from our series looking at different things people have told us they have tried to beat their fear of flying. As far as we are concerned, this phrase still applies:
'There is no best therapy - just the one(s) that work for you!'
-------------------------------------------------
This blog, we are going to look at counselling. Up front, we want to say this: Counselling is such a small word for such a massive area - there are so many different types of counselling help and training available 'out there'. This blog will only scrape the surface in answer to the question, 'Which treatment is best - counselling?'
By the way, we have noticed that sometimes people have a negative view of cousellors as well meaning retired people simpering over you with a 'there there occasionally!' This is far from the case. The regulations and requirements to be a recognised counsellor with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy are very involved. You have to provide a lot of evidence of good practice to get 'signed off.'
Some people only consult when divorce, redundancy, bereavement or something shocking happens. This is a more immediate and pressing need to be helped - but counselling is not a one session solution. Here is a definition:
-------------------------------------------------
There are many different forms of counsellor and we are not going to attempt to explain them all away in one blog! Like we said earlier, there are too many... It takes counsellors years to train up. Although you may see counselling courses advertised for one year, that will only be to a certain level. In fact, it is never ending the learning journey of a counsellor as one course leads into another then another. Plus, a required part of the training is to receive counselling yourself. Many members of the BACP may have received up to 5-10 years counselling themselves.
----------------------------------------------------
So how does counselling help with fear of flying?
Counselling can be enormously helpful for fear of flying provided you have time. We find that a lot of our clients have other fears aside from fear of flying. They may also suffer from general anxiety too. Counselling can help with anxieties as you will approach your problems in a thorough but more gradual fashion. It can help people to achieve a life free of anxiety altogether. Fear of flying can be part of a programme of treatment to help an individual face a whole host of self limiting beliefs and fears. Also, as the counsellor has been through their own therapy, they tend to be very supportive and non-judgemental.
We are going to look at a few other treatments we have heard about that people have tried before they come to us or in tandem with us.
================================
Announcement - refresher course:
We sometimes get asked by previous clients if they come back and see us again. They have been quite happily flying for several years and have noticed 'it' coming back. We see beating a fear of flying as a process and there is no shame in getting a top-up. We are offering a massively discounted one off special. Next Luton 26th August, £120 inc VAT, refreshments and flight. This is for people that have been to us before and can only be booked through the office on 01423 714900.
--------------------------------------------------------
Future dates:
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Gatwick 18th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
------------------------
Take care
Paul & Richard
'There is no best therapy - just the one(s) that work for you!'
-------------------------------------------------
This blog, we are going to look at counselling. Up front, we want to say this: Counselling is such a small word for such a massive area - there are so many different types of counselling help and training available 'out there'. This blog will only scrape the surface in answer to the question, 'Which treatment is best - counselling?'
By the way, we have noticed that sometimes people have a negative view of cousellors as well meaning retired people simpering over you with a 'there there occasionally!' This is far from the case. The regulations and requirements to be a recognised counsellor with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy are very involved. You have to provide a lot of evidence of good practice to get 'signed off.'
Some people only consult when divorce, redundancy, bereavement or something shocking happens. This is a more immediate and pressing need to be helped - but counselling is not a one session solution. Here is a definition:
BACP Definition of Counselling
Counselling and psychotherapy are umbrella terms that cover a range of talking therapies. They are delivered by trained practitioners who work with people over a short or long term to help them bring about effective change or enhance their wellbeing.-------------------------------------------------
There are many different forms of counsellor and we are not going to attempt to explain them all away in one blog! Like we said earlier, there are too many... It takes counsellors years to train up. Although you may see counselling courses advertised for one year, that will only be to a certain level. In fact, it is never ending the learning journey of a counsellor as one course leads into another then another. Plus, a required part of the training is to receive counselling yourself. Many members of the BACP may have received up to 5-10 years counselling themselves.
So how does counselling help with fear of flying?
