Testimonials
Case study for Warwickshire Living - Mike Helft
In these trying financial times, fears and phobias are on the rise and an increasing number of us are looking for help as we start to fear losing control of our finances or panicking about what will happen in 2009.
An estimated 13% of the adult population will develop a phobia at some point in their life, but many of them will suffer in silence as they are often too embarrassed to ask for help. This can lead to the phobia becoming worse and interlinking with another fear.
One man who recognised the need to address his fears is Warwickshire-based business man Mike Helft.
Mike will celebrate the start of 2009 with the launch of www.selibrate.com, a project that he could not have completed had it not been for a chance meeting with The Fear Master (aka Andy Duncan).
After more than eighteen months out of work with a medical condition, Mike was asked by his wife, Janet, to invest in her latest project, a good news social networking site called Selibrate. Mike was keen to support the venture, but felt alarmed and panicked about the thought of investing money in the project.
Mike explains: “Selibrate seemed like such an exciting enterprise, but I became very worried about investing what money I had and soon noticed that this worry had become a block that was preventing me from taking on new challenges.”
It was at a networking event that Mike found a solution to his problem, as he came across Andy Duncan who quickly recognised that Mike needed help to get over his fears.
“I was a little apprehensive when Andy recommended a consultation as I had never heard of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) or the other techniques he uses, but his background as an ex-marine instructor and the fact that he has faced terrifying situations himself soon put me at ease.
“During the consultation we got right to the heart of the matter, with Andy helping me to see that I had been questioning the investment opportunity because I was afraid of losing control.” After the consultation Mike could see how working with Andy was going to help him focus on the positive aspects of a new business venture and signed up to a course of treatment that included facing up to his worst fears and focussing on balancing the positives and negatives.
Mike continues: “The sessions with Andy helped me to identify the root of my worries and taught me the benefits of a positive mindset. He also helped me to conquer my fear of heights which I had suffered in silence with for most of my life.”
Overcoming his fear of losing control has meant that Mike has been able to put his heart and soul into the Selibrate project and has enjoyed every minute of it. Mike says:” Since working with Andy I have achieved a great deal ahead of the selibrate.com launch and am really excited about the next 12 months.
“selibrate.com focuses on good news and positive thinking as well as good things in life and who want to share and promote all the good things that life has to offer, and that’s something I can identify with after my sessions with Andy.”
Mike is one of many people that Andy has helped to get over the fears and blocks that stop them from moving forward in their lives. Andy explains: “Naturally we have two fears that we are born with – a fear of loud noises and a fear of falling – but the rest of the fears we face in life, rational or irrational, are learnt along the way.
“Some fears are quite sensible such as being fearful of walking on an icy pavement, because the chances of slipping, falling and injuring yourself are much higher than walking on a dry even pavement. However, a great number of people suffer from phobias such as clowns, lifts, commitment, and public speaking that bring on a response such as sweating, heart pounding, becoming speechless and losing confidence.
A great number of people suffer with such phobias without any idea of how to find help. For a long time the medical profession didn't know what caused fears and phobias, or how to stop them. Now many techniques are available after years of research into hypnosis and NLP, with many other techniques like Time Line Therapy™ also proving successful.
Andy says: “Techniques such as hypnosis allow us to understand what triggers a fear reaction in people and can work to take away the inability to cope with the circumstances and situations that may bring on fear.
“Hypnosis provides an effective cure for fears and phobias it provides the opposite of anxiety - deep relaxation - while teaching the mind a different way of responding to the fear.
“NLP is known as the ‘Fast Phobia Cure’ as it works on how we operate a phobia. It doesn’t look at how the phobia developed or issues like how much it affects your life, but instead trains your brain to replace one set of responses with another.
“NLP techniques aim to get you to control your own thoughts, feelings and actions by reprogramming your brain. For instance, a client who was petrified of spiders found that if she thought of the old children’s television show The Flumps she could pick up a spider and even held a tarantula.”
Andy trained in motivational training, hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming and developed The Fear Master programme after many years facing his own fears whilst serving in combat as a Royal Marine and overcoming extreme training challenges.
After working with troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, Andy recognised that people who confront their fears and phobias will be able to move on in their lives and perhaps deal with other issues that may have been connected to their fears such as over-eating, failure in romance and smoking.
Andy says: “Life is here to enjoy and a key part of what I do, and something that has been with me throughout my life, is to use humour and laughter to put fear in its place, where it is no longer in command.”
Case study for Sally Harcourt - www.sallyharcourt.co.uk
Sally Harcourt is celebrating her fifth year as a successful designer and business woman this year and attributes her continued success to a chance meeting with Andy Duncan (aka The Fear Master).
After a decade of designing for John Lewis, Sally decided to set up her own bespoke interior and furniture design company, working both in the UK and overseas on exciting projects such as the luxury Calabash Hotel in Grenada.
The business had a very successful start with demand for Sally’s services growing rapidly and continuing to bring in a variety of projects. As the business grew so did Sally’s confidence, with domestic and commercial customers appreciating her creative flair and knowledge.
Two years into her venture, however, Sally suffered a major blow when a client pulled out of a large project eight months in and she started to question whether running a business independently had been the right decision.
As Sally attempted to work out how to move forward she enrolled on a business awareness course which is where she met Andy Duncan. Sally explains: “I immediately hit it off with Andy and was intrigued by his business venture, The Fear Master, but I thought it unlikely that he would be able to help me.
“I was a little apprehensive when Andy recommended a consultation as I had never heard of neurolinguistics or the other techniques he uses, but his background as an ex-marine instructor and the fact that he has faced terrifying situations himself soon put me at ease.
“During the consultation we got right to the heart of the matter, with Andy helping me to see that I had been questioning my decision to start my own business because I was afraid of failure.”
After that session Sally could see how working with Andy was going to help her business and signed up for a course of treatment that included facing up to her worst fears and focussing on balancing the positives and negatives. Sally continues: “The sessions with Andy helped me to work out how I could put my heart into my work but not take any problems or knock backs personally. Andy also taught me how detaching myself from a relationship or situation could help me pre-empt problems and prepare myself for them.
Overcoming her fear of failure has meant that Sally’s business could grow and develop. Sally says:” Since working with Andy I have launched my own furniture range, which took a great deal of confidence. My work/life balance is much better too, which has made a real difference to my family.”
Sally is one of many people that Andy has helped to get over the fears and blocks that stop them from moving forward in their lives. As the Fear Master, Andy brings together his own experience of getting through fear as a Royal Marine and his training in various proven techniques such as Time Line Therapy™, Hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).
