Can I really eliminate my claustrophobia while using EFT anxiety elimination techniques? The answer is a resounding yes. Claustrophobia is a panic reaction that occurs because your body wants to protect you. It therefore creates feelings and reactions that are so uncomfortable that you avoid ever getting trapped again. This becomes a problem any time you want to go into a confined space. You end up between a rock and a hard place. If you avoid going into the enclosed space, all the negative emotions and should thoughts come up. If you force yourself to go in anyway and freak out with panic, then all the negative emotions and should thoughts come up. Some parts of you believe they are protecting you and have hard wired your responses. Other parts are reasoning out that you should be able to do this. The conflict is not resolvable. It becomes easier to find ways to avoid confined spaces all together. You end up choosing between losing a portion of your freedom or suffering anxiety and panic. This is not much of a choice.
Traditional therapies attempt to remedy this by making changes in your mental, behavioral, and physical systems. Initially you could change your thinking with cognitive therapy. Then you could change your behavior with exposure therapy. Finally the plan becomes to change your physical body with diaphragmatic breathing. This regime of treatment is not only very time consuming and stressful but you often won’t be able to keep your gains. This link is to a study that contrasts a traditional diaphragmatic breathing treatment and EFT in a placebo controlled clinical trial. Does the Tapping in EFT Really Work? In the study EFT reduced the stress and increased the ability to go toward the feared object by factors that were 3 to 4 times more effective than diaphragmatic breathing. The positive effects of EFT stayed in place over time while the positive effects of the diaphragmatic breathing were lost when it came to actually experiencing the feared object. When you change your reactions using Pro EFT they are recorded as permanent changes in the unconscious mind.
There is a generalized treatment plan we follow in order to accomplish this. First we tap down the feelings of anxiety and panic while imagining yourself in a somewhat enclosed space. We will do this using the Pro EFT Tearless Trauma Technique where our goal will be to keep your anxiety and panic SUDS level at or below a 3. We will be finished with this stage when imagining the enclosed space produces no stress at all.
The next step is to find your Core Issue. This is the body/mind memory which generally started it all. In order to turn themselves on, your panic and anxiety depend on this memory remaining intact with all of it’s feelings and physical reactions. Once we eliminate the distress you associate with this memory it becomes much more difficult for you to continue to feel the unreasonable anxiety and panic.
The third step is to then to experience a real life enclosed situation but without the panic and anxiety. We start slow, keeping your SUDS level at or below a 3. We gradually have you move toward the enclosed area using Pro EFT anxiety tapping to put it at 0 distress. In the end you will be able to be where ever you want and feel exactly how you want to feel while there. Situations that are dangerous will still produce the necessary levels of discomfort to keep you safe. You are only going to lose the unreasonable anxiety and panic. Using these Pro EFT anxiety and panic techniques will have you experiencing greater freedom and happiness. Don’t suffer any longer, sign up now.
Hi Usman, it is very nice to hear from you. Yes Pro EFT is wonderful for stress and claustrophobia. There are not treatment specific protocols for claustrophobia, but there is a general guideline you can follow. First I use tapping, to ease the emotions, tension, and other body sensations the client may be feeling, without addressing the claustrophobia. When these are all to a 0 intensity, then I go after the condition itself. If the client knows a specific event, that started the condition, using the Really Really Tearless Trauma Technique is ideal. A good rule of thumb, is to use the specific techniques, you have been trained in, and vary which one you are using according to the situation. As you learn tapping, combining it with the wonderful psychotherapy and psychoeducational techniques you know, is perfect. Just having your client talk, while tapping the points, at the same time, can be very beneficial. I will be offering teleclasses this year. I will notify you when these are available. Another great referral for telecalsses, is Lindsay Kenny EFT Master, and creator of Pro EFT. I use her techniques in my work all the time.