EMDR Treatment of Children and Adolescents

With a Choking Phobia

Carlijn de Roos
Psychotraumacentre for Children and Youth, GGZ Rivierduinen, The Netherlands
Ad de Jongh
Academic Centre Dentistry Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Given the limited number of reported cases in literature, it might be concluded that it is rare to develop
a choking phobia in childhood. However, it appears as though confusion in terminology and the time
lapse between the onset of the disorder and treatment often results in the diagnosis being missed. In this
article, we discuss a review of the clinical symptoms, differential diagnosis, comorbidity, etiology, and
treatment options for choking phobia. We present a case series, describing the successful EMDR treat-
ment of choking phobia for 4 children and adolescents, with positive outcomes achieved in 1 or 2 ses-
sions. In addition, a detailed transcript is presented of a 15-year-old girl with a choking phobia related to
an incident that occurred 5 years previously. The rapid elimination of symptoms in all 4 cases indicates
that EMDR can be an effective treatment for choking phobias resulting from previous disturbing events.
Randomized research on this promising intervention is strongly suggested.

Keywords: EMDR; specific phobia; choking phobia; children; adolescents

evelopment-related fears are normal in child- to swallowing problems. Over time, professionals

D hood (Field & Davey, 2001). During infancy,

children tend to fear stimuli within their im-
mediate environment such as loud noises, objects,
from various disciplines, such as general practitioners,
otorhinolaryngologists, pediatricians, neurologists,
psychiatrists, and psychotherapists have given differ-
and separation from a caretaker. When, however, ent names to the same phenomenon: choking phobia,
a fear continues and is provoked by the presence or fago phobia, disphagia, traumatically acquired conditioned
anticipation of a certain object or a specific situation, dysphagia, posttraumatic eating or feeding disorder, child-
then one speaks of a specific phobia (American Psy- hood onset eating disorder, and food avoidance emotional
chiatric Association [APA], 2000). The prevalence disorder (Bailly & de Chouly de Lenclave, 2005). In
reported in the literature shows a large bandwidth, short, the use of a term for one and the same disor-
ranging from 1.7%16%; however, most studies sug- der largely depends on the diagnostician and is thus
gest a prevalence rate between 7%9% (Silverman & a poor reflection of the underlying pathology. Also,
Moreno, 2005). due to the wide variety in names, the choking phobia
An example of a well-defined phobic condition is often appears to be unrecognized. After an extensive
swallowing phobia, also known as choking phobia, literature study, McNally (1994) states that so far only
an extreme fear of choking. Since 1980 there have 25 case descriptions of adult choking phobics had been
only been a few publications about choking phobia published. Although descriptions of choking phobic
in adults, children, and/or adolescents. Epidemio- children are more or less completely lacking, Bailly
logic data about the prevalence of choking phobia and de Chouly de Lenclave (2005) report a total of
are lacking. An important reason seems to be that the 36 cases, of which 6 are adults and 30 are children or
disorder can hide behind diagnostic labels all related adolescents. These include cases published earlier as

Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008 201

2008 EMDR International Association DOI: 10.1891/1933-3196.2.3.201
well as their own clients who met the DSM-IV criteria food intake for a long period of time, has a deleterious
of choking phobia and whose problems originated in effect on the childs physical well-being. When the
childhood or adolescence. child does not take in sufficient nutrients, malnourish-
Not much is known about the treatment of choking ment and drastic weight loss can disrupt metabolism,
phobia. Due to the confusion in terminology described producing medical disorders similar to those found in
earlier, among other factors, not one controlled trial anorexic patients. Long-term effects of malnourish-
has yet been carried out to evaluate the treatment of ment may include damage to vital organs, such as the
choking phobia. Furthermore, it appears that a simple kidneys (Banerjee, Bhandari, & Rosenberg, 2005).
specific phobia is rarely a reason for referral to a medi- Choking phobia often also has severe detrimen-
cal institution. There seems to be a misconception that tal social consequences for the child and the other
such a specific fear is a normal experience in develop- members of the family. Children with complaints of
ment and not a condition associated with functional choking phobia avoid experiences in which food plays
impairment. Some available case histories provision- a part, and as a consequence they start avoiding so-
ally support the use of a wide diversity of therapeutic cial interaction. Consequently, it can be difficult for
approaches (Bailly & de Chouly de Lenclave, 2005). a family to visit other people, go to a restaurant, or
Remarkably, in many cases treatment starts at quite a go on holiday. Many parents find it a heavy or even
late stage, where the time lapse between the onset of unbearable burden to witness their child struggle and
the disorder and treatment ranges from 2 to 45 years, gag at the table. Despite all their efforts to change
with an average of nearly 12 years. this behavior, they see their child lose weight and feel
As for the use of EMDR, there are only three helpless and frustrated.
known published cases. These involve the successful It should also be noted that an extreme fear of
treatment of an adult who nearly choked after a jaw choking does not necessarily mean that the com-
operation while being treated at the intensive care plaints only or mainly pertain to eating. For example,
unit (de Jongh & Ten Broeke, 1998) and an adult who de Jongh (2000) described a case of a woman who,
developed a severe choking phobia following an aller- after a severe panic attack in an MRI scan, refused
gic reaction to an herbal beverage (Schurmans, 2007). subsequent dental treatments because of a severe fear
The third case concerns the description of treatment of choking.
of a 7-year-old girl (Lovett, 1999).
The present article gives the reader an impression Classification and Differential Diagnosis
of the possibilities of EMDR for children and ado-
In specific phobia classification, choking phobia is
lescents with choking phobia. This is illustrated by
found within the subclassification of other types
means of an overview of a number of children treated
(APA, 2000). According to the definition in the Diag-
in this manner and a verbatim of a case.
nostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Text
Revision (DSMIVTR), one speaks of a specific pho-
Clinical Symptoms
bia, such as choking phobia, when the person suffers
Choking phobia is characterized by a disproportionate a continuous fear caused by the presence or anticipa-
fear of choking on food, pills, or beverages (de Jongh & tion of a specific object or situation. If at all possible,
Ten Broeke, 1998; de Jongh, Ten Broeke, & Renssen, the stimulus is avoided or undergone with intense fear
1999). Swallowing is avoided or postponed out of or suffering (Silverman & Moreno, 2005). Exposure to
fear of choking, and there is no medical reason for the the feared situation nearly always causes an immedi-
reported difficulty in swallowing. Basic consequences ate reaction of fear, which sometimes manifests itself
of a choking phobia are avoiding food, pills, and bev- as a panic attack (APA, 2000).
erages, avoiding eating in the presence of others, and The classification of disorders and syndromes pro-
corresponding weight loss. Characteristic behavior vides a clear picture of the symptomatology, which
for children with a choking phobia is protracted is important because of the therapeutic implications.
chewing on a small bite, hiding food, or flushing food For instance, in case of a specific phobia, such as a
down the toilet. They may hold food in the cheek or choking phobia, DSMIVTR requires that the fear
only accept fluids or liquid foods, such as yogurt and condition not be attributed to any other psychological
custard. Providing reassuring information to parents disorder, such as obsessivecompulsive disorder,
and children about the lack of an underlying medical posttraumatic stress disorder, fear of separation dis-
cause does not decrease complaints of fear. Obvi- order, social phobia, a panic disorder with agorapho-
ously, malnutrition, which is the result of avoiding bia, or agoraphobia without panic disorder in the case

