ILLUSTRATION: GETTY
Elaine Iljon Foreman was going to Australia when she heard a voice in her head. “I was waiting to board, and it said: ‘Elaine, you’re looking at the last plane you’re going to go on.’”
It’s a scenario those of us who dread flying can well imagine — except for one difference. Iljon Foreman is no phobic; she’s a chartered clinical psychologist who specialises in helping patients conquer fear of flying. “I had to use all the techniques I use in my therapy to deal with that,” she says. “I was thinking: ‘Maybe I should listen to this.’ I wasn’t the happiest bunny getting on that plane.”