Christian Weber (Flying)
Tea Salesman
Austin, TX
I've suffered from a fear of flying for the last twenty years, but didn't have a serious problem until I had a traumatic flight about three months ago. I got on the plane and it was really bumpy. I thought that everyone felt a certain amount of pressure when flying and I realize now that things weren't okay even before the difficult flight. Under normal circumstances I was able manage the anxiety, but I'd been going through a lot of pressure at work at the time and couldn't handle the combined stress of the flight and the tension that I had already been feeling.
There was a lot of turbulence on the flight and I became so anxious that I couldn't bring myself to board the connecting flight to my destination. I couldn't control my response to the environment around me, so I had remove myself from the situation. I wasn't able to just deal with what was going on and keep going and I felt disappointed and angry with myself. After that, I was so worried about that scary experience happening again that I couldn't imagine stepping onto a plane. That made me feel out of control. When I wasn't able to accomplish the mission once, I thought that I might not be able to do it again.
Not being able to fly was having a big impact on my life. It was affecting my work situation because I am required to travel for my job. We'd be sitting in meetings and someone would suggest that we go to California to meet with these guys and I would always say that I didn't think it was a good idea right now, I realized that I wouldn't be able to stall forever. It was also affecting my personal life because I have in-laws in Minnesota and my parents are in Germany; so flying is really essential in maintaining these relationships.
Laura was recommended to me by my doctor and I didn't have any concerns about hypnosis because I wasn't threatened by it. I started to notice changes right away. I became more aware of the anxiety that I'd been feeling within my life and looked at things differently. I started making changes and I feel more in control now.
I flew recently and noticed the difference in the way that I felt leading up to the flight and on the plane. I could even tell that I was doing better on the return flight compared to the departure. I was able to change the way I responded and that made me feel more confident. It was definitely a mental exercise, but I could do it. It's been a work in progress and I feel even better about flying now than I'd felt before I had the traumatic experience.
It feels good to know that in a relatively short period of time I can learn to do what I need to do. The biggest benefit for me has been the fact that I can fly now and keep getting better as I go. I've also noticed that I'm getting much better sleep. My wife noticed in the past that I'd started scratching my face in my sleep. It would wake her up because it was so loud. She said that I haven't done this since I went to A New Day Hypnosis. I feel calmer and less anxiety in general.
I'm confident that I'll be free of my problem permanently because I've gotten to this point already and I've seen so much progress. As I keep doing this, the suggestions that I'm giving myself are becoming more concrete and solid and the fears are just going away.
I would recommend Laura's services to anyone who wants to overcome their fear of flying. It's given me the realization of what's going on and the tools to help me overcome it. I would never tell somebody to go see Laura and she'll fix you because it's not that somebody else is going to fix you. You gain the tools to learn to make changes for yourself.