Driving Phobia...Gone!  Jeri's Story

By Barbara Lynn Allen

Over the years I've helped many sincere people create meaningful changes in their lives. Of the many "success stories" I've worked with I would like to share one especially poignant story.

Jeri, a vibrant, energetic and talented woman in her forties had read an article of mine called "Short Term Solutions for Long Term Problems." This article tells the dramatic story of an eight-week therapy program that completely cured a woman of both a serious driving phobia, as well as an intense fear of flying.

Jeri had been afraid of driving on freeways, or long distance, or over bridges for most of her adult life. And her fear was getting worse. Her life was getting smaller every day and to make matters even worse she was looking for a new job, but couldn't bring herself to drive over any bridge without sweaty palms, rapid heartbeat and sheer terror. She was desperate for change.

Fears and phobias are two of the most common concerns of people seeking hypnotherapy; some have even had significant amounts of conventional therapy without success. People sometimes think that the longer they have a problem, the more difficult and time consuming it might be to solve it. Surprisingly, this is not always true.

Problems like this can be very complex in their origins and each person is different. When I asked Jeri about her family background she told me that her mother was often upset and sometimes suicidal and would frequently call Jeri home from school to comfort her. Jeri was very close to her cousins and other family members, and she was desperate to be accepted and to be one of them.

You might wonder what this history has to do with her driving phobia. It turns out that the family history was the key to her fear. There were many traumatic memories about her mother's behavior contributing to her general anxiety. Using a comprehensive approach including hypnotherapy, compassionate counseling and energy clearing methods, we cleared the traumatic emotions she was still carrying from many disturbing events in her life. Soon Jeri began to feel more confident in her ability to drive over bridges, and less anxious in general.

Jeri lived with fear and self-repression for years rather than risk being "different" or going beyond the family "comfort zone." Her mother's erratic behavior instilled within her a deep layer of fearfulness that came out in her fear of driving, of "going too far, " as Jeri put it. On top of this she actually was different, very bright and more talented than others in her family. As a child she had been chastised for her differences. This reinforced her fears, low self-esteem and inhibitions. We cleared the fears and limiting beliefs holding her back. As old irrational beliefs vanished, we instilled new, positive life affirming beliefs. As the fears left she became stronger inside.

Using modern hypnotherapy methods, in a deep trance state, she had a powerful corrective emotional experience of what it would have been like to have a sane and comforting mother who took care of her, instead of the other way around. As this sense became established in her subconscious, she began to take care of herself instead of always putting others first.

Jeri was a talented musician, but couldn't take the jobs she was offered because of her phobia. After a series of focused, powerful sessions she started to take on more jobs and was able to drive herself to them, no longer needing to hide her talents. Best of all, a full-time job she had applied for invited her to interview, and she was now able to drive over the Bay Bridge to the interview. When they hired her she drove to work every day, her fears gone and her life finally her own. 

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Copyright © 2015 Barbara Lynn Allen