Overcoming a Swimming Phobia

“Yes!… Yes!… Yes!” I yelled and jumped into the air with one arm up”. 

I have worked with quite a few swimming phobias. The case listed below is interesting for several different reasons:

• Depression was also present
• We had such a good laugh (who says therapy has to be so serious- all that really matters is the result)

Husband’s cruel joke and the Swimming Phobia

A tale of black eyes, and scaring people in swimming pools

Consultation and  Session One (1 ½ hours)

It’s interesting how something as simple as a swimming phobia can turn quite dramatically into something entirely different. As a therapist, you need the ability to think on your feet.

As I sat listening to the client’s story, I couldn’t help notice that she was overly down on herself over the issue, “I’m disgusted with myself”, she said, “I should be able to do it”. She had indicated on the phone that she had other problems and guessing from her demeanour; I guessed there was a significant level of depression. As she went further into her story, it became apparent that the break-up of her 20-year marriage was still affecting her. She was now in a happy relationship.

With a phobia, one of the ways of dealing with it is by tracing it back to the first event when the problem developed.  Surprisingly this can be very easy to do. “If you were to guess an event in your life that is the cause of this problem, what specific event would you choose?” Even if the person is not consciously aware of the event that caused the problem,  at some level within them, the knowledge is there. Each time they have a phobic response, their unconscious mind is connecting with the first event, to do a threat assessment.

Generally, the reaction is so fast that the memory of the first event does not come into the conscious mind. The client guessed that her problems stemmed from experiences she had with her ex-husband. He had, on several occasions, dragged her under the water while tying seaweed around her ankles. He’d found it funny; the client didn’t. Discussing what I thought would be the best course of action, I said to the client that I felt she needed to deal with her feelings toward the ex-husband. I felt that he was part of the reason she was so, “disgusted” with herself about not being able to swim.

For most people, this kind of issue would not provoke that level of emotion. I also said I didn’t feel it would take long as she didn’t have that much interaction with him now as the children were grown up. She has a good relationship with her new husband. I suggested we use the EFT Technique. We used an advanced form of this technique. When a marriage break-up occurs, there can be a lot of unresolved issues. The break-up had affected the client’s self-esteem, and she still felt anger toward the ex. Note, if you are angry or resentful, the other person still has a hold over you and more than likely they are just living their lives blissfully unaware, enjoying themselves.

The session was scheduled for an hour, so we set to work on resolving these issues.  Forty minutes later, we were finished. She physically felt different as if a weight had been lifted. The client was in hysterics, laughing, thinking about her ex. It is quite common at this point for the client to say they wished they had done this years ago, which again is a negative feeling of regret. The other aspect is you can’t change the past; you can only change how you feel about it. Feeling regret is still connecting you to the problem. We dealt with this within a minute. The rest of the session was focused on the swimming phobia.

At this point, I switched to the TAT technique, (variety is the spice of life, so they say). With the TAT, you get the client to place their hands on specific acupressure points and focus their mind on the problem, which in this case was “falling”. As she began, her breathing became very high and rapid in her chest, indicative of anxiety and panic; it subsided within thirty seconds.

TAT is a very simple technique. It almost seems too simple as people expect that you have to do complex to get results. You don’t; simple procedures can be highly effective. It allows the brain to process the information it was unable to process before because the brain was in survival mode. In survival mode, the more primitive parts of the brain are in control. Think about it, what is the point in having the ability to play chess if you are just about to be eaten by a lion. Makes sense to put all of your efforts into running as fast as you can, which is the fight or flight response. (Fight or flight response is the name given to the survival instinct which activates the moment we are under threat, whether that threat is real or just perceived).

Great if there is a lion about to pounce, not so good if you are in three and a half foot of water, with a lifeguard watching you. We then went to step two of TAT which involves reprogramming the brain or putting in new information, which is “those events happened, I’m OK“, while you are in the TAT pose. We went through the other steps and finished the session. We scheduled the next appointment to take place directly after a swimming session so that we would have real-world feedback.

Post Therapy Feedback

“First time I left …(I)… felt I was attached to a balloon, I didn’t  feel I was so heavy any more”

Many clients experience feeling “lighter” when uncomfortable emotions lift. It is linked to a change in frequency. 

Session Two (1 hour) Feedback

I start all sessions after the initial one with feedback, because we need to know what is working and what needs further work. The client said that the work we did about her ex had made a big difference in her life. She felt different about him, and she was much happier. Her swimming was 70% improved. She had been able to swim over to her current husband. This was quite important to her as it signified her trust in him. We started work on the remainder of the swimming problem, using EFT and TAT.

Session Three Feedback

The client reported how amazed she was as after the 2nd session she hadn’t noticed the massive shifts experienced at the first session and yet she’d just been swimming and swum a length. We were both in hysterics as she told me what had happened. “Yes!.. Yes!.. Yes!” I yelled and jumped into the air with one arm up.

“There was a man nearby who was swimming lengths with goggles on; he was so taken by surprise that he nearly swam into the wall. He looked at me like I was a lunatic and took off swimming again… He now hurries away whenever he sees me”.

Another interesting point was that the client turned up to the session with a black eye! Laughing she told me she had got so carried away using EFT; she’d bruised herself. EFT uses gentle percussion tapping on acupressure points. I emphasis again, gentle. Some clients, however, tap harder than they need to as if force will make their problem disappear faster, it doesn’t. You will get results just as fast by being gentle. I instruct all of my clients to use “gentle tapping”. Still, it showed how determined she was to get a result! Her comments were:

“Couldn’t care less if I look like a panda as long as I could swim”. We now needed external feedback.

One week later

“I couldn’t believe it… (swimming) is becoming automatic… before it was an effort… what astounded me was I was swimming, I turned around, and I was stood in the middle of the swimming pool, and I just took off, shouting to my husband, “look at me”. Previously I was always clinging on to the side; even after I’d done an expensive swimming course, the day after I was still terrified in the water. I’m 63; now, I think it is brilliant (that I’ve learnt to swim)”.

Many people at the pool have noticed her change in confidence in the water. They have been asking her how she did it.

Case Originally Published 30th August 2003 and modified slightly in 2020 as I was relocating articles from my original website. The modifications were done for readability purposes (I am a better writer now 🙂). This article was written with the client’s permission and assistance.

All the best,

Tania A Prince

EFT Founding Master

AAMET Accredited EFT Master Trainer of Trainers

NLP Trainer