Janice had tried a variety of treatments before coming to me and none had been able to help her fear of flying. She was now a bit desperate because she had to fly to Singapore for vacation in 4 weeks. She described how she, too, felt fear in cramped areas, even to the point of feeling uncomfortable sitting on the outside seat on public transport “because something might happen.” She couldn’t tell what that ‘something’ was nor had she any idea what could have caused her to feel that way. However, she had heard of EFT and was eager to try it. I explained that the process involved tapping on the acupuncture points while she thought of a disturbing memory. I assured her that she would not be exposed or relive a trauma, she just had to be aware of it. The goal of EFT is to keep the client safe and prevent re-traumatization.

Although EFT works best when working on a specific memory, we first tapped on the general problem, ‘Fear of Flying’, with a view to relieving her general anxiety. In fact, Janice felt more relaxed, but she did not feel any change in her fear of flying, which she rated as 8/10. When it seems that nothing is happening or when it seems that we have reached a dead end, that is when I delve into the past in search of specific memories, of childhood in particular.

I asked Janice if she could recall any incidents, perhaps a traumatic one, that she could remember. Although she couldn’t think of anything at the beginning of the session, she now remembered the moment when she was 8 years old when a stranger took her to a shed and exposed himself to her. She was trapped in that shed, unable to get out and, although physically unharmed, she felt really scared, anxious and upset-9/10.

So we tapped on her feelings of feeling trapped and anxious, focusing on the phrase ‘I felt so trapped and scared I couldn’t get out’. Several minutes later she said that she felt much lighter-2/10. We continued to tap for the feelings that remained; now he felt nothing when he thought about the incident in the shed. She seemed blank and he had a hard time remembering. When I asked her about her fear of flying, she said that she was gone. Logically, it seemed impossible and she could hardly believe it to be true, saying that she couldn’t “understand” the connection between the shed experience and her fear of flying. I put her to the test by asking her to imagine being inside an airplane, tied to her seat. She felt at ease with no feelings of anxiety present. This amazed her, as she had thought that she would be frightened even at the thought of being on a plane.

Things began to fall into place when she began to understand how she had transferred her eight-year-old daughter’s panic about being caught up in potential problem situations into her later life. Her mind was constantly telling her to be afraid when the door closes on a plane; when that happens, you are “trapped” and cannot escape. Tapping on that early trauma had completely released him from his energy system, also releasing the feelings of fear in his adult life. Logically, we don’t see how an event from earlier years can trigger phobic fears in later life. However, if we consider our emotions, the links are easy to see: that’s when we make progress.

Two months later he returned from Singapore after having a wonderful vacation. She had enjoyed the flights and the lifts, and public transportation was not a problem. So delighted was she with her results that she wrote her story for a family magazine (and was paid handsomely for her story!)