I brought my 10 year old son to see Dan at a point where I was completely lost as to how to help him. He had always showed signs of being a little anxious and in particular anxiety around being ill. Interestingly he is a really healthy child rarely even catching a cold and I think he has only had a sickness bug twice in his life.
He was always very thorough with washing his hands and would always be very wary around people who had been sick or felt sick. He would avoid them long after the 48 recommended hours.
But he did finally get a sickness bug this Easter. We thought he would find it hard, but he would finally realise that as horrible as it is, it’s all over pretty quickly and he would then not be so worried about it.
The complete opposite happened and although he appeared to deal with the bug ok a week later, he stopped eating and drinking for fear of being sick. He developed lots of safety behaviour habits that he thought would prevent him ever being sick again. He couldn’t go in his room, was scared to go up the stairs, couldn’t go in the bathroom on his own, couldn’t sleep on his own and many many more things. Getting him into school was a struggle, he missed lessons, stopped eating at school, stopped going to after school clubs. He was having several panic and anxiety attacks every day. It was like having a completely different child and my husband and I felt totally useless as we couldn’t seem to help him.
He was losing weight, but nothing could persuade him to eat. We went to the GP who said he could refer us, but it could be up to a year for him to be seen.
I had seen Dan’s blog on Facebook and saw on his website that he had helped people with phobias (I learnt from one of Dan’s posts that Oliver’s phobia was called Emetaphobia)and the related anxiety and panic that goes with them. So, I booked a free initial consultation and just hoped it was going to help.
Oliver was so scared to go; he didn’t know what Dan was going to do and he was very tearful and quiet when we arrived. I had already emailed Dan to tell him about Oliver and how nervous he was, and Dan had put my mind at ease about going.
Dan kept the first consultation so relaxed, friendly and calm that by the end Oliver had started to talk about how he felt and when we left Oliver said ‘Dan gets me doesn’t he’. When I asked Oliver if he would like to go back and see Dan, he said yes straight away.
Over the next few sessions Dan worked with Oliver to deal with his panic and anxiety giving him several methods and techniques to use. Some seemed so simple but proved so effective and easy enough for Oliver as a 10-year-old to understand and follow through with. He also helped me to understand what Oliver was feeling and the language I could use when he was panicking in order to help him.
Dan was so good at relating to Oliver, I felt that he very quickly understood Oliver’s personality and what would work for him.
Each week in between sessions Oliver made small improvements and he was always so excited to see Dan to tell him what he had achieved.
So, with Dan’s help Oliver started eating again, sleeping in his own bed, being able to be away from us and see his friends, go into school without panicking and being able to stay in lessons. He also learnt what to do if he had a panic attack.
We listened to several of Dan’s hypnosis downloads, all of which were extremely helpful, and we will continue to use those.
We will also continue to see Dan on an ad-hoc basis as I think it will help Oliver to keep on top of his anxiety and to remind him of what methods and techniques he can use. Dan was also very good at making Oliver realise that this was a small part of his life and it wasn’t going to take over from all the positive things going on.
I would highly recommend to anyone of any age dealing with a phobia and the related anxiety that comes along with it to go and see Dan. I can’t speak highly enough about the work Dan does and his ability to relate to people on an individual basis. He is so easy to talk to and the results speak for themselves.
I am so pleased we took Oliver to see Dan for that initial consultation and I hope that by writing this testimonial there may be someone else who is having a difficult time that will seek Dan’s help.
Thank you Dan
