By Dennis Blackburn

Dear Gary,

I downloaded and learned your basic recipe about a month ago.  Since then I have purchased the course on DVDs and have started viewing them.  I did this to try and learn how to overcome some issues I was having myself.  But I have found it extremely rewarding to share the technique and use it (simple things) on friends and family.

But I have to tell you about an experience I had this past weekend.  My wife and I had some friends in from out of town.  We told them that we would like to take them hiking while they were here, up a mountain near where we live.  They seemed excited about the prospect.

They arrived late Friday night and we had a great visit, but the word snake was brought up in our conversations about hiking the mountain and about my son being bitten by a copperhead this past summer (in a different location than where we were hiking).  I mentioned that I had only seen a snake one time while hiking on this mountain.

The next morning we were getting prepared to go and I asked my friend, Andrea, if she was OK with the hiking.  She said yes as long as we did not talk about the S-N-A-K-E word.  I told her at that time that I might be able to eliminate or reduce her fear of these creatures.  She said, “No, because it will involve being close to snakes.”  I said no, we do not have to do that and I would not want to do anything to bring on any emotional hurt."  Anyway, she said she was all right.

We started up the mountain and we had not even gotten off the paved portion of the trail at the bottom of the path when my wife spouted, “This is the copperhead and rattlesnake capital of the country!”  She had no idea of the conversation Andrea and I had earlier that morning. 

Andrea immediately started crying and was at an almost panic state.  I walked up to her and told her to take off her sunglasses.  I began tapping using the shortened version of the recipe and saying “this fear of snakes” at each tapping point.  After the first round of tapping, she stopped the crying and was calmed to some extent. 

I asked her how she felt.  She did not say much but I could tell she still needed another round.  So I tapped again this time saying “this remaining fear of snakes.”  I then asked her if she was OK.  She said yes.  I asked her if she could continue and a big smile came on her face and she said, “Yes, I will go.”  And we laughed and enjoyed the entire several hours hike in the woods.

I have since asked her about the incident and I asked her on a scale of 0 – 10 how she felt after the first round (I knew she was over the scale at the beginning) and she said, “I would say after the first tapping it dropped to about an intensity of 5 or 6 out of 10 and after the second it was down to a 2 or 3.  When we first started walking up the trail I concentrated on the ground looking back and forth to make sure there were no snakes, but after a few minutes was able to relax and enjoy the hike.”

I also asked her if she would have continued on the hike if I had not done that and she said, “No way!  Not unless someone had another method of calming me down.  I had been doing positive self-talk all morning as it was.  The conversation Friday night about Justin being bitten and the rattlesnakes in the area really had me scared.  I didn't want to be a wet rag on the party so I decided I HAD to go.  I was doing OK until Leona said those last things and then you saw what happened.  I had never reacted like that before...was a bit freaky.”

I followed up with her today and she said that she thinks there is still some fear but not nearly as bad.  I wished I had done one more round but I guess you learn these things as you go.

This technique is amazing and I thank God that I have found it.  Thanks Gary.  I can’t wait to use it when more opportunities arise.

Very Enthusiastically,

Dennis Blackburn, Newcomer