Verena Kantrowitsch suffered from fear of flying. Here the psychologist explains how she healed herself – and what she recommends to others.
Buzz Sentinel: Ms. Kantrowitsch, over a long period, you have advised people who were plagued by specific fears – and only noticed late on that you suffer from fear of flying. How can that be?
Verena Kantrowitsch: I was probably blind to my work. I thought that I was a stable, non-neurotic type who had no diagnosable fears. And in everyday life, fear of flying can be quickly suppressed. But then I realized that I avoid flying because I am scared.
Buzz Sentinel: You write in your book that you even cancelled a trip to Krakow with friends because they didn’t want to fly.
Kantrowitsch: Yes, I told myself that this trip wasn’t that important and that it was much too strenuous, a party trip where I wouldn’t get enough sleep. Afterwards, everyone was very enthusiastic about it. That was twelve years ago now, and I still regret a little that I didn’t go.
Mathias Bothor
Verena Kantrowitsch, born 1979, studied psychology at the University of Osnabrück and works as a psychologist in the public sector. She works part-time as a consultant and communication trainer. “I can fly!” is her first book. It will be published on February 4.
Buzz Sentinel: When did the subject come up again?
Kantrowitsch: Three years later, a good friend and I were thinking that we would like to go on holiday together. We were both in complicated relationships and thought it was a great idea to travel together. He wanted to go somewhere warm. And I dreamt shortly before that I was swimming through a tunnel in the North Sea, and on the other side it was sunny, and the water was all blue. I woke up and thought: Okay, obviously I do have the desire to fly south after all, so I have to do something about my fear of flying.