202 Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008

de Roos and de Jongh
history. An example: Fear of choking is not a specific Slightly less than 25% of the children also suffer a mood
phobia if the child meets the criteria for panic disor- disorder (Bailly & de Chouly de Lenclave, 2005).
der and when swallowing is afraid of having a panic
attack (Banerjee et al., 2005). To differentiate on the Etiology
basis of symptomatology and to be able to make a
The bibliography and inventory of published cases
difference between choking phobia and other disor-
show that choking phobia usually starts in childhood
ders, Table 1 provides an overview of the most rel-
and adolescence. In addition it appears that choking
evant differential diagnostic considerations (see also
phobia is more prevalent in boys and men. This con-
McNally, 1994).
trasts with other types of specific phobias, which have
a higher prevalence in girls and women (APA, 2000;
Comorbidity
Craske, 2003; Davey, 1997). There are no indications
Choking phobia often occurs in combination with that the disorder arises or manifests itself at a particular
other psychological disorders. In 80% of children with critical age. Nevertheless, the onset of choking phobia
a choking phobia, the presence of at least one other complaints is easy to identify as opposed to a number
psychological disorder is reported (Bailly & de Chouly of other specific phobias. McNally (1994) stated that
de Lenclave, 2005). Anxiety disorders are the most in nearly all cases complaints arise after a direct con-
prevalent in this context. In about three-fourths of the ditioning experience. This could be an incident where
children, one or more other anxiety disorders, in addi- one chokes on food or pills or an experience with vom-
tion to choking phobia, can be diagnosed. For one in iting, where one fears choking. According to the case
three children, this is separation anxiety, while approxi- history published by Bailly and de Chouly de Lenclave
mately 25% of the children suffer from another specific (2005), a little over half of the cases deal with a near
phobia, and one in five children with a choking phobia choking incident involving food or pills.
have also experienced, at one point, a panic disorder Witnessing a choking incident involving friends or
with or without agoraphobia. The category of anxiety other significant people can be frightening, and for
disorders is not the only type of comorbid pathology: one in five children such an event preceded the onset

TABLE 1. Differential Diagnosis of Choking Phobia

Alternate Disorders and Their Characteristics Characteristics of Choking Phobia
Extreme gagging reflex Gagging urge, especially when the back of Fear of choking is central. Usually no
the mouth is touched. Not necessarily hypersensitivity for gagging.
scared of choking.
Dysphagy Difficulties swallowing. Usually no anxiety Fear of choking rather than a fear of not being
response. able to swallow is central.
Globus hystericus Feeling of lump in throat. Usually no reac- Fear of choking. The sensation of a lump in
tion of fear. throat is in this case not necessarily present.
Food phobia Aversion to certain kinds of food. Is paired Anxiety, instead of gagging and nausea, is cen-
with gagging and urge to vomit. tral. Not linked to the taste of certain foods.
Anorexia nervosa Avoiding food out of fear of gaining Avoiding food out of fear of choking. Weight
weight. Weight loss is experienced as a loss is experienced as a negative thing.
positive thing.
Panic disorder Idea and sensation of choking during panic Fear while taking in food, drink, or pills.
attack, not provoked by food.
Social phobia Fear of eating in the presence of others. Having people around gives a greater feeling
of safety.
Posttraumatic stress Intrusive reasoning about earlier No intrusions, mainly fear of situations that
disorder experience. can lead to choking in the future.
Obsessive-compulsive Fear of accidentally swallowing objects Fear of choking on food itself is central.
disorder while eating, which could point at obses-
sive controlling behavior.

Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008 203

EMDR Treatment of Children With a Choking Phobia
of their choking phobia. Also, medical or dental treat- effect on the complaint pattern as it maintains the fear
ment is sometimes related to the development of the and the pattern of avoiding eating.
disorder. Cases where no specific experience or trigger
can be established are very rare (McNally, 1994). Treatment
Throughout the years many different hypotheses
As we mentioned before, controlled studies are not
have been developed about the underlying causes or
available, and specific evidence as to the efficacy
mechanisms that may lead to a specific phobia. These
of treatments for children is lacking altogether
are based on the theories of classic conditioning, op-
(Chorpita, Vitali, & Barlow, 1997). From the inven-
erant conditioning, and social learning (Davey, 1997;
tory of the case descriptions by Bailly and de Chouly
Himle, Crystal, Curtis, & Fluent, 1991; Rachman,
de Lenclave (2005), it appears that psychosocial
1977, 1990).
treatments prevail, although pharmacological in-
1. Classic conditioning: This theory assumes that a terventions also occur. Generally, the interventions
choking experience (unconditioned stimulus) and described aim to decrease the fear of choking and,
the corresponding fear of dying became associ- through this, to increase the intake of food and to
ated to the food or the object that caused the near- up the body weight. In three-quarters of the cases,
choking experience (conditioned stimulus). This cognitivebehavioral therapy was used either on its
results in a conditioned response to the food and own or in combination with other treatments. Other
swallowing in which the latter serves as predictor frequently used interventions are hypnotherapy and
for a choking experience. pharmacotherapy. The cognitivebehavioral thera-
2. Operant conditioning: A child who is scared to pies used for choking phobias consist of a combina-
choke on food will be tempted to avoid swallow- tion of different procedures, such as psychoeducation
ing. The decrease in fear resulting from the behav- and cognitive restructuring, which aims to change
ior of avoidance has a confirmed effect. Thus, the attitudes and beliefs related to swallowing. Other
phobic response is maintained and continued. methods include relaxation training, desensitization,
3. Social learning: An observation of a (near-)choking and in vivo exposure. In vivo exposure first requires a
experience of other people or the conveyance of hierarchy of feared foods to be identified, after which
frightening information can provoke the fear of this the practitioner offers these foods in a gradual man-
happening to oneself. This latter form of conveyance ner. During exposure to the food, clients work on de-
of frightening information takes place, for instance, creasing the number of chewing movements per bite,
when parents constantly warn the child and point reducing the use of fluids or drinks to wash down
out the dangers of possibly choking on food. their food and/or decreasing the grinding of food. In
As seen with other phobias, the development of a the cognitive behavior therapeutic approach, tech-
choking phobia is also believed to be related to ge- niques such as positive reinforcement, shaping, and
netic factors, previous stressful life experiences, and modeling are also used.
parental behavior, including parental overprotection As for pharmacological intervention, antidepres-
(Bailly & de Chouly de Lenclave, 2005; Muris & Mer- sants (tricyclic or SSRIs), anxiolytics, and antipsychot-
ckelbach, 2001). As for this latter factor, the refusal of ics are prescribed, sometimes in combination with
food and seeing a crying and panicky child can be a cognitivebehavioral therapy. In this manner, Baner-
source of great concern to the parents. Depending on jee et al. (2005) describes the cases of three children
the parents history and their resulting sensitivities, with severe choking phobia who showed rapid symp-
they will respond more or less adequately to their tom reduction after a low dose of SSRI medication.
food-refusing child. Some parents will be tempted
to pressure the child to eat out of fear that the child EMDR for Choking Phobia
will become malnourished. This strong focus is often
Indication for Treatment
counterproductive because it does not lead to the child
starting to eat but to a power struggle between child EMDR is a therapeutic procedure for the processing
and parents. It may also lead to avoidance behavior by of frightening, significant memories. It always starts
the parents, in which, for instance, they spend a lot of from the hypothesis of the practitioner about the
time to prepare special foods for the child or decide to correspondence between earlier experience and the
withdraw the child from school. Although these reac- clients present problems (Shapiro, 2001). When
tions understandably arise from feelings of despera- the practitioner, on the basis of his case conceptual-
tion and helplessness, this behavior has a detrimental ization, assumes that earlier horrific experiences are

