Dear EFT Community,
In this article, Susitha P. describes her work with a client who had an intense fear of choking. It emerged that the fear was related to stress at the dinner table. The insights gained from this article can be applied to other stress-related fears.
– EFTUniverse
By Susitha P.
Vinitha had an intense fear of choking on her food. At the time she consulted me, she could not go though a single meal without the fear showing up. She was overwhelmed with this fear and was very depressed, as she was losing weight.
Her doctors had conducted an endoscopy, which indicated no abnormality.
Through a series of questions, I gathered that the problem first appeared during a stressful time in her life. She had undergone a surgery that was painful and the stay at the hospital was depressing. After that, her son was preparing to go abroad for his studies.
During dinner, her husband and son would argue about various topics involving the travel, and it would invariably end up with one of them walking out and banging their room door. Vinitha felt very overwhelmed and stressed with all the tension.
Initially, the fear of choking on food appeared regularly at dinner, but rarely during breakfast or lunch. With time, it became more aggravated and she could not eat a single meal without the fear. In her fear of choking, she started eating overcooked food, which helped her eat at breakfast and lunch, but not at dinner. She had stopped eating vegetables that appeared hard, such as beans.
She was trying to cope with her family responsibilities, her work, and all the additional work that came up because of her son’s travel. She had never stayed away from her son and she was really sad that he had to leave. She felt unsupported, overwhelmed, sad, and tired.
We began by addressing the general issue:
Even though life was overwhelming and I felt all choked up with problems…
Even though it was a difficult time and I still carry that stress inside me…and I choose to let the stress go.
Even though life was so difficult and I felt choked and could not handle it…it is over, I can relax now.
We tapped for “stressful period” and “I felt all choked up” and “it is over, I can relax now.” We worked at the surgery and the stay at the hospital and she was able to look at it with a calm feeling. We also worked at the sadness that her son was away, and ended with positive statements such as, “My son is doing well,” “My son is happy,” and “I am happy for him.”
We worked at some specific dinner table events. Various aspects such as sadness, helplessness, and fear came up and we worked at all aspects of each event. The fear of choking on food came down to a 0 on a scale of 0 to 10. She was able to eat her dinner calmly. I asked her if she was enjoying her dinner and she said, “No.”
We worked at enjoying the dinner.
Even though I am not yet able to enjoy my dinner, I appreciate the progress I have made…and I choose to enjoy my dinner.
She was able to enjoy eating her food after this.
The fear of hard types of food had remained. We worked at that again and she was able to eat beans, chocolates, nuts, and everything that she desired to eat.
It has been 6 months since we worked at this. Vinitha says the fear has not reoccurred and she is regaining her health. She is really grateful that EFT helped clear the root cause of her problem.
I continue working in awe and passion on the various kinds of problems that EFT so painlessly clears.