Counselling can be enormously helpful for fear of flying provided you have time. We find that a lot of our clients have other fears aside from fear of flying. They may also suffer from general anxiety too. Counselling can help with anxieties as you will approach your problems in a thorough but more gradual fashion. It can help people to achieve a life free of anxiety altogether. Fear of flying can be part of a programme of treatment to help an individual face a whole host of self limiting beliefs and fears. Also, as the counsellor has been through their own therapy, they tend to be very supportive and non-judgemental.
We are going to look at a few other treatments we have heard about that people have tried before they come to us or in tandem with us.
================================
Announcement - refresher course:
We sometimes get asked by previous clients if they come back and see us again. They have been quite happily flying for several years and have noticed 'it' coming back. We see beating a fear of flying as a process and there is no shame in getting a top-up. We are offering a massively discounted one off special. Next Luton 26th August, £120 inc VAT, refreshments and flight. This is for people that have been to us before and can only be booked through the office on 01423 714900.
--------------------------------------------------------
Future dates:
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Gatwick 18th November (Both adult and kid’s course)
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
------------------------
Take care
Paul & Richard
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Air France Special Blog
This blog has been prompted by the recent report that has come out. Plus, a question came up on the message board about it this week. Below is the original question and afterwards is the reply that we gave. Hope you find it helpful. Also, our views are our views only. They are not representative or Air France, Airbus, Virgin or anyone other than us. The accuracy is based on solely what we have found out through our own research only...
--------------------------------------
Question from message board:
I have been fearful of Flying since I hit my mid 20's, prior to this I had no fears and would frequently fly. My main concern is the air craft falling out the sky. We hear this is not possible as when the aircraft goes forward lift is produced, and if all engines fail we can glide down to ground.
However, the BEA report on the air France flight 447 incident Published 12th July 2012 states that the aircraft fell out of sky at a velocity of 10,000ft/min. The report proportions the blame on the pitot tubes (all 3 failing), human error and ergonomics of the cockpit.
In layman's terms can you explain why the incident happened and what has been done so it does not happen again.
Thanks
Lee.
-----------------------------------
Our reply
Hello Lee,
Let me give you a 'lay answer'
I am not a pilot so don't normally answer these directly. I have listened to the pilots talk for about 15 years and, of course lately, a lot about Air France. I would say up front, that if you are learning to get over a fear of flying, the Air France incident can both help and hinder depending on your mindset. I will come back to this point at the end of this reply....
First things first. Flying is not 100% safe. It is not far off. It is the safest form of transport including walking. However, there is a slight risk of something happening. Because of this slight risk, pilots and aviation professionals in general go through rigorous training and retraining constantly. Part of this training includes 'Human Factors' as the mechanics and processes are so slick now. Why?
Over the years, every single accident that has occurred (thankfully there are not many) gets investigated with the goal of that accident never happening ever again. Over the years, it became apparent that the human being is part of the problem. So human factors training was introduced via CRM (Crew resource management) to iron out the human failings we have. For example, one pilot does not do anything or touch anything without cross-checking with the other pilot. Either pilot (or cabin crew for that matter) can challenge the pilot over something if they are not happy. This is from years ago when the Captain was God and no-one dared challenge HIM (cos they were mostly hims!) Accidents give us valuable learning into what could be done better next time. This has got so exact that every millisecond of a flight can be analysed. It is a terrible tragedy when something happens to a flight and people are lost. There is no explaining that away. The only slight consolation is that every nuance of that flight is investigated until we know what happened so we can prevent it happening again. One interesting fact is that no incident was ever caused by a single thing going wrong - it is always a chain of random events coming together at the wrong time.
So what has happened since Air France incident?
