Client 01
Session 01 & 02: Aug 27th, 2023 (Sunday) 12pm – 4pm
Session 01
We will call the client ‘O’
A brief History -
She is from Georgia. She got married and pregnant when she was 17. Has been married 4 times and is currently living in Mumbai with her 4th husband whom she has been married since 2015.
Has a daughter, Anna, from her first husband, who is now 30 and lives in UK with her husband.
O has studied Yoga (Ashtanga, Iyengar & Hatha) Crystal healing, Reiki healing.
Profession – Personal Yoga teacher
F / 45+ / Hypnotisability Score- 8/ Eye roll – 1/ Dominant sense - K /
Theme/ trigger phrases – Fear of heights
Pain level (She said otherwise she is happy with a pain level of zero but as far as fear of heights is concerned its 8)
Step 1
Therapist Intro - Done
Step 2
Willing to try it out. Has a spiritual bent of mind
Belief in PL – Yes 100%
Followed all the suggestions as per the orientation.
Happy go lucky demeanor
Step 3
About PLR - done
Set expectations - done
Step 4
Contract - signed
One liner issue – Fear of heights
Step 5
Hypnotisability Score - 8
Eye roll - 1
Step 6
History taking - Done (Briefly mentioned above)
Step 7
Releasing the Cognitive fatigue (The Great Bell Chant) - done
Step 8
Theme setting – Fear of heights
Step 9
Check list - completed
Comfort
Temperature
Water
Tissues
IMR
Step 10
Induction – Dave Elman’s – E + B + M
Progressive relaxation with the healing light
Steps Down going into a garden (Should have avoided steps)
Lying down in the garden watching the sky. Client felt most relaxed here and later mentioned that she was unable to move her limbs and even for the IMR could only make subtle index finger gesture.
Step 11
Visualization
Happy moments from her childhood – Going to school and dancing with other children. Didn’t share anything further so could not explore further. (After the session was over, O shared that even though it was her happy moments but she actually felt sad thinking that she didn’t have better happy moments in the childhood. If she had shared this during the session, we would have explored inner child)
Asked her if she was ready to move on and get into the boat, someone who she wants to say something to or who may have something to share with her.
At first she could not see anyone. It was difficult to conduct this as no feedback was coming from the client.
Later she was in tears … I gave her some time.
T: Whom are you with? Would you like to share?
She did not share anything so we could not do a proper closure exercise here.
T: Did you get a closure? (She nodded a yes)
(After the session she revealed it was her maternal grand mother she saw and she told her she was sorry that she could not make it for her funeral, her grandmother forgave her and that’s when she started crying during the session)
She couldn’t see anyone else.
Then we went back to the garden to rest and energize.
Next, I suggested if we can go back to a time when she felt this intense fear of heights. She was in an aerial cabin with her ex husband. I wanted to create the AGONY BRIDGE. She did not share in detail and just said she was scared. I tried deepening the fear and suggested that she should carry this intense fear and turn it into a bridge so that we can go back to the time when she felt a similar fear to explore where the fear is coming from.
But she said nothing is coming to her and she’s ok.
(Later she told me she was confused about being at a height and then suddenly finding herself at a bridge… some suggestions were lost. She also mentioned that it was a paralysing pain where she couldn’t move her feet at all… so I realized the bridge wasn’t going to work but since no feedback came, could not modify the suggestion had to end this visualization)
Since O mentioned that she felt ok, it gave me the indication that her fear of heights is probably just a symptom of something else and so I wanted to test it again – whether she feels scared being at the cliff …
So I suggested we move to the cliff. We stayed there for sometime. She was feeling good, relaxed. I asked her to take a few steps towards the edge of the cliff. She did. I asked her how she felt and she said she was okay… again I felt like fear of heights is not the real issue here. (Later she told me she was feeling okay at the edge because she was looking ahead)
We then did the box exercise where she picked 3 incidents. Out of which one that occurred during her late teens – early twenties was extremely traumatic for her. She did not share anything so we could go into detail or explore or resolve anything here. Did some breathing / relaxation and countdown and got her out of the trance and ended the session.
NOTE: This was a tough session as she barely spoke and shared anything. I had to write to Venu and ask if I should be doing another session oz I didn’t want to open anything and not be able to have a closure due to lack of communication. With Venu’s blessings and O wanting to get to the bottom of the fear (She could not understand it as she has always been an athletic person, she wanted to figure it out) She said she will be more forthcoming and we finally scheduled the next session.
