By M. Holliday
When I met my client “Leyla”, she was suffering from severe anxiety attacks. This terrible anxiety had been with her for over 17 years. She had a nervous breakdown when she was younger, where she was institutionalized for a month suffering from depression.
When we met for her treatment session, her symptoms were: extremely self-conscious, lacking in confidence, fear of what to say to people, constant worry, afraid of meeting people–particularly the opposite sex, drinking too much to stop her fear and paranoia, feeling guilty all the time, hating herself, and palpitations.
Leyla had moved to Spain to be with her mother whom had been her constant caregiver throughout her life, particularly during bad times, of which there were many. She had been unable to work because of her constant anxiety attacks, fear of meeting people, and total lack of confidence.
She didn’t drive and this was a problem, as the area she lived in a relatively isolated part of Spain, particularly for younger people. She was wondering about moving back to the UK because she was so unhappy, but admits that she had been unhappy while living there too.
Her mother had spent a fortune for Leyla’s therapies, analysis, and other treatments over the years. Most of this time Leyla had been placed on antidepressants.
When we met, Leyla had reached her limit with her problems, feeling desperately unhappy, depressed, and tired of feeling constantly unwell.
In her own words: “I’m making myself ill.”
She had a particular night out that had brought her to this final desperate plea for help. She called it “Lost it in the karaoke bar.” The night involved a lot of drinking, some bad behavior toward a pub landlord, and meeting a guy she quite liked but she thought she embarrassed herself with him. Because it is a small town where everyone knows each other, she was dreading seeing him and the pub landlord again.
She couldn’t remember much about the evening and knew she drank to cover her anxiety, only to feel worse next day, which made her even more anxious. She said it was “like a big black cloud” hanging over her and her SUD Level of Intensity number from 0-10 for this was an 8.
We started tapping on:
“This big black cloud.”
She began to sob and we continued the tapping until she quieted and her crying eased.
We then tapped on:
“Being self-conscious,” during which time she said, “I hate that term!”
When I asked why, she said, “You’re not self-conscious, you’re confident.”
We then tapped on:
“Your’e OK, I’m not.”
The next sequence she called “The Wednesday Thing.” This was the night she had been out and was drunk. Her SUD intensity level was lower, but shot straight back to a trembling 8 with “The Wednesday Thing.”
We tapped on:
“The Wednesday Thing.”
The next tapping sequence that followed was on:
“Lost it in the karaoke bar.”
Then finally we tapped on:
“The remaining lad thing.”
During the next few rounds of EFT tapping, her SUD intensity level dropped dramatically to a 1.
During the tapping on the PR point, I constantly added references and lengthy detail around the specific events, and imagining the scenario around her seeing this guy from the karaoke bar and what she would do, also walking in the bar and seeing the pub landlord she had been rude to that night.
Whilst tapping, we spent quite some time on acting out the scenes mentally, then checking if she felt okay with seeing the guy now. We also tapped for what she would like to have instead of this big black cloud over her. She said she would like to be, “Bright, sunny, cheerful, and yellow.”
I said, “Perhaps like a big, yellow beach ball?”
Leyla loved this image, so we tapped on:
Even though I have this terrible fear of people and what to say, what to do, I am going to be just like a big, bright, sunny, yellow beach ball. I will bounce along through life, bounce down the streets, not scared of anyone. If I see this guy, I will shine out so much sunshine, I will dazzle him with my personality, what I say, in fact, I can see myself apologizing to him and buying him a coffee in case I offended him that night and then bounce along through life like this big yellow ball.
We also used this imagery process and tapping on the “barman embarrassment” incident and buying him a drink and apologizing. During our session, Leyla had a severe anxiety attack, which we tapped for, and that dissipated.
Finally, I designed a maintenance plan for Leyla to tap on daily for whatever cropped up (and taught her how to tap) first thing in a morning for how she is feeling.
Some daily issues:
– Pre-tap before she is due to meet someone or go somewhere.
– Tap if she felt anxious.
– Tap if she had palpitations.
The session lasted about 3 hours, but Leyla was left feeling more relaxed than she can ever remember and very tired.
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The follow up:
I called Leyla a few days after our session. I spoke to her mother who said she had never seen Leyla this relaxed and very sleepy–constantly sleeping. She was also regularly tapping each day and she had purchased her very own bright yellow Beach Ball!
Leyla called back about a week later and related how she was feeling very calm, more relaxed, but still very tired. We discussed her continuing to tap and this tiredness would go in its own time, bearing in mind she had felt so ill for such a long time–perhaps her body needed to sleep.
I had just returned from an EFT conference when I received another call from Leyla saying, “Thank you for helping to get my life back together.” I said it wasn’t me but EFT, that I just kick-started her body, and that she was the secret of her own success because she was tapping several times a day on anything and everything that came up.
She called me again about a week later with another thank-you to tell me that she felt like a “Superwoman.”
She had so much energy, she had visited a friend who was always the life and soul of the party, and she was not intimidated now by other people and what to say. She felt happy, confident, looking forward to a new life.
Her mother then came on the phone. She was over the moon about the changes in Leyla and said she couldn’t believe how EFT returned to her a lovely daughter. She had spent so much money on treatments in the past, her financial resources had been drained, but she was buying Leyla a car as a present.
Before I wrote this, I rang Leyla to ask if I could have permission to share her story and she was delighted, saying if it could help anyone else that would be great.
She is still feeling good about herself. She taps once a day, every morning, and if she occasionally has bad moments, she taps on those when they happen.
She now has a job with her brother doing holiday changeovers in apartments. She has had her first driving lesson in her new car and recommends everyone she meets to look into EFT. She feels it is like starting a life over again. She is very slowly coming off her antidepressants and doesn’t feel the need for them.
I feel privileged to share Leylas’ story with you all. EFT is the best gift I have ever received in my life. It is too good to keep to ourselves. We must pass it on.
