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Other Emotional Issues

Panic And Anxiety

Travel Anxiety--using the Tell the Story Technique

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated.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

Debra J Pugh LPN, CMD, LMT, EFT-ADV successfully uses a version of our Tell the story Technique for a man with a limiting case of travel anxiety. Basically, she has him narrate each part of his upcoming trip and uses EFT each time any emotional intensity arises. The client writes a letter at the end giving his insights into the experience.


By Debra J Pugh LPN, CMD, LMT, EFT-ADV

Gary,

I had the opportunity to work with an individual that had a problem with anxiety associated with travel - his job requires that he travel often and he would become very anxious about the trip several days in advance. He has traveled for years and fought this for years - having accepted that he had to travel and getting "pissed" at himself for the phobia.. He was trying to figure out exactly what was causing the anxiety, and at first we did tap on some possibilities - without much effect. (I assume we weren't hitting the aspect that needed to be addressed).

I then tried having him tell me his routine in getting ready for the trip - up to several days in advance if needed. I tapped on him any time that he started feeling anxious till he was able to continue without any anxiety.

We tapped on the following:

Inability to remember to fill up the truck with gasUnable to remember to have cash on hand for the tripWorried that I will be late to the airport and miss the planeWorried that I would have trouble reading directions while driving once in the rental car and in traffic in the unknown city Driving in unknown city alone and causing accident and feeling stupidWorried that I would get lost in the cityNot having any confidence in being able to get there on time

After tapping for about 45 minutes he was able to relate the upcoming preparations for the trip (including the return trip) without any anxiety. I then taught him the EFT shortcut and explained that he could tap when and if he got anxious without actually saying anything. I then showed him how he could rub the spots if he was in a meeting and didn't want to be noticed.

I am pleased to say that he went on the trip and had no problems, and even tapped daily while gone just in case (and he did use the rubbing technique during meetings too).

Below is a letter from him about the experience.

Debra Pugh LPN, LMT, EFT-ADV


To whom it may concern:

Travel is a frequent component of my life - a requirement.

Yet, for reasons unknown, it has become a source of great anxiety despite decades of experience. Rational thought always revealed that I could handle whatever the situation required. The thought processes would constitute proceeding through a mental checklist of possible scenarios and confirming that I knew what to do or have enough inner strength and experience to trust that I would figure out what had to be done.

Despite this, a deep sense of dread started to preclude making a trip. This was the type of anxiety that would rob one of enjoyment of life for a few days before the trip coupled with difficulty in relaxing during the trip - anticipating having to travel home.

At a loss on what to do, I turned to Debra Pugh in hopes that the practice of EFT would serve to release me from the ever-growing dread of travel. With this would also be an attack on the anger at myself for experiencing such irrational fears and anxiety.

The session was absolutely amazing as I turned from being so uptight as to not even knowing why I was trying this to one of confronting hidden issues and exorcising them from my mind. Ideas of what was wrong or clarity of what aspects of travel were triggering the apprehension flowed readily from my mind to my mouth evoking another round of tapping.

The end result? I just concluded another trip and did not experience the agonizing pre-travel sensations that were becoming quite commonplace. Better still; the trip did consist of some problems such as getting lost in bumper to bumper traffic - one of the things that feed the irrational fear - but not experiencing any sense of panic or self fulfilling prophecy. The rational mind had always said, "So what? You can handle it." But the irrational side dreaded undefined consequences of such an occurrence. This time - "No Problem" - was the feeling during and after the event. In fact "No Problem" was the mental situation throughout the whole traveling to/from process.

I am here to proclaim that EFT is the only thing that occurred in my latest effort to combat the situation. With that proclamation comes the acknowledgement that EFT solved my growing issues and allowed me to function again in a normal, rational approach to this component of life.

Fred (not his real name)

More articles on Panic Relief and Anxiety Relief

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