Globophobia by Kim Bradley

'I was attending the birthday celebrations of my brother and his girlfriend and having a thoroughly good time when BALLOONS appeared at the venue.  I am petrified of balloons and can't tell you how I developed this fear but it didn't seem to affect me until my late teens/early twenties.

I am happy to look at them and appreciate how nice they look but the more highly blown up they are the more I fear them because I know the bang would be louder.  I become rather hysterical when they are near people who are smoking where they could land on the cigarette and explode and also when children are playing with them as they love to bat them around and risk popping them, which clearly phases them not at all - unlike myself.

I was sitting next to Kim, chatting, when this happened and I showed my fear particularly when her little boy was playing with one near us.  I explained how nervous I was and she told me she could help me.

She told me to breathe deeply and focus on the sensation of fear I was feeling.  The fear started as something large which even made me feel nauseous but going along with the EMO formula Kim uses I concentrated on every word and even though I cannot remember every word or instruction she gave me, I felt the deep emotion of my fear dissipating.  The intense fear seemed to fade noticeably as I listened to her voice.

This is now one year later and I still feel the effects of that 20 minute session with Kim.  Yes, I still have a slight recoil when I see balloons but none of the hyperventilation and severe sensation of fear.

I would welcome another session at some time because I believe this form of therapy would be most beneficial if given two or three times for optimum effect.  I would certainly recommend it to anyone with any sort of phobias'

Thanks again Kim for helping me with this’

Carol Stevens – BA Flight Attendant