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Fears And Phobias

General

A model case for all complicated phobias

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated. Please use my newest advancement, Optimal EFT. It is more efficient, more powerful and clearly explained in my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™.  Best wishes, Gary

This case by Tania de Winne, MD of Belgium stands as a model for EFT'ers dealing with stubborn (complicated) phobias. Although it deals with an unusual phobia (involving a navel), Dr. de Winne's persistence and attention to emerging aspects provides us with many lessons. Note how she deals with the client's beliefs in "Hara" and "Dreamcord." It doesn't matter whether these beliefs are true but it DOES matter that the client believes in them.


By Tania de Winne, MD

Hi Gary,

A very dear friend of mine, let's call her Leslie, hasn't been able to clean her navel without huge amounts of willpower. The mere thought of it makes her complexion turn white, with bloodless lips and she's on the brink of throwing up.
Her belly button is like a narrow canal and she has to use a Q-tip to get to the 'bottom' of it, because soap and dead skin cells tend to form a little clog in there.

She's familiar with EFT and applies it diligently every day for her muscle- and neck pains, for stress, for mother-issues, for the downside of her perfectionism, but with her navel-problem she was stuck. She was also afraid of having to face overwhelming emotions alone if she would apply EFT for it on her own (premonition?) and she knew that I was looking for someone with a problem to solve, that could be tested on the spot. So, I went to her place and here goes:

The first thing she told me was that a psychic woman, in whom she puts a lot of trust, had told her that her 'hara' had been damaged while her umbilical cord was being cut at birth. She is also taking a metaphysical course and one of the exercises involves activating your dreamcord to be able to remember dreams that are important for your evolution. Too bad that dreamcord appears to be attached somewhere near the navel and she's always blocked in the exercise near the end of it.

Because only thinking about her navel or something being attached there or someone or herself touching it made her feel visibly sick (I could see her turn white and tears coming to her eyes), I thought it better to start with the 'hara'-thing and then the dream-cord-thing.

"Although my hara was damaged when I was born, I deeply and completely accept myself and I ask my higher self to mend it." Tapping: 'damaged hara' and 'remaining damaged hara'. Meanwhile I was muscle testing myself to 'see' if the hara was whole again. 3 complete rounds of the basic recipe did the job and we moved on to: "Although I can't seem to be able to activate my dreamcord, ...", "Although I can't seem to be able to extend my dreamcord all the way up and down, ..." Testing myself again told me that this was also fixed.

After that, Leslie was able to think about her navel and her dreamcord being attached there without getting nauseous AND she was already able to gently stroke her belly in the vicinity of her navel.

However, just thinking about having to clean her belly button brought all the intensity back. She had a Q-tip and a little bottle of Rescue (Bach Flower remedies, because it contains alcohol to disinfect and Rescue remedy to help her overcome her fears and the trauma of cleaning it) standing on the coffee-table nearby and just looking at it made her wince in agony. We didn't need to do an intensity rating, it was obviously more than a 10.

Although I can't even think about my navel without feeling sick and anxious,...
Although I can't touch my own navel...

She burst out into tears and shook all over her body with a fear of death in her eyes. I started tapping on her: 'this fear of death', this existential fear' and she calmed down within seconds.

Then Leslie recounted a rebirthing class that she took over 10 years ago and that she had completely forgotten about. She couldn't even remember the techniques she was taught (talk about repressing a bad memory): she was in her mother's womb and it felt like her mother was pushing and squeezing her abdomen so hard that Leslie felt she was choking to death in the womb (she doesn't know for sure whether her mother really did that, it just felt like that now and her mother never told her something like that).

While telling the story, Leslie was grabbing her throat and curling up in a fetal position. The fear of death was obvious. Apparently she had been lying there like that in that rebirthing class also and the teacher panicked because he could hardly get her out of that state. But with EFT: no problem!



"Although my mother didn't want me, ..."
"Although my mother tried to kill me when I was still inside of her, .... and I forgive her, because I know why she did what she did."


(this statement took about 8 repetitions, before the PR would clear, but Leslie wants me to emphasize that she doesn't actually know that her mother tried to do that, at least not on purpose, she just didn't know what to do about the pregnancy being away from Belgium living near Montreal, far away from supportive relatives).

"Although I felt like I was choking to death, ..."
"Although the fear of dying was overwhelming, ..."
"Although I don't have words for what I was feeling as a fetus,..."
"Although I put all my fears in and around my navel,..."

With every statement tears welled up in her eyes, but went almost as quickly as they came. Sometimes I tapped for her, because the rheumatism in her muscles make her arms tire rapidly.

The overwhelming emotions came and went, but were wearing her out and we took a little tea-break. Leslie is a very tenacious woman and she really wanted that navel-problem solved that night, otherwise I would have proposed to call it a night and resume on a later date.

She was now able to put her index slightly over her navel, without feeling anxious, so we continued:

"Although I'm still not able to clean my navel, ... I choose to clean it without feeling sick or without needing willpower to overcome my anxiety."

"Although I can't put my pinky in my navel, without feeling sick, ... and I choose to be able to touch my navel like any other person."

Her intensity went to a zero after this and she decided it was time to put it to the test: she took the Q-tip, put some Rescue on it and very carefully cleaned out her navel! There was some intensity returning, because she was arduously trying to get the last 'cell' out, but I tapped on her and it went.

I thought we were through, but she wasn't done yet! There was also the problem that no one else was allowed to touch her navel! I could stroke her belly, but only nearing her belly button was enough to bring that fear of death back to her eyes.

"Although I think I'll die when someone touches my navel, ..."

"Although I shrink at the idea of someone else touching my belly button, ..."

"Although I don't allow anyone else to touch my navel,... and I choose to feel comfortable when someone does."

By now I could put the tip of my pinky in her belly button, but the thought of me pushing my finger further down, made her nauseous again. We discussed the fact that it wasn't necessary for a 'stranger' to put a finger in someone's belly button and decided to leave it at that.

We called her husband in and tested if he were allowed to touch her navel. While he was attempting it by stroking her belly and nearing the 'danger spot', I saw her intensity rise again and started tapping her CB point. That calmed her down and he could lovingly place his finger over her belly button, without her cringing away.

SUCCESS!!! Thank you EFT and thank you, Gary for providing us with so much video material to study, to make this a piece of cake (ahem). A lifelong problem, originating in the womb, solved within a mere 3 hours...

It was well after midnight when I reached my home, but I was fully energized by this small step for humanity: Leslie can clean her belly button and can allow others to touch it!

Leslie was worn out and fell in to a deep sleep (she mailed me the next morning).

Now, two months later, she takes pleasure in touching her belly button (in a manner of speaking) and can clean it when necessary, without willpower or anxiety.

Dr. Tania de Winne

FOR MORE EFT HELP ...

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