“I’m a beetroot. There’s something fundamentally wrong with me.”

That is what I used to tell myself. As I explain in my book, Beyond Blushing, I had a phobia of blushing. I had erythrophobia. It was more than just feeling a little self-conscious when my cheeks turned red. It was a persistent, intense fear that blushing would occur. A fear that caused me significant distress and made me avoid social situations entirely.

If you are reading this, you probably know exactly what I mean. Not a mild social awkwardness, but a cycle: the fear of blushing, a spiral of negative thoughts, and then your face burning and turning red like a beetroot. Each part feeds the next.

As someone with red hair and fair skin, I was prone to blushing. But here is the thing: it does not bother me anymore. If I blush now, I let it go, and that means I blush far less. I have broken the cycle. This post explains how, and why hypnotherapy was the key that talk therapy alone could never be.

My Personal Experience of Blushing

The first time I remember blushing was in primary school. At the end of term we had an assembly, and the school would give out awards. I unexpectedly won one and got called up in front of the whole school to collect it. I had to stand in front of five hundred plus children with my face bright red and my legs shaking.

This happened about three times after the first incident, each time the blushing and feelings of shame getting worse. Eventually, I decided it was better not to do anything that warranted a reward. Eye contact became a trigger, too. I would blush just thinking about seeing someone. When I did see them, I would blush. The issue spiraled.

In this video, I talk about why erythrophobia is among the most difficult phobias to live with because of how it isolates us:

The Safety Behavior Trap: How We Hide the Blush

When you live with a fear of blushing, you develop “safety behaviors.” These are the things you do to hide your face or prevent people from noticing the rednesst. You might:

  • Wear high collars, scarves, or turtlenecks even when it is warm.
  • Sit in the back of rooms or in the shadows.
  • Use your hair to shield your face.
  • Wear heavy foundation or “color-correcting” makeup as a mask.

The problem? These behaviors tell your brain that blushing is a “deadly secret” that must be hidden at all costs. This increases the stakes. It makes you hyper-aware of your face, which actually triggers the very blush you are trying to avoid. To the brain, a safety behavior is a constant reminder of danger.

My Blushing was an Inner Child Issue

I grew up in a dysfunctional environment with constant criticism and belittlement. As children, we look to those around us to understand the world. When we are constantly attacked, we internalize that abuse and believe there is something fundamentally wrong with us. It creates a vicious inner critic. My inner critic called me names far worse than beetroot. I overcame blushing in one hypnotherapy session but inner child work was required to improve my relationship with myself and others.

The Neurobiology of Toxic Shame

Blushing is the body’s visible signal of internal shame. In a healthy environment, shame is a temporary emotion. In a dysfunctional one, it becomes “toxic shame.” This is the feeling that you are not just making a mistake, but that you are a mistake.

When your inner critic attacks you, your brain processes that social rejection as a physical threat. This is why erythrophobia lives in the body. It is a physical manifestation of an “Inner Child” that still feels unsafe and criticized.

The Logic Gap: Why Talking Is Not Enough

If you suffer from a fear of blushing, you may have tried to “talk” yourself out of it. You may have sat in a therapist’s office and logically analyzed why you should not be embarrassed. Yet the moment you are put on the spot, your face still burns.

There is a scientific reason why talk therapy hits a wall. Standard talk therapy, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), works on the Prefrontal Cortex—the rational, logical part of your brain.

The problem is that blushing is controlled by the Autonomic Nervous System, which is governed by the Amygdala. When you perceive a social threat, this system fires a survival response before your rational brain can intervene. It sends an immediate signal to your blood vessels to dilate. You cannot logically persuade your blood vessels to constrict, any more than you can talk your way out of a sneeze.

Why Hypnotherapy Reaches Further

Hypnotherapy is more effective for blushing because it bypasses the logical mind and communicates directly with the autonomic nervous system.

A landmark meta-analysis by Kirsch et al. (1995) found that patients who received hypnosis alongside their psychotherapy achieved better outcomes than at least 70% of those receiving psychotherapy without hypnosis. Hypnosis appears to “down-regulate” the threat-detection systems. Where CBT argues with the alarm after it has already gone off, hypnotherapy works on the alarm itself.

How I Help Clients Overcome the Fear of Blushing

In my work, I use a two-pronged approach to create a physical and neurological reset.

1. Clearing the Neural Loop

Your brain has saved the memory of the First, Worst, and Last times you blushed. We use the Rewind Technique to process these memories from a safe, dissociated distance. By clearing the emotional charge, we signal to your brain that the threat belongs to the past. You can read my full guide on how the Rewind Technique works here.

2. Regaining Physical Control: Sensation Displacement

Talk therapy teaches you to cope with the blush once it happens. Hypnotherapy teaches you to move it. Under hypnosis, you learn to gather the rising heat from your cheeks and mentally guide it into your little finger. This is called Displacement.

