Case studies are written to protect client privacy. Each example is based on real sessions, with details only changed if needed to preserve anonymity.
Situation:
Early 30s, happily engaged, one problem: couldn’t get on buses. Trains, taxis, subway – all fine. But buses triggered immediate panic. No traumatic bus accidents, no bad experiences she could remember. She’d tried breathing exercises, logic (“it’s just a bus”) and standing next to buses. Nothing worked. The phobia made no sense, which made it worse.
Breakthrough:
We explored when it started. She knew the timeframe – right after her boyfriend proposed. That felt significant, but she couldn’t see any connection.
No bus accidents, no near misses, nobody she knew hurt by a bus, and she was not bothered by a bus going past or next to her – she just panicked when she tried to get on one.
I asked her to walk me through that period. Where was she when he proposed? What else was happening in her life?
Nothing clicked, so I explored the lives of other people she knew. Anyone she was close to, anything happen or happening in their lives to do with a bus? Buses?
She mentioned an ex-boyfriend, how she didn’t care what was happening in his life. He was a coward and broke up with her by phone.
I asked “If you don’t care, why is he important?”
Silence. Then: “On a bus. On the bus!!”
Years earlier, messy breakup, emotional phone call.
Her conscious memory was about how upsetting and cowardly it was that he dumped her by phone.
Her subconscious filed it as “Got on a bus, my boyfriend dumped me.”
Wasn’t a problem, no signs of phobia at all, until her current boyfriend proposed. She was excited to have a secure future with him – so her brain flagged buses as dangerous. Not because of the vehicle, but because her subconscious was terrified that getting on a bus might screw things up, like last time.
She kept repeating “on a f***** bus” like she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten. Then she went quiet, nodded, and said she could get on a bus now, “No probs.”
Outcome:
Never heard from her again. Pretty sure she’s good.
How this maps to shopping:
Your brain doesn’t file memories the way you think it does. The trigger for your shopping urges might have nothing to do with shopping itself – it’s likely connected to something older, something you’ve forgotten or something you never consciously registered in the first place. Once you see the actual connection, the compulsion loses its power. You can’t unfeel a breakup, but you can stop being scared of buses.
Her breakthrough was private. Yours will be too.
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