EFT for Performance Anxiety

The Emotional Component of Recovery and Healing

jenniewarnerhypnotherapy@gmail.com (Jennie Warner) — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 16:47:40 GMT

EFT After Surgery

"I can't do this."

“I will never get the range of motion I used to have.”

“I am physically and mentally exhausted.”

“I will never be able to work with my dog like I want to.”

When my client, Maria, spoke of her experience of going through knee replacement rehabilitation, I could hear and feel her frustration. Eight weeks post-surgery, she was not seeing the gains she had hoped or expected to see. Discouraged and in pain, she was already talking about the permanent lack of motion that she expected as a result of the surgery. It was the story she was telling herself and one she believed in.

Physical and emotional pain were taking their toll on her ability to heal. Maria was in a cycle of frustration that created even more difficulty and intensity during her long and arduous rehabilitation. The more frustration she felt, the harder it was to move forward and to feel hopeful about her progression and recovery. She was truly at the end of her rope.

Working With Pain

Pain is complicated. More than just a physical sensation, it’s deeply intertwined with emotions and thoughts. Pain makes it very easy to get overwhelmed with fear, frustration, and even hopelessness. These emotions can amplify the sensation of pain, making a challenging time of healing much more intense and harder to manage. But as with so many other EFT success stories, Maria’s work became a beautiful example of how EFT can help to address these emotional components and shift the way pain is experienced so that true healing can occur.

In our time together, we worked on Maria’s feelings of frustration, anger and fear. She was able to bring her emotions to the surface and voice her feelings. She said and heard out loud the reality of how she was feeling, while sending calming signals to her nervous system through the tapping. As we moved through the session, Maria's perspective started to shift. She remembered that her mother had gone through the same surgery but had not been active in or dedicated to her rehab. As a result, her mother ended up with limited motion and many associated difficulties.

Shifting the Story

Maria realized that a major part of her fear was rooted in the observation of her mother’s experience. Bringing this realization to light allowed her the space to understand the impact that this was having on her own recovery. With this new connection to the memory, a shift was able to occur.

Maria became more accepting of her journey ahead. Feeling more empowered that she could and would make progress, she saw that she could take a different path than her mother did. She understood and gained perspective on her emotions in a very different way. In addition to EFT we did hypnosis - using a technique that allowed her to move her pain outside of her body - as well as a visualization of forward momentum during her next sessions (and beyond). Maria saw the future version of herself moving freely in her life and doing the things she loved with ease. She saw that her work gave her a sense of accomplishment, understanding and hope.

Recovery and Healing

The next day, when I asked how she was feeling, Maria texted a reply, "Much better! Yesterday was way better for walking and I slept with way less pain last night.” After her physical therapy session she reported, “I got 116 degrees!!! Really good session today.”

Maria continues to make great improvements in her range of motion and says that the session ‘got her over the hump’ because she was able to see her situation in a different way. EFT allowed her to change her relationship with her pain. It accessed her nervous system so that it could lower the anxiety, fear and stress that is often linked to heightened pain. It also gave her a self-care technique that she can use at any time.

Maria continues to thrive in her rehab. Acknowledging that it is hard work and takes time, consistency and persistence, she remains hopeful and strong. She has given herself grace and understanding and sees her future-self doing all the things that bring her joy: gardening, running after her grandchildren and working with her beloved rescue dog. That is the story she believes in now and continues her healing journey with momentum, strength and hope.

If you are interested in exploring how you can your relationship with pain click here to set up a free consultation today!

Tapping into a Peaceful Birth

jenniewarnerhypnotherapy@gmail.com (Jennie Warner) — Mon, 08 May 2023 16:47:17 GMT

Birth Story

Many women, like my client Katie, develop a birth plan that outlines their hopes and dreams for their perfect birth experience. Often this serves as a guide to a birth that is completely aligned with their hopes and dreams. Sometimes, however, things do not go to plan, which can result in sadness, disappointment and self-doubt. Despite her plan for a calm and peaceful home birth, Katie had a difficult and traumatic birth experience which resulted in an emergency C-section. Her son was healthy, but the birth was chaotic and frightening, and Katie ended up feeling that somehow she failed, that her body failed, and that she did not give her first baby the birth that he deserved.

I met Katie about 8 weeks before she was due to have her second baby. She reported that she has flashbacks to her previous experience and thus finds herself with feelings of anxiety around the upcoming birth. Additionally she feels a sense of guilt about having a C-section. As with many women, she is her own worst critic and in this context she feels that her own body let her down and that the C-section is somehow her fault.

As a Mom, I immediately identified with Katie. I understood the pressure that she had put upon herself and how that was affecting her. I also could see that the trauma from her difficult experience was trapped in her mind/body system. I explained to her that a combination of tapping (EFT) and hypnosis would help prepare her to approach and experience this birth differently - whatever that might look like. I recommended a series of sessions so that we could do the work slowly, safely and intentionally. I could see that she was stuck in a place of pain and I knew this work could release her from that and would allow her to experience her next birth in a completely different way, free from the past trauma and guilt.

