By Susitha P.

Dear Gary,

Vinitha had an intense fear of choking on her food.  When she approached 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.  The doctors 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 which was painful and the stay at the hospital was depressing.  After that her son was preparing to go abroad for his studies.  Her husband and son would argue about various topics involving the travel during dinner 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 at dinner regularly but was very rare during breakfast and lunch.  But with time it became more aggravated and she could not eat a single meal without the fear.  She started eating over-cooked food which helped for breakfast and lunch but not for dinner.  She had stopped eating vegetables like beans which appeared hard.

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 started 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 on the surgery and the stay at the hospital and she was able to look at it with a calm feeling.  We also worked on the sadness that her son was away and ended with the positive statements like “My son is doing well”, “My son is happy” and “I am happy for him.”

We worked on some specific events at the dinner table.  Various aspects like sadness, helplessness and fear came up and we worked on 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 on 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 remained and we worked on 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 on this and Vinitha says the fear has not reoccurred and she is gaining back her health.

When she mentioned this problem to the doctors they did not pay attention to it and made her feel like she was making it up.  She is really grateful that EFT has helped clear the root cause of her problem.  I continue working in awe and passion at the various kinds of problems that EFT so painlessly clears.

Best Wishes

Susitha P.