Fear of Flying 2
Dave’s Mum rang from Spain where she lives to arrange an appointment for him. Last December he had flown out for a visit but on his return to Edinburgh he vowed never to fly again, much to the chagrin of his mother.
The turbulence of the return flight had so frightened him that he thought he was living his last minutes. So we started with that, tapping for these feelings. The intensity of emotion was reduced within a couple of minutes but only half way. Something else therefore was strongly affecting him.
When asked if he had experienced any other frightening situation in the past, something which had possibly made him think his life was in danger, he told the story of how five years ago a heavy truck had smashed into his car which had broken down on the motorway. He himself was flung sideways and at the same time he saw his brother flung 20 feet in the air by the impact, and feared he had been killed outright. In actual fact neither was badly hurt but the trauma of that accident remained in Dave’s system.
We tapped for the sight of the truck hurtling down on them and then for the fear that his brother was dead. Within 5 minutes he could not relive that motorway scene no matter how hard he tried. He was starting to smile but it faded when I asked him to imagine the turbulence of his last flight. He now felt a feeling of helplessness because there was no escape from the situation but when that had been released a minute later he still felt no different. I then asked him if he felt the remaining intensity of emotion anywhere in his body and he said he felt a tingle in his stomach. Tapping for that did the trick. He felt complete relief and this time gave a really big smile. Testing to see if he was really clear by going through that last flight again in his imagination produced not the slightest murmur of protest. And like many others who have experienced the effects of EFT he could not believe how good he felt. He admitted that he had been 100% sceptical of the process as he had never heard of EFT before and that he had only come for treatment for his mother’s sake. He left a true believer promising to spread the word! And he bought air tickets for a family visit to Spain at his first opportunity!
Fear of Flying 1
Janice had tried a variety of treatments before coming to me and none had worked. She was now getting a little desperate as she was due to fly out to Singapore on holiday in 4 weeks time. She described how she felt afraid in constricted areas, even to the extent of being uncomfortable sitting on the outside seat in public transport 'because something might happen'. What that 'something' was she couldn't say.
I did a couple of opening rounds on the general issue knowing that it wouldn't bring a great deal but that it would make her anxiety a little easier. I was not surprised when she said after a few minutes that although more relaxed, she did not feel any change in her fear of flying. When nothing seems to be happening or when we seem to reach an impasse, that is when I probe into the past, childhood in particular.
I asked Janice if she could remember any incident, maybe a traumatic one, that she could recall. Instantly she remembered the time at the age of 8 when she was hauled into a dark shed where a stranger exposed himself to her. I tapped her for that experience and within a couple of minutes she felt a lot lighter. When I asked her about her fear of flying she said it had gone. She just could not believe it could be true saying she could not 'get her head' round the connection between the shed and her fear of flying.
When I reminded her of the panic she felt in the constriction of that dark shed she began to understand the panic she felt in other places where her movement was restricted, planes for example. Now it all made sense to her and a test flight in her imagination produced no reaction at all.
Two months later she returned from Singapore having had a wonderful holiday. She had enjoyed the flights and lifts and public transport were no problem. So overjoyed was she with the results that she wrote her story for a family magazine (and was paid handsomely for her story!)