The guilt around the C-section was giving Katie more emotional intensity when we started than the birth experience itself so we started our work there. Working through that guilt helped to build rapport and to get her comfortable with our process. She had some amazing cognitive shifts as we processed. Initially she said that her feelings around the C-section are representative of her perfectionism and that in her mind a C-section was equal to failure. As we worked, as we tapped .. she acknowledged that having an attitude of gratitude is THE most important thing and that she should thank her body for helping her have her healthy baby to the best of her ability. She realized that mindset is the most important thing and that she wanted to move into her next birth experience feeling more relaxed, open and accepting. This was a theme that we continued to revisit and reinforce in our sessions.

When she was ready to move into processing of the birth experience we used an EFT technique called ‘Tell the Story”. She recounted the story to me, starting from a neutral place in time. When we got to a point where she felt emotion we would stop and tap. I used words and phrases that reflected calm and safety ..things like ‘right here, right now, I am safe’ It was intentional, slow and progressive work, and by the end of our sessions she was able to tell the entire story .. from beginning to end with no emotion attached. It was a beautiful example of guiding a client to a place of peace, self-forgiveness, and acceptance.

Throughout our sessions I also incorporated hypnosis and visualization. I designed a recording for her which she listened to daily as her next birth approached. It was a vision of her future self, walking into the hospital feeling relaxed, peaceful and calm. It tapped into the way she wanted to see and feel herself giving birth. When we finished the work together we both shed tears of gratitude for our experience together and for the journey we took. As is always the case in the client practitioner relationship we learn and grow from each other. I felt so honored and privileged to do this work - it felt as if I was gently and preciously holding she and her baby.

Although Katie would have liked to have had a vaginal birth, she had a scheduled C-section and gave birth to a beautiful healthy boy. I received this text from her the day before the birth.

“Got your head in my voice for tomorrow. It’s not my first choice. But it’s the best choice at this point. And it will be beautiful. And I deeply and completely love and accept myself”

Seeing these words from her were humbling and beautiful - moving through difficult experiences and emotions with self love and acceptance is the power of this work. It is empowering for someone to move through this transformation, to see and understand the power of thoughts, and to see and recognize their own strength and resilience.

And in this case, the ripple effect is precious. The baby that was born that day came from a space of peace and calm. We all deserve that nurturing. It is meant to be.

More texts from Kate:

“Thank you again for everything. I am always so revitalized and one step closer to my best self after our sessions”

“Feeling more impatient than anything today. Listened to your recording this morning. AMAZING … LOVE it. Thank you !!!! Excited to listen again tonight”

“Just wanted to send an update … still pregnant. Considering a scheduled C-section. Not from a place of fear but from a place of self love and empowerment.”

Flying into Freedom with EFT

jenniewarnerhypnotherapy@gmail.com (Jennie Warner) — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 16:42:45 GMT

Airplane Story

I look around at people boarding the plane. I feel fear. I click my seat belt. I feel fear. The door closes and that means I am trapped. I know I can’t leave now. I feel fear. The plane taxis and accelerates. I feel fear. I wait for turbulence to happen. Sometimes it does .. sometimes it doesn’t. I feel fear as I wait.

These are things that my client said to me when she came to me to help her with her fear of flying. She wanted to take trips - with her husband, her family, her girlfriends. But she was afraid. She acknowledged that she wouldn’t make a hotel reservation let alone a plane reservation - because that act meant that the trip was real. Even thinking about making a reservation gave her emotional intensity. She said that her girlfriends stopped inviting her on girls weekends if the trips involved flying - they didn’t want her to feel bad. Trips to see family far away seemed out of reach because driving would take too many days.

She said simply wanted to look and feel like an ‘average person’ getting on the plane. And, she wanted to feel that the world - with travel, adventures, new experiences - was open and accessible. Specifically she wanted to bring her little boy on trips to experience new worlds with him. She knew how excited he got when he saw a plane.

She had a trip coming up within about 8 weeks. We scheduled 6 sessions. Carefully, slowly, intentionally … we worked through her fear. Together we moved through the journey from planning and booking a trip to landing at her destination … and we paused and tapped on any part of the journey that invoked that heightened sense of fear. After our sessions I gave her homework - to make the hotel reservation, to work on her playlist, to pack .. all things that she said she never would have done in advance. Each session took us further and further into the journey. We discussed and uncovered specific details to work through. We tested and re-tested - for any remaining fear.

We worked on a future vision. Seeing herself get on the plane looking calm and relaxed, seeing herself interested in other passengers, not afraid of them. Imagining herself sleeping, relaxing, reading during the flight. Observing how she was enjoying the process and excited about her destinations. We created an anchor and trigger phrase to use and remember - as she clasped her hands together she repeated in her mind ‘I am safe‘. I made a customized recording for her which reinforced that future vision. On her own, and before we were through she had put in her application for TSA pre-check. She started bringing her little boy to the airport to watch planes.

She worked hard. She was vulnerable and consistent. She said she had never vocalized her fears and even that made her feel better. Each session gave her more and more confidence that she was capable of this change. She took her trip and felt empowered by having tools.

In a message I will never forget she sent pictures. In one she was in the cockpit with the pilot. In another she was riding horseback with her husband on a beautiful beach. Those pictures are why I do what I do - to empower clients to tap into their power, to help them to open up unknown and exciting worlds, and to watch in awe and gratitude as they get on that plane and fly.