No.

Agoraphobia is classified as a distinct anxiety disorder in current major diagnostic systems.

That matters because the pattern usually extends across several types of situations rather than one specific object or situation.

Yes.

Panic attacks can occur, but they are not required.

Some people experience strong anxiety, dizziness, faintness or a general sense that they will be unable to cope without having full panic attacks.

A queue temporarily reduces how freely you can leave without drawing attention or losing your place.

If your fear centres on needing immediate escape when symptoms appear, that can make waiting feel much more significant than it does to somebody else.

Once a bus or train is moving, leaving is temporarily outside your control.

The concern may therefore involve panic, physical symptoms or the thought that you will not be able to get off quickly if you need to.

Severe agoraphobia can make leaving home extremely difficult and some people become largely or completely housebound.

That level of restriction deserves appropriate professional assessment and support rather than being treated as simply needing more willpower.

Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder involving marked fear or anxiety across situations where escape may feel difficult or help may seem unavailable if panic-like or other distressing or incapacitating symptoms occur.

Relevant situations commonly include public transport, open spaces, enclosed public spaces, queues or crowds, and being outside the home alone.

Not simply.

Open spaces can be one difficult situation, but modern diagnostic definitions are much broader.

A person might struggle more with public transport, queues, crowds, enclosed public places or being away from home alone than with an open field or park.

No.

Treatment can work with the current pattern without requiring you to identify or relive one original event.

Yes.

A frightening panic attack in a public or hard-to-leave situation can create concern about experiencing the same symptoms there again.

This is one common pathway, but not the only one.

No.

Claustrophobia centres more specifically on enclosed or confined situations.

Agoraphobia can include enclosed spaces, but the broader concern is usually about escape or help being difficult across multiple types of situations.

No.

Social anxiety centres on scrutiny, embarrassment or negative evaluation by other people.

A person with agoraphobia may fear embarrassment during panic, but the main concern is usually escape, incapacitation or getting help rather than social judgement itself.

No, although the two can overlap.

Being outside the home alone is one recognised agoraphobic situation because help may feel less available.

A more general fear of being alone can also occur for different reasons and should not automatically be labelled agoraphobia.

A trusted person can become associated with help, escape or reassurance.

Their presence may reduce anxiety quickly even if they never actually need to do anything.

This can make going somewhere alone feel much harder over time.

There is no single cause.

Panic attacks, frightening physical sensations, learned associations, avoidance and increasing reliance on safe people or places can all contribute.

There is no forced exposure in our online programme. However, positive exposure is not something to be feared or endured, but something to be embraced as a stepping stone to something better.

Treatment provides a structured approach to helping your mind adapt towards a more comfortable response to journeys, public places and situations where escape once felt difficult. Experiencing that growing sense of control can be rewarding in itself, bringing greater confidence and freedom to everyday life.

No.

Our online sessions do not require you to travel, enter a crowd or prove that you can remain somewhere difficult.

Our personalised programme combines hypnotherapy, solution-focused work, CBT understandings and selected NLP-informed therapeutic tools.

We work with what you consciously understand, what your automatic response expects when escape or help feels difficult and how you want ordinary journeys and situations to feel instead.

No.

We use CBT understandings as part of an integrative programme, but we do not present our three-session programme as a full course of guideline-based CBT.

If you specifically want CBT, ask the practitioner about the treatment protocol, length and qualifications involved.

Yes, psychological treatment can be provided online, and remote access can be particularly useful for people whose agoraphobia makes travel difficult.

Whether online treatment is appropriate depends on the person's needs, severity and wider clinical picture.

Our programme usually consists of three sessions lasting around 60 to 90 minutes, generally spaced approximately a week apart.

Supporting materials may also be provided between sessions.

Progress may mean using public transport, staying in a queue, shopping more freely, travelling further from home or going somewhere without needing a trusted companion.

The useful question is not only how anxious you felt.

It is what you were able to do.

No.

You can still prefer quieter places and dislike waiting in busy environments.

Recovery means those preferences increasingly feel like choices rather than rules imposed by fear.

A long-standing pattern can become deeply familiar without being permanent.

Treatment focuses on what maintains the difficulty now and what you want everyday life to contain again.

Yes.

CBT is an established treatment, and exposure-based work is often included within behavioural and cognitive-behavioural approaches.

Treatment options can also include guided self-help and, in some cases, medication prescribed by an appropriate healthcare professional.

That needs to be taken seriously.

A phobia framework should not be used to dismiss genuine medical problems or practical support needs.

Appropriate healthcare advice should guide what is safe for your individual circumstances.

No.

A companion may currently help you do something that would otherwise be unavailable.

Treatment can explore whether that support remains genuinely needed or whether you would like greater choice about going independently.

Agoraphobia does not require somebody to be completely housebound.

A restricted radius around home can still be an important pattern if distance from a perceived safe place strongly influences what feels possible.

You can explain the situations that affect you, ask questions about our programme and decide whether the approach feels appropriate.

The consultation also helps us consider whether focused work fits your circumstances or whether guideline-based CBT, medical assessment or another form of support may be more appropriate.

There is no obligation to proceed.

Look for somebody who understands current definitions of agoraphobia and can explain how their treatment addresses escape concerns, panic-like symptoms, avoidance and reliance on safety arrangements.

Check qualifications and relevant professional registrations, ask whether they provide CBT or another approach, and make sure pricing and what is included are clear before committing.

Treatment does not need to become a test of courage.

Exposure-based approaches should be planned for a clear therapeutic purpose rather than reduced to simply staying somewhere while distressed.

If symptoms are new, unusual or medically concerning, appropriate assessment is also important.