April 2007

‘Elizabeth’ had a strong phobia for blood tests which was stopping her getting the treatment she needed for her Anorexia. Although she was very close to death from lack of nutrition, the doctors at the hospital couldn’t help Elizabeth unless she was willing to submit to blood tests.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s fear of blood tests was stronger than her fear of dying from anorexia. As an adult the hospital needed her consent before taking the tests.

The phobia came from several angles, including feeling out of control, feeling abandoned by her mother during a blood test as a child, pain during previous blood tests, and of course, as an anorexic, successful treatment following blood tests would mean weight gain.

Although Elizabeth hated needles with a vengeance, the phobia was much more about blood tests. She had been given injections successfully several times as an adult, and had relatively little problem with this, so we couldn’t focus on a specific thing like the needle and syringe.

However, at the end of the first treatment we had made great strides. At the beginning just the mention of a blood test made Elizabeth feel physically sick, and when we started describing the process she would go through she had very strong phobic reactions. There were many aspects such as rolling up her sleeves, showing her arms, the tightening of a strap around her arm, the light tapping on her blood vessels to make a vein stand out, etc.

We continued treatment for over an hour on this process, and by the end of the treatment Elizabeth was able to go through the whole procedure in theory, that is, we would describe the process aloud whilst performing the actions: rolling up her sleeve, putting our fingers around her arm to represent the strap, tapping on the veins, describing how we would take the needle, put it in and pull her blood out, then pull the needle out.

We did some very initial work on the anorexia itself, including some episodes during early childhood that were clearly contributing factors to her illness. We also treated, as a very low key introduction, towards her feelings of eating soup.

In Elizabeth’s own words: ‘I now no longer see the soup as having devil horns, rather it has angel wings’.

There is still much to go on this aspect, as Elizabeth has strong feelings towards buying food, preparing it, she has phobic reactions to cutlery, plates and many of the aspects we have to face before we can eat.

However, people suffering from anorexia tend to suffer from a chemical imbalance in the brain, causing problems with memory, reasoning and more. Elizabeth therefore had problems sustaining benefits from the first session, and when we started Elizabeth had slipped back to the point she was reacting nearly as strongly again to the suggestion of blood tests. It seemed virtually most of the progress had been lost.

In the second session we performed further treatments. We worked on many of the aspects that trigger her fear of blood tests, such as seeing a needle and hearing the crackling of the wrapping. We had obtained a needle from the local doctor’s surgery for this purpose.

In addition to performing EFT on each of these aspects, we also built up new associations. The crackling of the unwrapping of the needle represented unwrapping a specific gift she’d been given in the past. The tightening of the strap around the arm became her boyfriend hugging her tightly. The smell of the hospital became associated with her grandmother, who was always cleaning and therefore surrounded by smells of cleaning products.

We also worked out a plan for Elizabeth to use during blood tests at the hospital. It consisted of a number of steps:

1. Inform the doctor/nurse that Elizabeth would use a specific therapy plan to enable her to go through with the blood tests.
2. Instructed the doctor/nurse to avoid using the words “blood test” as this would trigger specific phobic reactions. Instead, the doctor/nurse was instructed to tell Elizabeth it was time to listen to her music again.
3. Use the treatment routine as taught during the sessions.
4. Employ distraction techniques during the blood tests, including looking away, concentrating and describing to herself or out loud items in the room.
5. Have music playing loud using an MP3 player to drown out any sounds and to help overwhelm the senses.

As Elizabeth’s memory was suffering, this plan was provided on an A4 sheet of paper, laminated for longevity and protection, showing the complete treatment points on one side and the specific instructions to Elizabeth and the Doctor/nurse on the other side.

I must emphasise the importance of the distraction here – Elizabeth herself says this was absolutely key to her managing to go through with the tests. Having complete instructions written out was critical as well to ensure success.

This procedure proved to be a complete success. Elizabeth stayed in hospital for 3 weeks. The doctors were extremely happy with her progress. They marvelled at the effectiveness of the techniques Elizabeth used during her blood tests.

In fact, the consultant in charge saw Elizabeth’s reactions when blood tests were discussed before admissions, and he believed Elizabeth wouldn’t be able to do them, and therefore wouldn’t be able to get treatment she needed. He was amazed how well Elizabeth dealt with these tests!

Elizabeth had 8 blood tests in the end, one of these were very incompetently carried out. A nurse completely missed the correct spot, taking the blood far to far down on the arm and collapsing the vein. Yet Elizabeth coped extremely well with the ordeal, and has had more tests since.

In Elizabeth’s own words: “You saved my life!“, and we are happy to say that Elizabeth continued her treatment for anorexia with us, and she’s now a much healthier and well adjusted person.

Please note: Names and personal details are always changed to protect clients, unless specific permission has been given to publish their personal information. The case study, however, remains 100% valid as all details are accurate.

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