I have a client who has what he calls, ''a phobia of driving'', but thats not the case. He will drive, just not past a certain roundabout or on country lanes or on motorways because there are no houses there that he could knock at to get a glass of water in case he has a panic attack.

As soon as he looses sight of houses he freaks out. He also has a memory of being 2 years old and having the bedroom door shut and being left in the dark with all the imaginary things he could see in the shadows, so he is also scared of the dark.

Also he freaks out in alley ways because he says it 'sounds' like the walls are closing in on him. His ears become full of pressure.

The above are his words and as you can see I would like to change everything for him but I'm having to take things one step at a time as I have not come across something this complicated yet.

Any advice is most gratefully received. Amazing first client eh? He did volunteer knowing I had only just done the course so I do not want to make things worse for him and if I do not feel capable of dealing with this I will pass him on to someone who is.

Any ideas which part to work on first, or any particular courses of action.

I started with the swish and changed his image of driving into a relaxed one which reduced his fear to 7 out of 10 but it will not drop any lower. Not sure if there is a best symptom to tackle first.