3. Rewiring Thoughts with the Swish Pattern

We also use NLP techniques to rewire the automatic thoughts that precede a blush. The “Swish” pattern helps your brain replace the image of a burning face with a representation of your calm, confident self.

What to Expect in a Hypnotherapy to Stop Blushing Session

Many people are nervous about hypnosis because they feel they will lose control. In reality, you are gaining control. Here is how we work:

  • The Mapping: We identify the specific triggers and the “First, Worst, and Last” memories. What will your life be like without this issue?
  • The Induction: I guide you into a state of deep physical relaxation. This lowers your heart rate and calms the nervous system.
  • The Rewiring: We use the Rewind Technique to clear the past and Displacement to give you control over the heat.
  • Future Pacing: We mentally rehearse upcoming social events. You see yourself staying cool and calm, creating a “new normal” for your brain.

Experience the Shift Now

If you are ready to feel how hypnotherapy can calm your nervous system, you can listen to this recording. Note: Do not listen while driving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is hypnotherapy faster than talk therapy?

Generally, yes. Because we are working directly with the subconscious and clearing the “First, Worst, and Last” triggers, most clients see a significant shift in 3 to 6 sessions.

I have had blushing issues for years. Can it really change?

Yes. I am proof. The cycle I described: the fear, the spiral of thoughts, the burning face. Fear of blushing lasted years for me. Breaking it is not about willpower. It is about giving your nervous system new information.

Is blushing fear actually a form of PTSD? It can be. For many, a traumatic event—like my experience in the school assembly—creates a “flashbulb memory.” Your nervous system becomes sensitized to that specific type of stress. While it is classified as a phobia, the way it “highjacks” your body is very similar to a post-traumatic response. This is why the Rewind Technique, which is a gold-standard for trauma, works so well for blushing.

What if I feel the heat but don’t actually turn red? This is very common. It is often called “perceived blushing.” You feel the intense burning sensation and assume you look like a beetroot, even if the physical redness is minimal. The distress is just as real. Hypnotherapy treats the sensation and the anxiety behind it, which stops that internal “burning” feeling regardless of how red your skin actually gets.

Can I use these techniques for public speaking? Absolutely. Glossophobia (fear of public speaking) and erythrophobia are closely linked. The “Sensation Displacement” and “Future Pacing” techniques are perfect for stage fright. By training your brain to stay “cool” under the spotlight, you can focus on your message rather than your physiology.

Does caffeine or alcohol make the blushing worse? Physiologically, yes. Both are vasodilators, meaning they open up your blood vessels. However, for a phobic blusher, the real issue is the anxiety about the effect. You worry that the coffee will make you red, and that worry triggers the amygdala. Once we clear the fear response, you’ll find that a cup of coffee is just a cup of coffee again.

Will I have to stay in therapy forever to keep the results? No. The goal of hypnotherapy and NLP is to give you “self-directed neuroplasticity.” We aren’t just giving you a temporary fix; we are teaching your brain a new way to process social data. Once the new neural pathways are established and the old trauma is cleared with the Rewind Technique, the results are typically permanent.

You Do Not Have to Keep Living This Way

The cycle of fear, negative thoughts, and a burning face does not have to be permanent.

I broke the cycle. You can too.

Glossary of Terms

To help you understand the mechanics of what is happening in your body and mind, here are the key terms used in this guide:

Amygdala: A small, almond-shaped part of the brain responsible for processing emotions and triggering the “fight or flight” survival response. In erythrophobia, the amygdala is hyper-sensitive to social judgment.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): The part of the nervous system responsible for control of the bodily functions not consciously directed, such as heartbeat, breathing, and the dilation of blood vessels.

Erythrophobia: The specific, intense fear of blushing. This is often more than just a social phobia; it is a fear of the physical response of blushing itself.

Future Pacing: An NLP and hypnotic technique where a person mentally rehearses a future event while in a resourceful state (like calmness). This creates a mental “blueprint” for the brain to follow when the real event occurs.

Initial Sensitizing Event (ISE): The first time a person experienced a specific trauma or emotional response. For many blushers, this is the “First” in the “First, Worst, and Last” framework.

Interoceptive Awareness: The ability to sense and understand the internal signals of your body, such as your heartbeat or temperature. Hypnosis helps you master this awareness so you can redirect physical energy.

Safety Behaviors: Actions taken to prevent or minimize a feared outcome (like wearing a scarf to hide a blush). While they provide temporary relief, they reinforce the brain’s belief that the blush is a danger.

Subcortical Structures: Parts of the brain located beneath the cerebral cortex. These areas handle more “primitive” and automatic functions, which is why they cannot be easily reached through logic alone.

Sympathetic Nervous System: A branch of the Autonomic Nervous System that prepares the body for action during stress. It is the system that triggers the widening of blood vessels in the face.

Vasomotor Response: The process of nerves signaling the smooth muscles in the walls of blood vessels to either constrict or dilate. Blushing is a vasomotor response.

On February 22, 2026   /   Mental Health, Therapy   /   Leave a comment

Leave a Reply