The Case of the Nervous Dog Owner

Recently I facilitated what I would describe as a classic EFT session. By “classic” I mean the issue was clearly defined, aspects surfaced quickly, the response to tapping was swift, and relief was complete – all in one session. Though most EFT sessions don’t tie up so nicely in a bow, it is fun when one does!

A dog owner was nervous about her dog traveling by plane to Europe from the US. Out of a possible 10, she was a nervous at an 8 intensity when we started tapping. Even though she would be on the same plane as the dog, he would be in the cargo hold. She was sure she would not relax during the flight, let alone sleep or be able to eat while she worried about her dog for the 6 hour flight.

The aspects that were upmost in her mind were the ones we addressed first:

The dog was afraid of men but the ordeal would begin with a strange man picking up the dog at noon from his home. He’d be around more strange men at the airport before the flight took off at 6pm.

The dog owner imagined the dog shivering and panting in his crate for 12 straight hours.

She was sure he’d be traumatized for life from this event.

Not long into tapping about these aspects, a new, very strong aspect presented itself:

I should be nervous! Everyone else is under-reacting! Someone has to be nervous for him! It means I care!

This is an important aspect because it gave the dog owner a valid reason for being nervous and if we didn’t address this it could keep her from relaxing. We used her words to tap about her right and even her “job” to be nervous.

After more tapping, the dog owner began to say things like:

Everyone I’ve talked to who’s been through this said their dog was fine.

People do this all the time.

Now anger and frustration surfaced. She had been trying for 2 months to think of a way to save her dog from this perceived traumatic experience. She was used to solving problems but this problem could not be solved!

After tapping about this aspect, again using her words as she described it, she said, “At least I tried. I get credit for really trying.” This realization made her feel good about herself.

Then another aspect came up. What would she do with her nervousness between noon, when the dog got picked up, and 6pm when the plane finally took off? She called these hours “dead time” in which she was sure she’d be nervous. Again, we tapped about this aspect until she felt calm.

We tested our results with a variety of testing methods, such as vividly imagining her dog in the crate and being around strange men. I had her say, "I have to be nervous, it means I care" to see if it still sounded true. It no longer did. The real test was yet to come. How would she feel during those 12 hours in which the dog was out of her sight?

The first sign that the tapping had worked was that she chose to be present when the strange man picked up the dog even though she had anticipated not being able to watch the dog leave. She was a little teary when he left but this was normal sadness, not fear for her dog’s trauma.

She was able to get a lot done during the “dead time” and even eat a meal at the airport before her flight. The only time she felt nervous was when the airplane took off and she suddenly realized how much noise there was. How would that affect her dog? The dog owner felt nervous for several minutes, about a 5 out of 10 intensity, until the plane was off the ground. (Notice we had not tapped on this aspect.) Then she relaxed and enjoyed the flight, even sleeping for several hours.

This tale ends with a wagging tail. When the dog owner and the dog met after the flight, he wagged his tail but mostly he was busy smelling his new airport’s surroundings. A day later the dog was still his normal self.

Classically, EFT changed the dog owner in such a way that her nervousness was just gone. She didn’t have to brace herself against her fantasies of her dog’s suffering, reminding herself to stay calm, to breathe deeply, or to repeat affirmations that her dog would be fine. No, her nervousness that we identified and tapped about was just gone. Once again, EFT produces change in interesting and almost magical ways.

Ann Smith is an EFT International Accredited Certified Master Trainer and Advanced Practitioner. She was introduced to EFT in 2005 in her life coaching program as a tool to overcome blocks. Soon she realized that EFT did much more than that! In addition to her EFT International certification, she holds Gary Craig's Cert-1 credential and EFT Master Lindsey Kenny's Pro-EFT certification. Visit Ann Smith at www.InsideOutWithEFT.com

From the EFTfree Archives, which are now a part of EFT International .
Originally published on Oct 19, 2013.