Height phobics faced their fears at the world’s largest indoor climbing arena in a mass-hypnosis event at the EICA: Ratho on Sunday 21 October. The event saw some of the most height phobic Scots cured of their fears and complete the 100ft high Aerial Assault course to test their new-found confidence.

The EICA, which is the world’s largest indoor climbing arena, has the world’s biggest Aerial Assault course. Suspended 100ft above the ground, volunteers have a terrifying zip-slide to contend with before completing the series of challenging obstacles in their path.

Volunteers for the world’s first mass hypnosis event to cure acrophobia ranged from children and teenagers right through to Britain’s number one amateur boxer (at middle weight), Fundo Mhura.

Over 40 volunteers underwent a range of hypnotherapy techniques including hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) to ensure that when faced with stepping off a 100ft platform they felt calm and serene and ready for the challenge.

Christine MacMurdie and her 11 year old son, Craig, were among the first to undergo hypnosis. Christine said: “I’ve always been afraid of heights so when the opportunity came up for Craig and I to be cured of our fears together I jumped at the chance. This morning I wouldn’t even have been able to climb the steps to the aerial assault never mind think of doing it; I feel completely euphoric that I’ve conquered my fear.”

Gary and Dawn Flockhart co-founded brain-train in 2001 and both trained with Paul McKenna; together they have treated thousands of people for phobias including: fear of heights, spiders, snakes, public speaking and insects.

Gary Flockhart said: “Today has been a fantastic way of showing people that their fears can easily be overcome if tackled in the right way. Seeing people who were terrified of height at the start of the session tackle the Aerial Assault course and come off smiling has been a fantastic achievement for the whole team.”

The volunteers had all felt restrained by their fears and reasons for taking part include; wanting to cross the Forth Road Bridge, getting on a flight, taking up rock climbing and taking their dogs for a walk up a hill.

Graeme Gardiner, manager of the EICA, said: “We’ve had some fantastic success stories today and we are delighted by the response we’ve had from everyone taking part.

“Fear of heights can be very debilitating and we really wanted to help people overcome this. The EICA is a fantastic resource for Scotland’s climbers and who knows after today’s event we may have uncovered some future climbing talent.”

For more information on anything at EICA, Ratho, please click here.