These are all examples of common phobias.

Phobias are almost always caused by an initial sensitizing event—like a traumatic childhood fall—which leads, for example, to an adult fear of heights. Often, there are additional trigger events—like a seemingly harmless trip off of a curb—that can intensify the initial feeling of fear and reinforce the phobia.

Once fear is ingrained, the resulting behavior is the conditioned response, first documented by Dr. Ivan Pavlov in 1904. In Pavlov's classic experiment, each time a bell rang, the subject—a dog—was given food. Eventually, the dog salivated at the ringing of the bell, whether food was given or not. With Pavlov's dogs, the bell became the trigger.

Psst! You have the yips!

The same can be said of phobic responses. There is always a trigger.

I encounter people with phobias every day, and I help my clients (many of whom are golfers) free themselves of these phobias through hypnosis.

Let's take a closer look at the most common golf-related phobia: the yips. Golfers aren't born with them, but rather the yips are often rooted in a powerful negative emotional experience.

For example, once upon a time you may have had a smooth putting stroke. However, now your arms and hands jerk, and you jab at the ball with your putter. Out of a fear of repeating a terrible putt made in the past, your mind and body have become conditioned to perform this destructive behavior, and you feel helpless against the power of it. Welcome to "Yippsville!"

If you have the yips, you probably begin to panic each time you approach the green. The yips may even cause you (subconsciously) to aim your irons further away from the pin just to avoid making short putts!

When I treat a client with the yips or any other type of phobia, the first step (while the client is in hypnosis) is to identify the initial sensitizing event. The next step is to discover the trigger. Only when these two elements of the phobia are uncovered, can the healing begin.

Even if a client consciously remembers the initial sensitizing event and/or the trigger, it is still important to recreate—under hypnosis—the emotion of that event. Under hypnosis, time and space disappear and the client is transported back to that traumatic time so that healing and reprogramming can occur.

Conventional treatment methods for the yips, such as extra-long putters and "claw grips," may help to avoid the symptoms in the short term, but they are only a bandage and will not treat the underlying problem.

If you or someone in your foursome has the yips—relax. A cure is available! Seek out an experienced Hypnotherapist and in no time they will have you well on your way to a yip-free golf game! Jennifer Scott, C. Ht. is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist who practices in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jennifer is the creator of several Own The Zone^TM hypnosis programs and a regular GOLFONLINE contributor. E-mail Jennifer with questions or comments at jennifer@ownthezonegolf.com.