Basic HTML Version
The following week the throat problem had disappeared, and the experience was con-
sidered part of her life like other events. She reported no panic attacks during the week and
success in terms of her ability to remain at home alone. The ability to remain home alone
continued to consolidate during the following weeks. Adriana had been able to travel to
another town with her fiancé and did not felt anxious on the highway, nor in the gym. It
appeared that her surgery experience was a key factor in her anxiety disorder. At this point,
however, Adriana did not feel ready to attempt driving alone.
After reprocessing the memories regarding the burglars, the hashish evening, and the
surgery with EMDR, Adriana no longer suffered from not seeing or failing to focus when
she entered the car. However, the fear associated with the thought “I am far away from
home” remained and triggered anxiety. This appeared to be related to the fear of being sep-
arated from her parents (as in her childhood story) and to her worst panic attack, which was
so traumatic that it led her to avoid being alone and to need constantly her parents’ pres-
ence to feel reassured.
Adriana’s worst panic attack was then targeted to resolve her need to be accompanied by
her father and to facilitate the transition from her family house to the one built with her
fiancé. She ascribed her chronic disorder not only to her initial disturbing experiences but
also to her panic attacks over the years. In fact, after her worst panic attack, Adriana started
asking her parents to drive her to work, and since her father’s retirement, that was his pri-
mary occupation. As Adriana began to address her fear of driving, she pictured her worst
panic attack, which occurred in her idle car. Her negative cognition was “I am in danger
(because I am alone)” and she wanted to believe “I am safe” (VOC = 2). She felt fear
(SUD = 8) in her chest as she recalled this event. The event was successfully processed,
because at the end of the EMDR session, she could recall the memory of the worst panic
attack and feel no disturbance. The client was asked how true she felt “I’m safe” from 1 to
7 and she said “7”. Then, she said she could think of the incident and of the words “I’m
safe” feeling her body relaxed and light.
The following week, Adriana reported going to a large city (Milan) with her fiancé, dri-
ving the car in unknown areas, and feeling relaxed. Once in town, she went to a large book-
store on her own. While her fiancé looked for his books in other sections of the store, she
felt totally independent and relaxed. She even ventured in the underground floors of the
store alone. At this point in therapy, Adriana was able to recall her worst panic attack with-
out negative thoughts and distress (SUD = 0, and VOC = 7). Hence, she spent entire days
home alone and waited in a relaxed state. She was able to drive with her fiancé on the high-
way and to spontaneously visit the supermarket alone. Motivation and the desire to take
initiatives increased as never before. Before entering this therapeutic path, she had no moti-
vation or initiative to enact these behaviors. On the contrary, she was totally concentrated
on avoiding and maintaining the status quo.
8 Complicating Factors
Despite these changes, Adriana was still reporting anxiety when she had to drive alone.
A review of the remaining sessions indicated that this behavior was reinforced by secondary
gain fed by parental loyalty and attachment. The foundation of the remaining dysfunctional
Fernandez, Faretta / Panic Disorder and EMDR Treatment
55