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Fearful Midlanders who prefer to keep their feet firmly on the ground will now have the opportunity to conquer their fears thanks to a new specialist two-day course designed specifically for nervous flyers. The new courses have been designed by Chartered Clinical Psychologist, Elaine Iljon Foreman, who specialises in the treatment of fear of flying and other anxiety related problems. Her Freedom to Flyä programme is based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) techniques developed from over 20 years of clinical research into anxiety and phobias.

Recognising that the fear of flying affects 15% of the world’s population, and that CBT is a clinically proven and successful way of treating flying fear, Elaine enlisted the help of Birmingham International Airport to help people overcome their nightmares. Around 95% of Elaine’s patients succeed in flying after their treatment and most need no further help.

Elaine explains, "Thinking or hearing about a near miss or a catastrophe, or even being involved in one, can start to make some frightened and picture it happening to them. Worries about heights and turbulence are often part of this; however, it isn’t so much the height or the turbulence, but what may happen if things go wrong at a great height or during turbulence. Others can develop panic attacks and many people are concerned that if they start to panic, it could lead to a heart attack, fainting, madness or just simple embarrassment.

“Extensive research using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy has found that people did more than respond to rewards and punishments and that their behaviour and emotions were in fact depended to a large extent on what they understood was happening. Cognitive behaviour therapy looks at the relationship between what people think, say and do and it has been used successfully to treat many different types of problems, particularly anxiety and depression.

“Once I can understand what my patients are thinking and see how this affects their feelings and behaviour, I can then help them to train themselves to think in a different way by learning new techniques to enable them to deal with their frightening thoughts and feelings. Their new behaviour can then lead to a potentially more satisfying way of life and become part of the person's normal pattern of existence.”

Elaine’s courses will take place at Birmingham Airport and are carried out over two days, either individually or as part of a small group of up to four people.

A free telephone assessment is carried out by Elaine to assess suitability for the course before a place is offered. During the first session of treatment, Elaine assesses each individual in detail and devises a treatment programme to meet specific difficulties. This will vary depending on the individual person, but may include dealing with difficulties of feeling trapped (claustrophobia), or tendencies to “catastrophise” about a variety of situations in a person’s life. It will also involve individualised homework assignments to be carried out in the intervening week.

The second part of the treatment, which would usually take place a week after the initial meeting, is the flight. Travelling with Elaine, the person, or the small group, will take a day return flight from Birmingham to a European destination. In some cases, where a flight has already been booked, it can be possible to offer a single session without the flight with Elaine.

Dates of courses will be determined by demand and will be scheduled to suit patients. Prices vary according to the treatment. Elaine can be contacted by telephone on 020 8459 3428 or by email at elaine@freedomtofly.biz  Alternatively further details are available on www.freedomtofly.biz