Diane (not her real name) felt stage-fright singing in front of a huge audience. She knew she was a talented singer because she had received many accolades for her work. Yet, when it came to singing in front of a big audience, she would fumble, forget her lyrics or just feel ill with anxiety. When we talked, she was a few days away from performing in front of an audience of 200. She felt nervous just thinking about it, with an intensity of about 3 or a 4. She said that perhaps if she was sick before the performance then she would have an excuse for not performing perfectly. I asked her what would happen if she “failed.” And she replied that it would be the end of the world for her. With such a strong statement, I suspected that her intensity was in fact higher than what she reported. I inquired into why she needed to be perfect, and she recounted the story of hearing her brother being hit by her father because he wasn’t “perfect.” We tapped: “Even though I feel nervous, I don’t...
Healing. Growth. Balance.