Sofia, a 21-year old single, developed GERD symptoms three years ago, soon after her parents
dropped her off at university as a college freshman. By the end of her orientation week, she
developed a lump in the back of her throat, experienced overwhelming pressure in her chest, and easily became tearful. Eventually, she was diagnosed with GERD, but despite the medication her problems continued and she ended up withdrawing from her studies to return home. There her symptoms markedly improved with a new diet and medication, but she remained fearful that “one slip-up” could “ruin my day” and lead to out-of-control symptoms.
To understand Sofia’s remarkable response to her first-time independence, we explored her
childhood, which was very loving and stable. She did lose a grandmother at age 10, which could
partially explain her vulnerability to significant change, but I was curious about her current anxiety around “slipping up.”
Although Sofia had no memory of the event, when she was just three years old, she was isolated from her family during a camping trip and became lost in the forest. After frantic efforts to locate her, Sofia’s family eventually found her, crying and fearful.
By revisiting this early childhood experience of accidental abandonment, Sofia quickly made
connections to her experience of homesickness while away from her family at college. We worked on processing her feelings of abandonment and grief as a three-year old. This helped Sofia to cultivate resilience and tolerate the anxiety she had developed recently toward food. More specifically, it addressed the core belief she acquired at age three that she needed to be perfect to avoid “slipping up,” which she unconsciously feared could lead to another experience of abandonment.
I encouraged Sofia to begin cultivating new experiences for herself, which required increasing
levels of independence and confidence. She learned to “speak up” at the first sign of a lump in her throat or pressure in her chest, and is now planning to return to her studies.