The general public would be forgiven for thinking that we have been waiting for this report to come out to rectify the problems. Way before it was public knowledge, the pilots worldwide on these aircraft (and other types) have been overloaded with exactly the same situation that the Air France people had to deal with. It has been used to remind pilots of what to do with inaccurate readings as they had to deal with. Every pilot has had to correct the problems and deal with it effectively. Which, they all have, or they wouldn't be flying still. Also, the Pitot tubes have been changed so that those original ones are not out there anymore. This was done straight away actually. There has been a lot of press hype about first officers and no Captain and their flying hours...etc ... However, every pilot that gets into a commercial aircraft is equally trained. Their number of flying hours can vary but that can work both ways. There are many ex-military pilots who are first officers with more hours flying than the Captain on the day. (When pilots switch airlines, they go back to the lowest rank again and work their way up) The ergonomics comment I haven't seen. It does seem that the pilots did not hear or ignored stall warnings and that could have been that they were overloaded. (A stall occurs when there is not enough air flow over the wings. This is normally rectified by simply dropping the nose forward and lift is restored.)
The easiest way to think about us as humans and needing to be aware of our limitations...
Two simple examples:
Have you ever gone to the freezer and found that at some point you must have put something in there without meaning to such as the Salt, tomato ketchup or a pair of shoes?!
Have you ever been lost in the car, started to panic and then drove right past the huge sign that you were looking for because you couldn't see it. Some people can't have the radio on in the car when reversing as it overloads their concentration level... That is why CRM training (human factors) is so important for pilots. That is also why, as mentioned earlier, every pilot has been overloaded the same way as the Air France pilots were so that they learn from it.
So, in our opinion, this incident is unlikely to repeat. It seems from the findings that the unfortunate pilots in this incident made a fatal error. There is a lot of talk that this should never have happened. Of course, whilst this is what we all want, it has happened and the whole aviation industry will learn from this terrible incident.
----------------------------------------------
People who have a fear of flying will say, 'There you go... See, it isn't safe. Human error...' The problem with a fearful mind is that it seeks out information. What are we feeding our brains? It is right to learn the facts but searching for anymore information about this incident will not help you. You know enough now.
You need to decide (if you don't mind me saying) whether flying is better than not flying. There is risk everywhere living. It does not matter how many times someone tells you that flying is the safest form of transport. It makes no difference. What makes a difference is that you make a rational choice about how you live your life and in what areas you will manage the risk within it. There is a slight risk with flying that something could happen to you. Of course there is. However, it is about making an informed choice not a choice out of fear.
As fantastic as we are as humans, we are still beholden to the fear mechanisms that run our body: Fight, flight or freeze. These non-thinking animal responses have stayed with us as they have a place. They have a place when we need to react without thinking to an immediate danger. Dwelling on the negative or slight risk to flying, makes them larger than they deserve to be. Then, because we are training ourselves up to perceive flying as life threatening, we will be able to trigger the basic fight, flight or freeze responses very quickly. We might be able to do it just seeing an aircraft flying overhead. That is how clever and quickly our body can respond to a perceived threat....
It is up to you now. Flying is as safe as it can be with what we know with current technological and psychological advances. In 20 years, it will probably be even safer again. You have learned fear of flying from an early age. You do not have to stay a fearful flier if you do not want to... It is always possible to learn to live without the fear - step by step....
Hope that helps?
Best wishes
Paul
PS If you are running one of the fear programmes we call 'Intellectual Resistance' you would have got quite angry with the comparison between flying an aircraft and putting tomato ketchup in the freezer!
==============================
Take care
Paul & Richard
--------------------------------------
Question from message board:
I have been fearful of Flying since I hit my mid 20's, prior to this I had no fears and would frequently fly. My main concern is the air craft falling out the sky. We hear this is not possible as when the aircraft goes forward lift is produced, and if all engines fail we can glide down to ground.
However, the BEA report on the air France flight 447 incident Published 12th July 2012 states that the aircraft fell out of sky at a velocity of 10,000ft/min. The report proportions the blame on the pitot tubes (all 3 failing), human error and ergonomics of the cockpit.
In layman's terms can you explain why the incident happened and what has been done so it does not happen again.
Thanks
Lee.
