Case Studies for phagophobia and other issues

Phagophobia case studies

Client Location – Illinois, USA

Therapist – Penelope Ling

Therapy – Solution-focused hypnotherapy

Laura was a young woman from Illinois who contacted me about helping with her anxiety. She’d had standard CBT in her twenties, having admitted she had been a “worrier” since kindergarten. She was also under physicians for a rare condition called “Arnold-Chiari disease Type 1”[1], and I had to confess I hadn’t heard about it until our consultation.

The cerebellum and brainstem are misplaced in Arnold-Chiari syndrome. There is pressure which stops the cerebral fluid from flowing as it should. It can cause dizziness, tinnitus, and problems with swallowing.

Laura’s doctors had checked everything possible and assured her that her swallowing issues were stress-related and not Chairi syndrome related. She also smoked heavily, and another doctor who used a small camera to check out Laura’s oesophagus had picked up on abrasions, which he attributed to the hot inhaled smoke. He was concerned about this because if she carried on smoking, it could lead to throat cancer.

We worked during lockdown in 2020, and we both felt that it had contributed to her general anxiety. Business had to be carried out online and by delivery, not from the store her family ran.

She was part of the family business, so they were flexible with allowing her to take time out. We discussed whether her needs were being met and most of the time they were, but occasionally she had bursts of anxiety, usually related to personal relationships and customers. She’d had an unpleasant experience in her late teens in a relationship which had ended rather poorly. This made her feel she couldn’t relax around her partner, as she was always looking out for signs of disinterest.

We worked online for 12 sessions, the first 6 being weekly, then we spaced them out gradually, the last one we carried out a stop smoking session.

Each week we worked through tools which would help her refocus her thoughts from negative and threatening to more positive and helpful. Using a mix of solution-focused and CBT at times. She slowly ate more and enjoyed meals with her boyfriend and her family. When lockdown was over, she enjoyed a family reunion on the East coast at a large restaurant – something she would feel very anxious about before but now took it all in her stride. She gained eight pounds because of therapy, a weight gain that thrilled her.

https://www.brainandspine.org.uk/our-publications/booklets/chiari-malformation/

Speaking anxiety

Client location: London

Therapist: Penelope Ling

Therapies: Solution-focused hypnotherapy, Mindfulness, NLP & Human Givens

John is an experienced and respected sales manager for a large office development company based in London. For months, he had been having Indian head massages to help with his migraines until one day his therapist suggested he try to deal with the causes of his stress instead of dealing with the symptoms.

Finding us online, he attended one of our webinars and realised that how he thought about the sales talks he had to perform was at the root of the problem. When confronted by the gaze of his customers, John just froze, unable to speak. The weeks leading up to one of the conferences were fraught with sleepless nights, agitation, lack of attention and over-eating.

We worked online, his goal being that he felt in control and not worrying about sales conferences. Over 6 weeks, we covered all the tools which could help him visualise how the sales talks would be. We suggested to him to video and replay his preparation, by which time, he created a couple of strategies for channelling the nerves and using that energy to put into the talk. This proved an excellent strategy as he later reported back that he was being praised for his talks being so full of energy and not being dull. He also remembered that this all stemmed from being made to read out in class at school. His dyslexia made any kind of engagement such as this truly frightening.

Pseudo dysphagia and gagging

Location: Somerset

Therapist: Penelope Ling

Therapies: Solution-focused hypnotherapy and mindfulness

Sandra was mobilised by a serious stroke. The damage caused had paralysed her down her left-hand side. She had to go in for a deep brain operation, but couldn't swallow the medication. Doctors could tell by scans that the part of the brain which controls swallowing had been damaged during the stroke, but for some reason, could not administer the drugs she needed in liquid form.

Her husband contacted us because they didn't know what else to do, and armed with the knowledge at how the brain can change by visualisation, Penny took on the challenge.

Over 3 weeks, we just focused on visualising swallowing, whether it was her favourite milkshake or the medication, we went over and over it time and again during relaxation and trance for confidence building. By week 4, she was practising swallowing small pieces of food, and by week 5, she was taking her meds. After a few more weeks of taking the medication, she had achieved enough for her doctors to operate. When they scanned her brain again, they were amazed at how that part of the brain had changed. The power of visualisation had been a lifesaver.