Table of Contents

Table of Contents Help

The tabs on the right are shortcuts to where you have been:

  • Previous Screen
  • Previous Articles
  • Previous Categories
  • Start Page
  • Hide Entire Menu

Swiping to the left will take you to the previous screen.

The folder icon indicates that more content is available. Click on the icon or the associated text, or swipe to the right to see the additional content.

Fears And Phobias

Flying

57 year old fear of flying vanishes in one EFT session -- 3 month follow-up included

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated.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

Note: This article assumes you have a working knowledge of EFT. Newcomers can still learn from it but are advised to peruse our Free Gold Standard (Official) EFT Tutorial™ for a more complete understanding.

Hi Everyone,

Here's an interesting flying phobia case by Joanne Harvey. In this instance the central issue was a distant SPECIFIC EVENT that needed to be collapsed. Phobias originate from diverse causes and it is essential to study articles like this to expand your understanding.

Hugs, Gary


By Joanne Harvey, MSW, EFT-ADV

Hello Gary. 

Fear of flying is such a life limiting phobia in our jet set world. But with a one hour session using EFT, Kelly was able to fly to San Diego and the next month fly to Hawaii for her first tropical vacation.  I have included her EFT session and, as you will see, her fear was connected to a 57 year old memory of her mother’s fear of flying.  

Kelly is a very bright business woman, but her fear of flying limited her earning power.  She had avoided flying all of her life. But now at 63 years old she had to fly to San Diego in order for her business to expand. She moaned and she groaned around her office, hoping that one of her employees would take pity on her and go in her place. No one volunteered so Kelly decided to see if what she heard about EFT was true.

When she called me, she let me know that she didn’t think tapping could help her get over her lifelong fear of flying. I said I couldn’t guarantee anything but since she was calling why not give it a try.

I asked when her fear first started; she sighed and said probably since she was 6. Her mother was a movie star and as an actress she had to fly to Europe.  Kelly remembered riding to the airport with mother and all she talked about was how much she hated flying.  Kelly said she could see her mother clear as day, climbing up to the door of the plane and looking back at her with a terrified look on her face. I asked what her level of intensity would be if she had to fly right now. She said it was a 10 out of 10.  So we started tapping, dispelling the negative charge.

Even though I am scared to death of flying… My mother was terrified of flying, and I am terrified of flying.

Even though I am terrified of flying I accept myself and honor my journey here today … I am scared of flying, this fear of flying keeps me grounded, literally, I am terrified to leave the ground. 

Even though I feel this way…

Then we did a full round of this fear of flying; my mother’s fear of flying; and, terrifying fear.  She laughed a little bit and took a long shuddering breath. Her level of intensity dropped to a 7 out of 10 and I asked her why she thought it was a 7. She said because all of a sudden she felt like she wanted to let the fear go. 

Even though I want to let go of this 57 year old fear of flying, I was 6 years old when I first felt this fear, I want to let it go…

Even though I have this 57 fear of flying… I was six years old when my mother exposed me to her fear of flying, I think I want to let that fear go … 57 years is a long time to drag this fear around, turning down fun places to travel … I want to let this fear of flying go.

Even though I’ve been dragging my mother’s fear of flying around since I was 6 year old…

Kelly was looking very relaxed she reported that her level of intensity was at a 3 out of 10, so we proceeded to the choice method. At this point Kelly and I, through EFT, are still dealing with at least two parts of her psyche.  So I continue to address both:

Even though there’s a part of part of me that is still hanging on to fear of flying, a more mature part is willing to let it go … I choose to let that part of me win.  I am 63 years old, the fear of flying does not serve me, I choose to let this fear go. 

Even though I still feel some connection to my mother through this fear of flying, another side of me wants to let that connection go so I can travel more. I choose to let that side of me prevail.  I loved my mother and I have so many happy memories growing up with her, I want to let that terrified look go and allow the happy memories to shine through, I choose to let this fear of flying go. 

Kelly started to tear up, so we kept talking and tapping and I asked her what was happening, and she said she had so many wonderful memories of her mother, but since she had died the look of terror when she stepped into that plane was always the strongest one.  Now, Kelly said she could hear her mother laughing and little memories of her were rushing into her head.  We stopped and she took a few deep breaths, she said she felt tingling in her finger tips.

I let her rest for a few moments and drink a little water.  I encouraged her to tell me a few of the memories that were coming up.  This is a delightful way to reinforce the positive and see if there is anything else that needs to be addressed before the fear is released.  Her fear was still at a level of intensity of one (1) so we continued tapping on the EFT points:

Any remaining fear of flying, I’m letting it all go

I choose to love who I am and acknowledge the remarkable woman that I am today

I love my mother and honor her for all the wonderful things she did in her life

I deeply love myself too, I am a bright, loving, resilient, sensitive compassionate woman

I choose to love and accept who I am, I choose to honor my bravery, I choose to make my arms tired by embracing everything life has to offer, I am a being of light, a beautiful soul, and a loving woman.

Now Kelly was beaming.  She was amused with herself; she reported no fear of flying.  She was a being of light full of promise and she knew it.  For a pre-test I had Kelly shut her eyes and I walked her through driving to the airport, parking her car, getting on the shuttle, arriving at the airport terminal, getting her ticket, going through security, finding the right gate, waiting for her flight to be called, giving her ticket to the agent, getting on the plane, finding her seat, putting her carry-on luggage in the overhead carrier, sitting in her seat, the plane moving, taking off, riding for 2 hours, landing, finding her luggage and so on, Kelly reported no anxiety or fear with this full visualization. 

I did give her a tapping exercise if she needed it for the actual flight.  Kelly left my office with a big smile on her face anxious to go pack for her trip. Kelly called me on the day of her trip; she had arrived in San Diego.  She reported that she did have some anxiety when the plane was delayed, but she tapped it away, read her book, and got on and flew without any problems.  She said she has already called her husband to let him know she’s ready after 30 years of waiting for their tropical honeymoon.

Follow-up: Three months later, Kelly and her husband did go on their honeymoon, and she is planning a trip to Belize in the near future. Kelly’s husband has an appointment to address his spider phobia, I guess he doesn’t want his fears to limit their travels.  Bon voyage to both of them.

Joanne Harvey MSW, EFT-ADV Practitioner

FOR MORE EFT HELP ...

Explore our newest advancement, Optimal EFT™, by reading my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™. More efficient. More powerful.