-----------------------------------
Our reply
Hello Lee,
Let me give you a 'lay answer'
I am not a pilot so don't normally answer these directly. I have listened to the pilots talk for about 15 years and, of course lately, a lot about Air France. I would say up front, that if you are learning to get over a fear of flying, the Air France incident can both help and hinder depending on your mindset. I will come back to this point at the end of this reply....
First things first. Flying is not 100% safe. It is not far off. It is the safest form of transport including walking. However, there is a slight risk of something happening. Because of this slight risk, pilots and aviation professionals in general go through rigorous training and retraining constantly. Part of this training includes 'Human Factors' as the mechanics and processes are so slick now. Why?
Over the years, every single accident that has occurred (thankfully there are not many) gets investigated with the goal of that accident never happening ever again. Over the years, it became apparent that the human being is part of the problem. So human factors training was introduced via CRM (Crew resource management) to iron out the human failings we have. For example, one pilot does not do anything or touch anything without cross-checking with the other pilot. Either pilot (or cabin crew for that matter) can challenge the pilot over something if they are not happy. This is from years ago when the Captain was God and no-one dared challenge HIM (cos they were mostly hims!) Accidents give us valuable learning into what could be done better next time. This has got so exact that every millisecond of a flight can be analysed. It is a terrible tragedy when something happens to a flight and people are lost. There is no explaining that away. The only slight consolation is that every nuance of that flight is investigated until we know what happened so we can prevent it happening again. One interesting fact is that no incident was ever caused by a single thing going wrong - it is always a chain of random events coming together at the wrong time.
So what has happened since Air France incident?
The general public would be forgiven for thinking that we have been waiting for this report to come out to rectify the problems. Way before it was public knowledge, the pilots worldwide on these aircraft (and other types) have been overloaded with exactly the same situation that the Air France people had to deal with. It has been used to remind pilots of what to do with inaccurate readings as they had to deal with. Every pilot has had to correct the problems and deal with it effectively. Which, they all have, or they wouldn't be flying still. Also, the Pitot tubes have been changed so that those original ones are not out there anymore. This was done straight away actually. There has been a lot of press hype about first officers and no Captain and their flying hours...etc ... However, every pilot that gets into a commercial aircraft is equally trained. Their number of flying hours can vary but that can work both ways. There are many ex-military pilots who are first officers with more hours flying than the Captain on the day. (When pilots switch airlines, they go back to the lowest rank again and work their way up) The ergonomics comment I haven't seen. It does seem that the pilots did not hear or ignored stall warnings and that could have been that they were overloaded. (A stall occurs when there is not enough air flow over the wings. This is normally rectified by simply dropping the nose forward and lift is restored.)
The easiest way to think about us as humans and needing to be aware of our limitations...
Two simple examples:
Have you ever gone to the freezer and found that at some point you must have put something in there without meaning to such as the Salt, tomato ketchup or a pair of shoes?!
Have you ever been lost in the car, started to panic and then drove right past the huge sign that you were looking for because you couldn't see it. Some people can't have the radio on in the car when reversing as it overloads their concentration level... That is why CRM training (human factors) is so important for pilots. That is also why, as mentioned earlier, every pilot has been overloaded the same way as the Air France pilots were so that they learn from it.
So, in our opinion, this incident is unlikely to repeat. It seems from the findings that the unfortunate pilots in this incident made a fatal error. There is a lot of talk that this should never have happened. Of course, whilst this is what we all want, it has happened and the whole aviation industry will learn from this terrible incident.
----------------------------------------------
People who have a fear of flying will say, 'There you go... See, it isn't safe. Human error...' The problem with a fearful mind is that it seeks out information. What are we feeding our brains? It is right to learn the facts but searching for anymore information about this incident will not help you. You know enough now.
You need to decide (if you don't mind me saying) whether flying is better than not flying. There is risk everywhere living. It does not matter how many times someone tells you that flying is the safest form of transport. It makes no difference. What makes a difference is that you make a rational choice about how you live your life and in what areas you will manage the risk within it. There is a slight risk with flying that something could happen to you. Of course there is. However, it is about making an informed choice not a choice out of fear.
