Molly’s Story

"...guess what!!!!! I threw up last night after drinking a little too much...BUT, I didn't have a panic attack or anything...it was midnight, and I called my entire family to tell them I just threw up!"

Why would I tell you that? What if I told you that throwing up was a success? For my client that is exactly what it was. "Molly" came to me with Eremophobia, the fear of vomiting. She had massive panic attacks when either she or someone around her would vomit.

In fact, it had gone beyond that. If someone sounded like they were getting sick, it would trigger the panic response in her. It had gotten so bad that she couldn't even hold her own two-year-old son. In her eyes, it was keeping her from being a normal mother.

She had been to several therapists, was taking medications to help her deal with anxiety, and had tried other methods to get relief from the debilitating problem she has had since she was very young. She called me in tears, because she felt she was failing as a mother. She had little hope of getting over her problem and called me as "a last result".

After listening to her story, I told her that hypnosis could succeed when everything else had failed and explained how it worked to bring relief to the hardest problems. I put her on my schedule and told her that she would feel better knowing that there was hope and that she had taken the biggest step toward regaining control of her life.

A few days later she was in the office telling me the whole story (as she knew it). She left the first session full of hope for the first time in years. After the second session we knew where the problem started and resolved the issue.

That week she had her first major success. She had guest over and the kids were playing in the backyard. Her son ate to much and got a stomach ache. Her normal response kicked in and she felt the panic coming on. She went upstairs and used the techniques she had learned to remain in control and remember that the response was the function of a misperception of an event many years ago that could not hurt her. She immediately took control and returned to take care of her son.

After five weeks, she had overcome the problem that had limited her since she was seven years old. That is what prompted the joyful text that she had vomited and maintained control. Ironically, vomiting successfully was a life changing moment for her. Five sessions over five weeks did what years of talk therapy couldn’t do.

The truth is bigger than the presenting issue though. We relieved the source of her inner anxiety. By doing that other parts of her life started to fall into place. She is relaxed and calm. She no longer reacts negatively to what is going on around her. She is in control of who she is and her life. She said that with her change, she has noticed a substantial change in her son’s behavior. I told her I was not surprised because he had been reacting to her negative energy. Now that it was gone and replaced by positive energy, he was reacting to that.

When she came to me for the first session, I asked her what she wanted to be when we got rid of her fear. She told me she wanted to be “normal”.  When she texted me today, I asked her how it felt to be normal, her response was “it feels like changing.” I can tell you that she has changed. The young woman that came into my office five weeks ago was on the verge of tears, the lady that left her last session was beaming as bright as the sun.

I don’t recommend drinking until you puke to prove that you have been successful. But if that is what it takes, and it spurs massive confidence and growth, then I will sign off on it. Hypnosis succeeds when everything else has failed. It has been life changing for Miolly, her son and her whole family.