Did you know I specialise in helping others to overcome their fear of flying?
As an ex-flight supervisor I’m in the perfect position to help you overcome your fears and start exploring this amazing and beautiful world.
Read one clients story of her fear of flying and how together we worked towards overcoming it:
I hadn’t been on an aeroplane until I was in my mid-teens, but my first experience was a really good one. Over the next 5 years I went on another couple of flights and had no fear whatsoever.
Then when I was around 21, I went on a short haul flight but had to sit away from the friend I had gone with. During that flight I became a little anxious but nothing I couldn’t cope with.
When we got back home, we had had such a good time that we wanted to book a holiday for the following year. We went into the travel agents the next day and I can remember whilst in there I had a knot in my stomach and felt really anxious. We booked a holiday for the following summer which was around ten months away and thought nothing more of it. However as the months came and went and the holiday got nearer and nearer my anxiety grew and grew. Around 6 weeks before the holiday I felt physically sick at the thought of getting on the plane. I told my friend that I didn’t think I would be able to go, and well let’s just say she went mad at me. For not wanting to ruin our friendship I went to the doctors and asked for help. I was prescribed some tablets that would help me relax to enable me to get on the plane. The day came to go on holiday and I took perhaps a couple more extra tablets than advised, just to get on the flight, and I looked as though I was drunk. I did get on the plane and fortunately the tablets I had took made me sleep for most of the flight, but I was so pleased when we landed. We were on holiday for 2 weeks and for the first week everything was ok but then as soon as we got into the second week all I could think about was the flight home and the anxiety ruined my second week away. I did get on the plane to come home but again had to resort to the pills to get me on the flight.
During my 20’s I did fly several times but every time I booked a holiday I would go through the same pain. Instead of really looking forward to spending to weeks in the sun having a fantastic time all I could think was how am I going to get on the flight. These were the days when you couldn’t pre-book seats so I would write to the airlines and plead for front row seats. My thought process for this was that I would be near the toilets if I felt ill, or if I had a panic attack perhaps the air stewards could hide me in the foyer of the plane? I would have to go to the doctors to make sure I had enough tablets to get me on the plane. I would always have to book an early morning flight, so that I could just get up and go. I wouldn’t eat anything the day before a flight so that my stomach was empty and that may help with not going to the toilet or feeling sick. I would also worry about going to the toilet on the plane so then take tablets to stop me from going to the toilet. I also over the years developed my flight bag, which contained things that would help me if I had a panic attack in the plane. In this bag were the following items, and I would use them in this order as my anxiety levels grew.
My tablets from the doctors
A bottle of water
Chewing Gum
A nose inhaler ( a blast to clear my nostrils)
A brown paper bag (in case I couldn’t breathe)
A mini fan
A wet flannel ( to cool me down if I was panicking)
As I got older and got married and had my children, I didn’t want my anxiety about flying to spoil the adventures we would have as a family. So, I did continue to go on holiday all be it short haul flights. However, every time we booked a holiday, I had the same crippling feelings and just seemed to be in a vicious circle overthinking what could happen. When my children were smaller, I had something else to focus on whilst we were on the flight. I would always be the one who had them on my lap during the take-off, to take my mind off my own anxiety. As the children got older and more independent, I lost that comfort blanket of having them on my lap and so again my anxiety grew.
Every time we had booked a holiday I would countdown the number of weeks before we went. Most people do this in excitement, I did it dreading the thought of getting on a plane. The closer the holiday came the more anxious I became. I know this effected my family as I became a nightmare on the lead up to going, stressing about if I could bring myself to actually go on holiday or whether or not to cancel. Several times I would be in tears just before we left our house to go to the airport, sobbing at the thought of being unable to get of the flight. Once the plane was in the air, I knew there was nothing I could do so would relax a little bit right up until the cabin crew closed the door, I knew I still had the opportunity of getting off the plane, and several times I was close.
This escalated a few years ago when we had booked to go away and yet again on the lead up to the holiday my anxiety was at an all-time high. A couple of days before the holiday I cried to my husband and said I really didn’t think I would be able to go. Having gone through this probably 20 times before, he reassured me as he always had. The day arrived to go away and I just couldn’t bring myself to go. I convinced my husband to take the children without me and watched them go without me. It wasn’t what they wanted nor was it what I wanted but at that point I just could not force myself to go. Doing this to my family nearly broke me. I cried every day they were away. Apart from my dad I didn’t tell anyone I hadn’t gone and became a recluse for the two weeks as I was so ashamed and embarrassed that I hadn’t gone and let them all down.
At this point I knew things had escalated so bad and I needed help but having tried to get help in the past didn’t really know who to turn to. Since then, I have seen several people who have given me therapy and hypnosis to try to stop these thoughts but none of these have made me feel confident about flying again. I had almost resigned myself to the thought I would never go abroad again but once I am on holiday, I really do enjoy myself and I know that my family does, so I really wanted to beat this once and for all.
Then I came across Vicky and Vask Therapy ‘The Fear of Flying Expert’. I thought I would contact her to see if she could help. I was a little sceptical having tried to so many people in the past and not having any success. I spoke to Vicky over the phone and talked about how I had struggled for all these years. She was very reassuring and also shared her own life experience and how she could relate to my anxiety. She booked me in for a session with her the following week. I was apprehensive before my session but this was short-lived. Vicky made me feel comfortable within the first minute. She was warming and caring and so easy to respond to. Being an ex-flight supervisor, she knows everything there is to know about flying and spent time reassuring me about what happens before, during and after a flight. Once she feels that you are at ease, she is able to relax you into a hypnotic state and then get you to come up with 3 child hood memories. These were memories I had perhaps not thought about for years but from this Vicky was able to work with this and somehow relate this to my fear of flying. During this session I shed a few tears, but at no point did I feel pressured or uncomfortable. It was intense but at the end of the session I felt tired but also amazing. Vicky also gave me a recording to listen to for the following three weeks.
I am absolutely amazed by the results just one session with Vicky has had on my life. I went to see her about my fear of flying and to try to conquer that. However, I think this was just the tip of the iceberg! I feel fantastic, confident and have a completely different outlook on life. Although I haven’t booked a flight as yet I am keen to book for the not-too-distant future and have no anxiety about doing this. There is a big world out there to explore and I cannot believe the fear I once had prevented me from doing this. I am looking forward to getting back to spending quality time with my family and having new adventures. I have changed so much just in a few weeks. Vicky is so amazing I honestly cannot thank her enough. She doesn’t just help you; she inspires you and for me has totally changed my life. If you are struggling with any form of anxiety or the depression that can stem from this, please get in touch with her and let her help you.”
Does any of this resonate with you, does it sound familiar.
You too can overcome your fear of flying PERMANENTLY, for every flight for the rest of your life.