As fantastic as we are as humans, we are still beholden to the fear mechanisms that run our body: Fight, flight or freeze. These non-thinking animal responses have stayed with us as they have a place. They have a place when we need to react without thinking to an immediate danger. Dwelling on the negative or slight risk to flying, makes them larger than they deserve to be. Then, because we are training ourselves up to perceive flying as life threatening, we will be able to trigger the basic fight, flight or freeze responses very quickly. We might be able to do it just seeing an aircraft flying overhead. That is how clever and quickly our body can respond to a perceived threat....
It is up to you now. Flying is as safe as it can be with what we know with current technological and psychological advances. In 20 years, it will probably be even safer again. You have learned fear of flying from an early age. You do not have to stay a fearful flier if you do not want to... It is always possible to learn to live without the fear - step by step....
Hope that helps?
Best wishes
Paul
PS If you are running one of the fear programmes we call 'Intellectual Resistance' you would have got quite angry with the comparison between flying an aircraft and putting tomato ketchup in the freezer!
==============================
Take care
Paul & Richard
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Which therapy is best - NLP?
Hello again,
Following on from the last blog on hypnotherapy, there is a question that we are often asked, 'I have a fear of flying, what do you think is the best treatment?' We are often asked about many different types of therapy interventions. Today, we are going to discuss NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming.
The sort of things that we hear people have tried to beat fear of flying:
Hypnotherapy
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
Implosion Therapy
Counselling
Psycho dynamic Therapy
Solution Focused
Coaching
EMDR
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Thought Field Therapy (TFT)
Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT)
Others if they come up over next few weeks...
The last blog in this series will discuss what sort of techniques fear of flying courses tend to use and why. So, does NLP cure fear of flying?
==================================
NLP
This has become very popular since it was created in the 1970s. Many members of the flying without fear team are trained in this particular field despite the scientific criticism that exists out there of it....
Potted History
Link
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is an approach to communication, personal development and psychotherapy created in the 1970s. The title refers to a stated connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic"), and behavioural patterns that have been learned through experience ("programming") and can be organised to achieve specific goals in life. According to certain neuroscientists,psychologists and linguists, NLP is unsupported by current scientific evidence, and uses incorrect and misleading terms and concepts.
The founders of NLP, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, say that NLP is capable of addressing problems such as phobias, depression, habit disorder, psychosomatic illnesses and learning disorders. Their stated aim was in "finding ways to help people have better, fuller and richer lives." Bandler and Grinder claimed that if the effective patterns of behaviour of exceptional people could be modelled then these patterns could be acquired by others. NLP has been adopted by private therapists, including hypnotherapists, and in management workshops and seminars marketed to business and government.
Reviews of empirical research on NLP indicate that NLP contains numerous factual errors, and has failed to produce reliable results for the claims for effectiveness made by NLP’s originators and proponents.
----------------------------------------------------------------
So, the question is, 'Can NLP really help fear of flying?'
There does seem to be a hell of a lot of criticism of NLP. Some call it pseudo science! So, why are so many of our team trained in NLP then?
As far as we are concerned, some elements of NLP seem to help some of our clients a lot. We may not be able to completely prove why it does; It just does. We have looked at lots of different therapies over the years and we use a combination of approaches including NLP. There are many different techniques that can be used with phobias and anxieties which we take advantage of.
One of the approaches that NLP uses that we like is the idea of programming. If you had rubbish software running on your computer you would take it off. If you couldn't take it off the computer, you would find a way to stop it working on your computer. Then, you would install software that worked better and gave you what you actually wanted. Makes sense?
This is what we like about NLP. People who are anxious are running unhelpful software. NLP gives us some neat little techniques to change the software. This means that instead of getting anxious near aircraft, you could actually get excited about aircraft!
That is why we like some elements of it. Until someone proves to us that something that people find helpful is wrong, we will keep using it as a part of our offering....
