Talk to the Fox

Celine, a 7-year-old girl, came for session with a fear of animals.

She began watching TV in her mind and walked down the stairs leading to Her World. As soon as she arrived at the bottom, she gasped. In Her World, she saw blood on the ground. This brought the fear to the surface.

She described her fear as a black ball in her chest. Rewinding back to the moment it began, she arrived in a forest. She saw herself taking part in a kindergarten field trip. The group stumbled across a patch of blood and fur. Her teacher said, a fox had eaten a rabbit.

A fear began taking hold that the fox would return to eat her.

The key to any such issue is to reframe this memory. Celine was told to visualize herself going back to the forest, to talk with the fox about his side of the story. Safe inside a protection bubble, she floated over the forest and landed near the fox den.

She called the fox and met face to face. He confirmed he had been extremely hungry that day. Since foxes can’t buy their groceries, they need to find other ways. She began understanding that he never had any intention of harming her.

The fox apologized. Celine forgave. She disassembled the black ball of fear in her chest and went back to Her World, where the blood was now gone.

The session ended in just 35 minutes and the fear never returned.