Alice Wyllie, a sceptical reporter for the Scotsman had a lifelong fear of spiders and challenged a hypnotist to rid her of her phobia.

Alice had heard the phrase “They’re more afraid of you than you are of them” a dozen times and had the ‘face your fear’ taunts. She believed hypnotherapy was a load of nonsense, along with tarot cards, past life regression and faith healing – and is pictured today holding a tarantula called Boris.

In the Scotsman article, Alice explains the whole experience of the hypnotherapy session, including what the hypnotherapist said to her and how she felt.

The hypnotherapist in question was Edinburgh based Robin Thorburn. Thorburn runs his own hypnotherapy practice, Exclusive Hypnotherapy, and has been practising for over 15 years.