I read a fun article the other day describing ten of the worst fears Americans have. For those of you who want to skip to the chase, here’s the list:

  • Dentists
  • Dogs
  • Flying
  • Thunder and lightning
  • The dark
  • Heights
  • Being around people other than family (including speaking in front of groups)
  • Specific places, like elevators, sports arenas, bridges, shopping malls,
  • Spiders, and
  • Snakes
Fear of public speaking
public speaking: one of the top 10 phobias

The article gives all sorts of possible reasons someone might develop such an irrational fear. I’ve worked on a number of them. The interesting thing to me is that, no matter what someone is afraid of, what caused the fear, or how long it’s been tormenting them, the tapping I use can root it out.

I actually enjoy working with clients on their irrational fears. Usually, it doesn’t take very long to find out where the fear came from and get rid of it. We start by tapping on the thought of whatever bothers them — whether it is a critter, an activity, a place, or something else — and pretty soon their brain kicks up a memory that is related to their fear. Sometimes taking care of that one memory is all we need to do; sometimes there is more than one event that we have to tap on. Either way, I always enjoy that look of wonder on my client’s face when we finish and they can’t make themselves afraid of the thing that had given them the screaming meemies before, no matter how hard they try.

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