Session 03
September 10th, (Sunday) 3pm – 7pm
(T: Therapist and O: is the Client)
We started with doing a catch up of she has been feeling.
She said she got nightmares for a couple of days after the last session. However, she would really like to get to the cause of her fear of heights and resolve it if possible.
I gently nudged her about helping me help her by sharing more during the session. Because I am here to help process all that surfaces during the session and that we will together make sense of it all at the end of the session. She agreed.
With the Theme set – “Fear of heights”, we started with the Video of Chant of the Great bell which she found extremely helpful to get into the introspective mood
I then started the Dave Elman induction – Eyes – Body – Mind.
We then did the progressive relaxation with the white light entering her head and from there ook her to the garden and asked her if she was ready to deep dive into her fears.
She said yes.
T: Where are you?
O: At my grand parents house in the village.
T: How old are you?
O: 6 or 7 years old.
T: Who else is there with you?
O: Oh so many children …brothers, cousins, friends.
T: What are you doing?
O: Everyone is trying to get to the loft, all the kids are climbing up. I am excited but too tiny to climb. They didn’t help me.
T: Were you scared?
O: No
T: Can you go back to the time when you climbed up a height.
O: I am playing with my brother in the neighbors orchard. We have our own trees but we still want to steal and eat their apples.
T: How old are you?
O: 9 or 10 maybe.
T: Did you climb the tree?
O: Yes, I climbed up, not my brother… but then fell down.
T: Were you hurt?
O: Yes, very much but my brother didn’t help me.
T: What happened next?
O: I went back home in pain but didn’t tell my parents about the fall because I was scared that they would beat me up for playing.
T: Is this when your fear began?
O: No, I did go to heights even after that.
(Pyramiding)
T: Let’s go to a time when you felt scared of being at a high place.
O: I am climbing the stairs of a building.
T: How old are you?
O: maybe 18.
T: Who else is with you?
O: I am with my friends. The friends are stupid, very stupid. They crack stupid jokes and do immature things.
T: You don’t like them?
O: No, I don’t want to go up to the terrace but they are forcing me. Everyone is drunk.
T: And you?
O: I am drunk. There is no railing. It is dangerous. I thought they are so stupid that they will push me down from the terrace… or if I just fall off?
T: Are you scared you will die if you fall?
O: What will happen to Anna if I die?
T: Anna, your newly born daughter?
O: Yes, I left her with my parents, and came out with these stupid people. I need to be responsible. What will happen to Anna?
(She started breathing heavily, repeating it and was visibly in distress)
T: Yes but nothing happened right… take a few deep breaths. Anna is fine.
(Did some relaxation & pyramiding)
T: Let’s move to the next important event when you felt scared. Take your time.
O: I am in an aerial cabin going up.
T: Where? Whom are you with?
O: My husband Andrew. We are on a holiday.
T: Is Anna with you?
O: No, it’s just Andrew and me.
T: How old are you?
O: About 31-32
T: Can you share what you are feeling/ thinking?
O: My legs are frozen, I cant move. I am scared.
T: Why are you scared?
O: I can’t move. What if the rope breaks and the cabin would fall into the gorge.
I will die.
T: Are you scared of death?
O: Not of dying but what will happen to Anna if I die?
(She started breathing heavily)
T: Nothing happened, Anna is absolutely fine. Take a few deep breaths.
(I did the countdown for her to relax, we went back to garden)
T: When you were young, you never had any fear of climbing. Remember at the orchard – you climbed up the tree?
O: Yes, my brother was scared but I wasn’t.
T: And the fear started from that night when you were with your friends?
O: Yes.
T: Were you scared of the height?
O: No. I was only thinking who will take care of Anna if something happened to me.
T: Yes, and you had a baby when you were so young yourself and a single mother.
O: Yes.
T: Do you see where your fear of heights is coming from?
O: I am not scared of heights I think. I was scared for Anna.
Closure
She realized that her main fear was never the height, it was that if something was to happen to her then what will happen to Anna? Who will take care of her? It was the Mother’s love which took shape of the fear of heights.
At the end of the session she felt happy. She said Anna is a grown woman now and can take care of herself.
She said she would plan a hiking trip with her husband soon and then definitely go closer to the edge and look down. She would also like to go in the aerial cabin, because she is in fact quite adventurous by nature.
Her Pain level was 1-2 at the end of the 3rd session.
Thanks for reading!
