EFT & Hypnosis for Fear of Flying

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners.


by Katherine Zimmerman

This is Steve’s second session. He reported feeling more relaxed about the trip until about a week before he was due to leave to join his family for a vacation in Europe. His anticipation about this vacation was overshadowed with excessive worry about the trip. Steve wanted to feel as carefree on this vacation as he had when he’d traveled as a teenager. We identified many aspects prior to the hypnotic induction but, as you will see, more aspects surfaced during the session.

Initial aspects
Something might be wrong with the plane      8
The plane might blow up, might be a bomb      7
I worry about the engine catching on fire      9
There might be turbulence              5
Can’t sleep well on a plane            10
Worry about things at home, business      4
Worry about being gone              6

Aspects that surfaced during the session
Fear of boarding the plane              6
Worried about take-off              4

I was more cautious this session because Steve was such a deep trance subject. Rather than taking him through the progressive relaxation induction, I asked him to remember how relaxed he had felt during his first session and then had him turn off the switches for his muscles and thoughts. He dropped down into a deep state immediately.

We started with his worry that about the engine catching on fire. I asked him to let his “yes” finger lift when he was in touch with that worry. When his yes finger lifted I asked if that worry was still a nine. He agreed that it was and also affirmed that he could now let some of that go.

Prior to the hypnosis Steve had given me permission to tap for him. We tapped on, “Even though I’m afraid the engine will catch on fire, I deeply and completely accept myself.” At the end of the first round he is “just not worried,” which he rated as a two. With another round of tapping Steve reported that he “can’t find it.”

Next we tackled his “worry that there might be something wrong with the plane,” which initially had been an eight. It had already dropped to a five and he agreed to let the rest of that go.

After one round of tapping Steve said, “I don’t have it.” Next we tapped on the “fear that the plane might blow-up,” which still remained a seven. It dissolved on one round.

His “concern over turbulence” started at a five but now he, doesn’t have it. He had rated his belief that he can’t sleep on a plane as a ten and it’s still a ten after working on the other aspects.

With only one round of tapping, this belief dropped to a five. With another round, it was gone.
We tapped on one last aspect before we moved on to future pacing. Remember, when he traveled Steve sometimes worried about things at home, about his business. He had  rated that as a four and now it was a two, after clearing the other aspects. He was ready to let that go as well.

Rather than tapping on this aspect I told him that it would be really easy to get rid of that [creating mental expectancy] without even tapping. As he focused on that last little bit of worry… about the business when you’re on vacation, and then with his eyes closed, I asked Steve to roll them all the way down and over a period of about six seconds, just slowly roll them as high up in your head as they’ll go. And then let them relax. Good. When I asked him to rate “That “worry about the business when you’re on vacation” again it was gone.

Although we’d made excellent progress, when I asked Steve to imagine going on his trip and what the flight would be like he felt “kind of worried.”  As I reached for more clarification he was able to describe a new aspect: ”Just worried because I’m going to be gone” (new aspect).
This aspect had an intensity of six. With another round of tapping it, too, is gone.

Another aspect surfaced as I continued to walk him through getting ready for the trip, packing, checking his luggage, and approaching the gate. He expressed a fear of boarding the plane which he rated as a six. He felt clear of that with one round of tapping.

Next Steve feels worried about the take-off but it was only a four. We easily tapped it away. On this international flight, Steve flies from California to London first. I demonstrated how he could use a switch in his mind to quiet his thoughts. I then asked him to imagine a second switch for the noise outside himself. He confirmed by allowing his “yes” finger to lift. I filled in with some positive programming of feeling relaxed, comfortable, completely peaceful about this flight. Able to take his vacation and enjoy himself completely, thoroughly, just happy to be there with his friends and family; happy to be there with his wife and kids, knowing that everything is being taken care of. You’re free to vacation. What a wonderful thing. So imagine the plane now landing in London. How does it feel? You’ve had a good rest. What was it like? How do you feel about the landing?

Steve reported that he had nothing else to release when he imagined himself changing planes in London. I ended with some additional positive programming about his great vacation and how the flight each way to Europe and back was a wonderful experience.

I sent Steve home with a handout so that he could continue tapping as needed. Here are his final aspects.

Something might be wrong with the plane     8 ➝ 5 ➝ 0
The plane might blow up, might be a bomb     7 ➝ 0
I worry about the engine catching on fire      9 ➝ 2 ➝ 0
There might be turbulence              5 ➝ 0 w/o tapping
Can’t sleep well on a plane            10 ➝ 5 ➝ 0
Worry about things at home, business     4 ➝ 2
Worry about being gone              6 ➝ 0
Fear of boarding the plane              6 ➝ 0
Worried about take-off          4 ➝ 0

Summary: Here’s the report after Steve’s trip. “The trip was great. It was first time since a long time ago when I was not worried about flying. Actually I was enjoying the flight to Europe.

Katherine will be teaching EFT and how to use it with a hypnotized client at the Pre-Conference on March 30-31, 2016. Join us! https://hypnotistexaminers.org/conference/pre-conference/

Katherine Zimmerman is an internationally-known author and speaker, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Reiki Master, and EFT Practitioner. She is the Director of the California Hypnotherapy Academy offering CE courses and an independent study program. Http://hypnosis-continuing-education.com

SHARE IT:

Comments are closed.