Whilst I’m an animal lover, I’m not particularly keen on butterflies or moths. Rewind the years and I’d flee a room, screaming at the sight of even a beautiful Red Admiral.

Actually, it got embarrassing, since I did so once when I was an Estate Agent, in my early twenties! My desk was in the front of the shop, our door open to entice buyers and sellers in: and as soon as the beast flapped its way through our reception, I was gone! I’d fled to the street!

There was a reason for my fear: I picked one up as a child whilst hunting in the garden for artefacts. The home I grew up in used to be an old coaching house, and I loved digging about for aged glass bottles, old picture frames, even fossils. I mistook the sedated insect for a piece of brass frame…

But my fear of the winged beauties never left me. Well, not until I learned how to swap my memories.

Working with Anna Reynolds, she taught me to envisage a white space every time I recalled the root of my fear. She took my thoughts back to when I was the novice archaeologist, rooting about in my childhood garden. In doing so, she enabled me to swap my memories, and subsequently neutralise my fear. It took practice, but actually not that much. I’ve got to the stage where I no longer shake with fear when confronted by the winged creatures.

I am no expert, but the power of being able to swap memories to help ease trauma has been extremely valuable to me.

These days, although I don’t love butterflies, I can far more easily be accepting of them. So should one swoon around my kitchen, I have an invaluable technique to help me deal with them.

When we deal with our fear head on, it’s surprising how quickly we can learn the skills to lessen our fears. If we were to jot down all the things that cause anxiety, there will doubtless be some that can be addressed far more easily and efficiently then you may at first believe.

You can visit Anna Reynolds website here: http://www.annareynoldscoach.com/