Take care
Paul & Richard
Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear
=================================
Other News
The kids course was fully booked on the 8th July at Gatwick. It went really well. We have been running kids courses since 2006 and now we have added a flight to the session. The new cost will be £375 inc VAT which covers the child and adult places including flights and refreshments. There will be another course running at Gatwick on the 18th November and hopefully a course at Manchester on the 11th November...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future dates
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November
Gatwick 18th November
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
Following on from the last blog on hypnotherapy, there is a question that we are often asked, 'I have a fear of flying, what do you think is the best treatment?' We are often asked about many different types of therapy interventions. Today, we are going to discuss NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming.
The sort of things that we hear people have tried to beat fear of flying:
Hypnotherapy
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
Implosion Therapy
Counselling
Psycho dynamic Therapy
Solution Focused
Coaching
EMDR
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Thought Field Therapy (TFT)
Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT)
Others if they come up over next few weeks...
The last blog in this series will discuss what sort of techniques fear of flying courses tend to use and why. So, does NLP cure fear of flying?
==================================
NLP
This has become very popular since it was created in the 1970s. Many members of the flying without fear team are trained in this particular field despite the scientific criticism that exists out there of it....
Potted History
Link
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is an approach to communication, personal development and psychotherapy created in the 1970s. The title refers to a stated connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic"), and behavioural patterns that have been learned through experience ("programming") and can be organised to achieve specific goals in life. According to certain neuroscientists,psychologists and linguists, NLP is unsupported by current scientific evidence, and uses incorrect and misleading terms and concepts.
The founders of NLP, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, say that NLP is capable of addressing problems such as phobias, depression, habit disorder, psychosomatic illnesses and learning disorders. Their stated aim was in "finding ways to help people have better, fuller and richer lives." Bandler and Grinder claimed that if the effective patterns of behaviour of exceptional people could be modelled then these patterns could be acquired by others. NLP has been adopted by private therapists, including hypnotherapists, and in management workshops and seminars marketed to business and government.
Reviews of empirical research on NLP indicate that NLP contains numerous factual errors, and has failed to produce reliable results for the claims for effectiveness made by NLP’s originators and proponents.
----------------------------------------------------------------
So, the question is, 'Can NLP really help fear of flying?'
There does seem to be a hell of a lot of criticism of NLP. Some call it pseudo science! So, why are so many of our team trained in NLP then?
As far as we are concerned, some elements of NLP seem to help some of our clients a lot. We may not be able to completely prove why it does; It just does. We have looked at lots of different therapies over the years and we use a combination of approaches including NLP. There are many different techniques that can be used with phobias and anxieties which we take advantage of.
One of the approaches that NLP uses that we like is the idea of programming. If you had rubbish software running on your computer you would take it off. If you couldn't take it off the computer, you would find a way to stop it working on your computer. Then, you would install software that worked better and gave you what you actually wanted. Makes sense?
This is what we like about NLP. People who are anxious are running unhelpful software. NLP gives us some neat little techniques to change the software. This means that instead of getting anxious near aircraft, you could actually get excited about aircraft!
That is why we like some elements of it. Until someone proves to us that something that people find helpful is wrong, we will keep using it as a part of our offering....
Take care
Paul & Richard
Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear
=================================
Other News
The kids course was fully booked on the 8th July at Gatwick. It went really well. We have been running kids courses since 2006 and now we have added a flight to the session. The new cost will be £375 inc VAT which covers the child and adult places including flights and refreshments. There will be another course running at Gatwick on the 18th November and hopefully a course at Manchester on the 11th November...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future dates
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November
Gatwick 18th November
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
Friday, 6 July 2012
Which treatment is best - Hypnotherapy?
There is a question that we are often asked, 'I have a fear of flying, what do you think is the best treatment?' We are often asked about many different types of therapy interventions. Today is the beginning of a few blogs around the main types of help that we hear about.
The sort of things that we hear people have tried to beat fear of flying:
Hypnotherapy
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
Implosion Therapy
Counselling
Psychodynamic Therapy
Solution Focused
Coaching
EMDR
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Thought Field Therapy (TFT)
Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT)
Others if they come up over next few weeks...
