The world is a scary place these days, and children are not exempt from picking up on the current global fear and anxiety. Sadly, now our fears are compounded by the anti-vaxxers and anti-mask conspiracy theorists. It’s causing more fear and anxiety for those of us who are vaccinated and mindful of the health of others.

Now that the quarantine is over, children look to their parents and friends for cues on how to feel about going out in public. As I found out last week, agoraphobia among children is now a big concern. 

Annie, a 14-year-old girl and avid soccer player, has been suffering from covid anxiety. Her exasperated parents contacted me because her panic attacks were escalating. 

First, one of her teammates was exposed to covid, and it sent her into a panic about going to soccer practice. Her other major worry is playing against another team of strangers from different locations who could possibly be carriers. Of course, these are valid concerns.

Her Mom Is A Psychotherapist
 

Annie’s mom, Jenna, is a psychotherapist, and teaches psychology at a local college. She’s also an advocate of Energy Psychology and Tapping. Jenna helped her daughter though her anxiety using her own professional methods of cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mindfulness. She also has the support of another therapist who assists Annie when she’s in crisis mode. 

It all helps for a while, but hasn’t stopped it by any means. We arranged for me to meet Annie by zoom meeting days before her next soccer match. 

Where is the Anxiety?

When I interview my clients, I always ask where they feel anxiety in their body, if it’s a body sensation. For example, butterflies in the stomach, fluttering in the chest, tightening in the throat, buzzing in the head. 

Annie said she felt hers in her head. Pressing further, I asked what that feels like and she replied; “Like I’m not there, like I’m in a dream.”

During our interview, I wrote a list of all her worries and gauged them by subjective levels of distress from 0 to 10. 10 means it’s over the top severe, 0 is no distress at all.

She's Afraid of Dying From Covid
 

Her main concern is being the one responsible for contacting covid during the soccer matches and spreading it to her family. 9

She’s afraid of her dad dying from covid. 9 1/2

She’s afraid of going out in public, indoors especially. 9

She’s afraid to die of covid. 9

All were high levels of distress, which means physiologically, constant sympathetic nervous system arousal, aka hyper vigilant mode. It’s that constant background fear that leads to burnout if it’s not dialed down.

Our Immediate Goals

The goal of our tapping session was to bring her back into balance and promote parasympathetic nervous system activity so she could feel relaxed, calm and confidant, fortifying her resilience. 

I explained to her mom that if Annie could learn a few tapping points so she could get herself out of crisis mode, it would help her to feel more in control and empowered. 

At the start of our session I instructed her on where to tap and how firmly to tap on the select Organ Meridian tapping points on her face and upper body. I could see her shoulders relax right away. Together, we worked through her fear list.

I always know when a newbie has had enough tapping for one session without them saying a word. Her body language said she felt sleepy. I asked her if she felt like a wet noodle and she laughed and said yes.

She Got Sleepy and Started Singing

Later that evening, I texted Jenna to see how Annie was doing. Here’s her reply.

“She’s doing well, right after, she said she was very relaxed, almost wanting to sleep. She started singing songs to me, which she hasn’t done in a while (she’s an aspiring singer!) Thank you so much!”

I’m sorry to say that Annie’s fears are, unfortunately, well founded. I believe that practicing necessary precautions to regain some semblance of a normal life is vital to our emotional health. 

Coming out from the tight lid of the quarantine, and with more strains of covid popping up, now more than ever we need a self-help tool to help us dial-down our stress hormones and have more control over our fear and anxiety levels. 

Faced with adversity like a global pandemic, it’s essential to live in the moment and not in the future, where our fears can run wild. 

Annie has the advantage of parents who are open to trying something different, like my signature tapping methods, to help their daughter overcome anxiety.

Energy Psychology - One Step Further

While Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy helps to shift the intellect into a calmer state, Energy Psychology (tapping) takes it one step further and moves the energy of anxiety out of your physical body within minutes. That’s the gigantic difference between the two. 

And, if you can relate a core issue that started your anxiety, if it’s addressed properly, it can be resolved for good and never come back.

Big claims? Yes! Energy Psychology had a lot to prove in its infancy 30 years ago. Now there are over 100 gold standard clinical studies and 4 Meta analysis supporting tapping (EFT). Click here for more info on the research behind Energy Psychology.

I’m really looking forward to helping even more people than ever by launching my newBeginner’s-Only tapping club, “The Weekly Resilience Club”.

It’s meant for anyone who’s been struggling with anxiety and would like to learn how to turn it off on their own…with guidance from me. 

FYI, bouncing back into balance and boosting your resilience to the stressors of life is actually fun to do!

Meeting the first three Saturdays of the month, the goal of my 30 minute beginners club meetings are to simply turn off your anxiety. 

Using my signature Grumble Tap Method™, I add the healing power of humor to quickly lighten up your mood and put a smile back on your face. 

Curious and want to know more?  Click Here