Relief from Anxiety Disorders and Phobias

Relief from Anxiety,
Panic and Phobias

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Relief from Anxiety, Panic and Phobias

Several years ago, a respected colleague referred a client to me because she knew that my main theoretical orientation was Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Most clinicians agree that CBT is one of the best approaches to use with clients presenting with anxiety and/or depression. The client she referred was a 42 year-old woman with generalized anxiety and some specific phobias. Our work was successful and my colleague started referring more clients to me. Pretty soon, word got out and other colleagues apparently came to think of me as an expert in the area of cognitive-behavioral techniques for anxiety and depression. After awhile, with all this successful experience, I really did become somewhat of an expert in the area of anxiety and phobias. That is when I decided to start volunteering my time facilitating the monthly Anxiety Disorders and Phobias community support group here in Albuquerque. We met in my tree-shaded backyard in Nob Hill, which provided a relaxing and nurturing setting. For awhile, we even included a pot-luck after the meeting, which really seemed to help the people with social phobias to experience success with newfound social skills.

"I had been dealing with an anxiety disorder for quite some time and it began interfering with my daily activities. Dr. Roush very effectively helped me in working through my anxiety. She is a wonderful, kind, compassionate, gentle, and caring individual with lots of positive energy." - Vangie

Since discovering the field of Energy Psychology and incorporating EFT specifically, success with anxiety, phobias, and broad spectrum performance issues is vastly improved. EFT blends perfectly with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques because it helps bring up irrational beliefs and emotional wounds faster, and creates deeper cognitive shifts at both unconscious and energetic levels.

“Kristin L. Roush, Ph.D. was our wonderful facilitator of the Anxiety Disorders and Phobias support group for several years. This work was done pro bono as a way of giving back to the community. Dr. Roush demonstrated tremendous skill and compassion working with a group of people who often suffered severe limitations. I know those who benefited from her expertise are forever grateful. Kris seems to excel at everything she attempts. She is a kind and gifted healer who blends professional competence with a gentle sense of humor that communicates reassurance. We were so fortunate to work with her and look forward to resuming the support group with an emphasis in energy psychology (EFT) techniques.”
Sandy

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Here is a letter I received several months later from a student who said he finally located my e-mail address:

Hello Kris,
My name is Dominic Montano. I was in your Business Interpersonal Skills class last spring. I hope you remember me. The reason for this e-mail is that I wanted to thank you.

There was a time after class where you and I and a few others did this exercise. I’ve forgotten what it was called, but we would take two fingers and tap them on some meridian points (I believe that’s what you called them) throughout the body. The reason that I did this was because of my extreme fear of Eternity and Death. It is quite interesting because since that day, I have not had one single panic attack due to any thoughts of Eternity and Death. I honestly believe that it is because of the tapping that we did. You taught me how to do it and I did it a few times afterward and I have not even thought of it since then. It is amazing. I really believe that took care of it for me. Sometimes, at night, I will try to think about Eternity and Death and I can’t even get myself to freak out about it.

I just wanted to e-mail and let you know that it helped me in getting over my fear of Eternity and Death. Thank you. I hope all is well for you.

Dominic Montano

Panic Attacks

A panic attack often comes on very suddenly, within seconds, and you may or may not be able to identify what triggered it. Some symptoms are: a feeling of intense fear, fear of losing control, and fear that you’re going to die. All of this is accompanied by physical symptoms, such as a racing or pounding heart, chest pains, light-headedness, difficulty breathing, sweating, shaking, nausea, and even tingling or numbness in the hands. As you can imagine, it is a terrifying experience and many people end up in the emergency room believing they are having a heart attack. While the propensity to have an anxiety disorder may run in families, it is very possible for average well-adjusted people to have a panic attack, especially if they have recently been through a particularly stressful time. It might also be associated with a phobic reaction, like a claustrophobic reaction while being in large crowd, stuck in a traffic jam, or sitting in a hot and crowded airplane.

When a new client tells me that they would like some help with panic attacks, I always ask this question: Have you ever experienced a particularly traumatic event – in either the recent past or even distant past – in which you buried your intense feelings at the time, perhaps because you needed to “keep it together” for your own sake or the sake of others? I am not exaggerating. Literally every single client has answered yes or has been able to identify strong emotions that have never been expressed and were essentially “buried alive.” Once those old buried memories/feelings are brought to the surface and expressed, and then “tapped on” with EFT, it is amazing how those panic attacks can be completely eliminated. Remember though, with EFT you do not have to be re-traumatized by painfully reliving memories. In fact, that is discouraged. You will be gently guided to recall a situation and any difficult feelings that begin to emerge will be tapped on and decreased along the way.

Phobias
Sometimes, people know exactly why they have a particular phobia. They can trace it to a specific event. Other times, they may not have any idea. The fear of public speaking is the most common phobia, and everyone has heard of other types of phobias, such as the fear of spiders, snakes, heights, germs, dental/medical procedures, enclosed spaces, and flying in planes. Sometimes, a phobia is “idiosyncratic.” This means that it is specific to only that particular person. I have found that phobias often have “control issues” underneath them. Fear of public speaking, social phobia, and phobias related to performance situations are often about fear of other people’s disapproval. To read some articles about how EFT has been used to relieve anxiety, panic and phobias, click here emofree.com/articles

Using techniques from Energy Psychology, we can often very quickly and permanently eliminate these irrational fears, allowing people to once again enjoy the freedom of coming and going at will without being preoccupied with their fear of fear.

If you are struggling with any kind of anxiety – panic attacks, phobias, traumatic war memories, performance blocks, eg: entertainment, sports, corporate sales; existential dread, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, etc… EFT is particularly effective with these kinds of concerns. In fact, of all the many areas that EFT is used for, anxiety concerns is the number one issue for which EFT is applied.

I also offer a workshop about anxiety called: When Even Your Butterflies Are Anxious. This can be custom designed to fit a 1-3 hour time frame. Just contact me if you would like to discuss offering this workshop for your organization, church group, or educational setting.

Please contact me and let’s see if, together, we can help you release those old beliefs that no longer serve you.

Okay, now, B ..R ..E ..A ..T ..H ..E ….ah…. yes …. that’s better.

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