The last blog in this series will discuss what sort of techniques fear of flying courses tend to use and why. So, does hypnosis cure fear of flying?
==============================
Before we start, there is a theme that will run throughout all of this series. It is this:
'There is no best therapy - just the one(s) that work for you!'
-----------------------------------------------------
As it happens, Paul (Co-Founder) is a trained Hypnotherapist. However, we never use hypnosis on our courses - he trained because he was curious to learn more about it.
Potted History
Hypnos is from Greek word meaning sleep. Another word that people often think is synonymous with Hypnosis is Mesmerize. This is from a chap called Anton Mesmer who believed the trance like state was linked to channelling an occult force. This was around the 1890s, James Braid thought this was all tosh and proposed Hypnosis as a very different thing. Hypnosis is where the person appears to go into a slight sleep state and in that state, there is an ability to make positive suggestions to them. This is a curious thing isn't it?
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of many clinical people that use hypnosis as a tool for recovery, a lot of the 'Mesmer' reputation has stuck with it.
Hypnosis versus Hypnotherapy
A lot of people, maybe quite rightly, are worried about hypnosis. They say things like, 'I won't go under - no-one can hypnotise me!' Some people resist so much the hypnotic induction, that they tense up and intellectualise. Some hypnotherapists believe that anyone can be hypnotised, it is just that some recipients go really deeply quickly; Others may go into a very light trance or feeling of well being. This is almost impossible to tell. It does actually take practise and you can do self-hypnosis so you remain in control the whole time!
Here's a thing. A lot of people are worried that they are giving over control to someone else. That in some way, this person has the power to make them bark at the postman the following morning with no awareness of it. This is what psychologists called 'poppycock' or just nonsense. The hypnotist only has as much control as you allow.
Hypnosis is the stuff of the stage. Paul Mckenna (before his conversion to more mainstream NLP) did hypnosis shows. They were hilarious. The subjects he used from the audience were those that were easily suggestible - in other words, with a few simple tests, you can tell how 'up for it' someone is.
If hypnosis is used for treating conditions such as smoking or fear of spiders, it can actually be very effective very quickly... But not always.
Hypnotherapy is when a practitioner has trained in hypnosis combined with psychology and maybe psycho dynamic theory. A hypnotherapist works using hypnosis but in a more clinical and curious manner. They may combine hypnosis with free association for example.
So, how does that work?
When a person is hypnotised by a hypnotherapist (not hypnotist) and they have built trust with the therapist, something amazing can happen. The conscious mind for want of an expression, 'clears off' for a bit. This leaves easier access to the subconscious part of your brain - the software that runs you. When there is trust, the client will say whatever comes into their mind and just follow up it with guidance. Amazing things (unknown to the client) can pop up. Once they are brought up, they can be analysed by the grown up person and then dealt with appropriately. This gives the client the opportunity to review the <whatever> that has happened to them and look at it with the benefit of hindsight. This can take anything between 6-12 sessions to get to the root of where someones anxiety lives. Most people expect instant results in one session. This is an unrealistic expectation of a hypnotherapist. This is where a hypnotist comes in! They will promise to rid you of your fear in 10 minutes or something very short term. For some people this works. For others it does not last or doesn't even work to begin with. There are many, may theories why this might be but for now, why don't we just settle on the idea that 'we are all just different!'
It is up to you what you try. If the hypnotherapist is good and explains this all properly, there is no reason why they can't help you. If they do 'one session is all you need...' you might be lucky.
That's it for this blog. Next blog, we will examine another popular therapy that gets mentioned to treat flying.
Take care
Paul & Richard
Virgin Flying Without Fear
Future dates:
Gatwick 8th July
Gatwick Children’s course 8th July
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
The sort of things that we hear people have tried to beat fear of flying:
Hypnotherapy
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
Implosion Therapy
Counselling
Psychodynamic Therapy
Solution Focused
Coaching
EMDR
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Thought Field Therapy (TFT)
Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT)
Others if they come up over next few weeks...
