Two grown women, each paralyzed with fear at the thought of boarding a plane. A therapist uses innovative techniques to uncover the layers beneath the phobia and enables them to heal
Iwas always a good, quiet kid. I never got into trouble, never had “issues.” And being the good kid that I was, I never woke anyone up at night, even as I lay in bed, eyes wide open and trembling in fear. Instead I’d lie still, gripping my quilt and holding my breath, every nerve in my body on high alert.
Many children are afraid of the dark. But there’s fear and there’s fear. My fear was the kind of fear people experience at gunpoint. And that was on an average night, when darkness was the only trigger for my terror.
When scary things happened in the world, my fears scaled to impossible heights. Names of criminals haunted my psyche, the fiendish people in the news as real to me as my neighbors. Every rustle sent my heart racing, every shadow was a monster.
When I was ten years old, our community was thrown into a panic at the news of the abduction of a Jewish girl. The girl was missing for several days and askanim worked feverishly to rescue her. Everyone was frantic, and when the girl was finally found, everyone exhaled with relief.
Create a free account to keep reading.