The last blog in this series will discuss what sort of techniques fear of flying courses tend to use and why. So, does hypnosis cure fear of flying?
==============================
Before we start, there is a theme that will run throughout all of this series. It is this:
'There is no best therapy - just the one(s) that work for you!'
-----------------------------------------------------
As it happens, Paul (Co-Founder) is a trained Hypnotherapist. However, we never use hypnosis on our courses - he trained because he was curious to learn more about it.
Potted History
Hypnos is from Greek word meaning sleep. Another word that people often think is synonymous with Hypnosis is Mesmerize. This is from a chap called Anton Mesmer who believed the trance like state was linked to channelling an occult force. This was around the 1890s, James Braid thought this was all tosh and proposed Hypnosis as a very different thing. Hypnosis is where the person appears to go into a slight sleep state and in that state, there is an ability to make positive suggestions to them. This is a curious thing isn't it?
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of many clinical people that use hypnosis as a tool for recovery, a lot of the 'Mesmer' reputation has stuck with it.
Hypnosis versus Hypnotherapy
A lot of people, maybe quite rightly, are worried about hypnosis. They say things like, 'I won't go under - no-one can hypnotise me!' Some people resist so much the hypnotic induction, that they tense up and intellectualise. Some hypnotherapists believe that anyone can be hypnotised, it is just that some recipients go really deeply quickly; Others may go into a very light trance or feeling of well being. This is almost impossible to tell. It does actually take practise and you can do self-hypnosis so you remain in control the whole time!
Here's a thing. A lot of people are worried that they are giving over control to someone else. That in some way, this person has the power to make them bark at the postman the following morning with no awareness of it. This is what psychologists called 'poppycock' or just nonsense. The hypnotist only has as much control as you allow.
Hypnosis is the stuff of the stage. Paul Mckenna (before his conversion to more mainstream NLP) did hypnosis shows. They were hilarious. The subjects he used from the audience were those that were easily suggestible - in other words, with a few simple tests, you can tell how 'up for it' someone is.
If hypnosis is used for treating conditions such as smoking or fear of spiders, it can actually be very effective very quickly... But not always.
Hypnotherapy is when a practitioner has trained in hypnosis combined with psychology and maybe psycho dynamic theory. A hypnotherapist works using hypnosis but in a more clinical and curious manner. They may combine hypnosis with free association for example.
So, how does that work?
When a person is hypnotised by a hypnotherapist (not hypnotist) and they have built trust with the therapist, something amazing can happen. The conscious mind for want of an expression, 'clears off' for a bit. This leaves easier access to the subconscious part of your brain - the software that runs you. When there is trust, the client will say whatever comes into their mind and just follow up it with guidance. Amazing things (unknown to the client) can pop up. Once they are brought up, they can be analysed by the grown up person and then dealt with appropriately. This gives the client the opportunity to review the <whatever> that has happened to them and look at it with the benefit of hindsight. This can take anything between 6-12 sessions to get to the root of where someones anxiety lives. Most people expect instant results in one session. This is an unrealistic expectation of a hypnotherapist. This is where a hypnotist comes in! They will promise to rid you of your fear in 10 minutes or something very short term. For some people this works. For others it does not last or doesn't even work to begin with. There are many, may theories why this might be but for now, why don't we just settle on the idea that 'we are all just different!'
It is up to you what you try. If the hypnotherapist is good and explains this all properly, there is no reason why they can't help you. If they do 'one session is all you need...' you might be lucky.
That's it for this blog. Next blog, we will examine another popular therapy that gets mentioned to treat flying.
Take care
Paul & Richard
Virgin Flying Without Fear
Future dates:
Gatwick 8th July
Gatwick Children’s course 8th July
London Luton 26th August
Birmingham 14th October
Manchester 11th November
Edinburgh 25th November
Southampton 2nd December
==========================
Leeds Bradford 13th January 2013
Newcastle 3rd February 2013
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