204 Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008

de Roos and de Jongh
relevant to the creation and continuation of the cur- standard eight-phase EMDR protocol. The steps are
rent problems, then EMDR may be considered a treat- (a) desensitizing the first memory in which the fear
ment of choice. complaints occurred, (b) desensitizing the most pain-
In the treatment of specific fears or phobias, a dis- ful memory, and (c) desensitizing the memory of the
tinction can be made between phobias with a traumatic most recent experience, in which the fear complaints
history of development, also called trauma-related manifested themselves. For some children, these three
phobias, and phobias without such a background targets may be represented in one terrifying memory.
(de Jongh et al., 1999; de Jongh & Ten Broeke, 2007;
de Jongh, Van den Oord, & Ten Broeke, 2002). The Step 4: Future Template
trauma-related phobia has a clear beginning, which is
recognized by the client. This can be a specific, dis- Clients with a phobia often avoid certain situations or
tressing, or dramatic experience in which the fear circumstances that trigger memories of the traumatic
originated. In this type of phobia, it may be assumed experience. After processing the original experience(s),
that confrontation with the phobic stimulus resulted the client will, however, once again have to confront
in an activation of the traumatic experience. Because these kinds of situations. Therefore, treatment is also
a mnemonic representation of the activated recollec- aimed at preparing the client for these possible fear-
tion of the experience still entails a strong affective re- inducing, future situations. This especially applies to
sponse, tendencies of avoidance are continued. the anticipation fear of confronting certain objects,
It appears from literature and clinical practice that places, or persons who have become strongly linked
most choking phobias are related to a frightening ex- to the memory by the traumatic experience. When all
perience, for example, a near-choking experience. Also target memories that may reasonably be assumed to
to be considered is the effect of seeing someone else go drive the complaints are desensitized, the practitioner
through this or a similar experience (even on TV!) or installs a future template. In case of a choking phobia,
the impact of (horror) stories told by others. It will be the template involves daily recurring eating situations
evident that for children these two so-called pathways and the continuation of the normal eating pattern.
of fear are relatively important in terms of EMDR tar- The client thinks of a future situation and combines
gets (Rachman, 1977). EMDR is one of the first thera- this with a positive statement (about himself or her-
peutic options considered for desensitizing or dealing self ) in combination with a set of bilateral stimula-
with fear-inducing memories. It may be assumed that tion. The basic assumption underlying the use of this
influencing and resolving these memories leads to a imagination-based procedure is that it helps break
change in complaints. The dynamics of the complaints through unnoticed avoidance behavior. More con-
reveal great similarity to those of posttraumatic stress cretely, the practitioner asks the client in this order:
disorder, in which the symptoms (reliving the moment, 1. To form a paused image of a situation that is still
etc.) can be explained from the traumatic experience in perceived or avoided with fearful tension. This is a
a direct manner. If the patient cannot identify a condi- picture of the desired situation without catastrophic
tioned experience or other crucial memory that con- aspects.
trols the choking fear complaints, EMDR is definitely 2. To think of this image and to combine with the stan-
not indicated. In this case behavioral therapy should be dard positive cognition (PC): I can handle this.
preferred (Davey, 1997; Rachman, 1990). 3. To estimate the felt believability of this standard
PC on a Validity of Cognition (VoC) scale (where 1 =
The EMDR Phobia Protocol not true and 7 = completely true).
A specific EMDR phobia protocol is available to de- 4. To keep thinking of both the image and PC in com-
sensitize the traumatic memories (de Jongh & Ten bination with sets of bilateral stimulation, until the
Broeke, 2006; de Jongh et al., 1999; Shapiro, 2001). VoC is at a maximum.
The protocol consists of six steps that are adjunc-
tive to the eight phases of EMDRs standard protocol Step 5: Video Check
(Shapiro, 2001). The practitioner asks the client to play a video of
a future situation in his or her mind. The purpose
Steps 1, 2, and 3: Desensitization
of this is to examine the situation again in terms
of Target Memories
of possible fear-provoking aspects in a precise and
The first three steps consist of the consecutive desen- detailed manner. When the client feels tension, he
sitization of three target memories by means of the will indicate this, and eye movements are intro-

Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008 205

EMDR Treatment of Children With a Choking Phobia
duced in combination with the standard PC I can havior of their child at home between the treatment
handle this. sessions. In the cases of the 3-, 4-, and 15-year-old chil-
dren as mentioned, the mother or father was present
Step 6: In Vivo Exposure and Behavioral during the treatment to promote the childs sense
Experiments of security. This allowed the EMDR process to take
place under optimal conditions.
Finally, the result of the EMDR intervention is tested In the event of disturbed parentchild interaction,
in the form of a confrontation with the fear-provoking advice aimed at normalizing the eating behavior dur-
stimulus in a realistic situation. The point is that the ing the short evaluation moment at the end of the
client just does it. The goal of this is to further dis- treatment session was given. In addition to being
confirm or negate possible remaining dysfunctional given feedback on the course of the EMDR session,
ideas. When the desired behavior has been carried parents were also advised on their desired attitude
out successfully, the behavior will normalize and self- and behavior. This advice included limiting the time
confidence will grow. to eat; ignoring choking, swallowing, or gagging
sounds; enforcing desired behavior; and controlling
Case Series their own emotions. Here the basic assumption was
Table 2 presents an overview of four children and that parental tension would decrease by itself when,
adolescents with a choking phobia. All of them un- due to effective treatment, their childs fear com-
derwent EMDR treatment according to the protocol plaints decreased. The parents responded positively
described above. The data are based on information and expressed confidence that they could actually cor-
from both parents and child, as well as on clinical di- rect their upbringing routine. All parents seemed
agnostics. Although no data from empirically based capable of quickly putting the advice into practice,
measures are available, the behavioral reports provide even if problems in child rearing had been an issue
a clear description of treatment outcomes. over a longer period of time.
Table 2 shows children from different develop- The result of this short-term treatment was that
mental phases in which, in all cases, an identifiable the eating pattern normalized for all children, and
experience occurred before the development of the they all gained weight. Furthermore, they reported
choking phobia. This experience differed in objec- feeling more energetic and happier. Parents reported
tive severity and ranged from being told a story of a an increase in initiative and independence. There
stranger nearly choking to the person himself nearly were still some remaining complaints in cases 2 and
choking on a candy ball. From this, one can con- 4 after the EMDR treatment. These seemed to stem
clude that the subjective experience of the incident from separationindividuation issues that had existed
is more defining than the objective experience. for a longer period and that may have been related
The time lapse between the experience and treat- to parenting problems and the disturbed hierarchy
ment varied substantially, from 3 weeks to 5 years. of power. After a limited number of interviews with
The suffering for each entire family was great, with- the parents, these treatments were concluded as well.
out exception. The table indicates whether the case One parent was referred to the psychological health
concerned a disturbed power hierarchy between department (GGZ) for adults.
parent and child or earlier problems between child
Case of Maggy: Near-Choking Experience
and parents.
on Candy Ball
In all cases an introductory interview with parents
and child took place prior to treatment. From these Maggy (15 years old) was referred to a child and ado-
interviews it appeared that the near choking inci- lescent department via the general practitioner with
dent was directly related to (or had a driving control swallowing problems, weight loss, fatigue, headache,
over) the complaints. Because further diagnostics were stomachache, hyperventilation, and frequent absence
no longer indicated at that point, and also in view of from school. The swallowing complaints had gradually
the suffering, treatment was started immediately. The increased and intensified after a period of having a sore
EMDR targets offered in the treatment are given, as throat 2 years ago. The reason for seeking help was that
is the number of sessions. Remarkably, it concerned Maggy had retreated more and more and did not want
a very limited number of sessions in all cases, in most to go to school anymore. Her parents were desperate,
cases two sessions of a maximum of 1 hour. and there was great tension during meals at home.
Parents played an active role in that they provided They were constantly watching Maggy and responded
information during the intake and observed the be- in panic to every sound that she made. A near-choking

206 Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008

de Roos and de Jongh
 TABLE 2. EMDR Treatment of Four Children and Adolescents With Choking Phobia With Information About Background and Treatment
Parent-Child Other Stress Factors/ Number of
Client Incident Complaints Interaction Earlier Problems EMDR Targets EMDR Sessions Result
Boy, 3 years Choked on candy Weight loss due to decreased No special Easily fearful. Choking on 2 Eating pattern
old. (3 weeks ago). intake of food. remarks. candy (storytell- normalized.
Only eats fluids. ing by mother). Increase in weight.
Weary mood. Childs own Happier mood.
Rebellious. associations. Less rebellious.
Girl, 7 years Heard story about Weight loss due to decreased Disturbed Easily fearful. Story of some- 2 Eating pattern

EMDR Treatment of Children With a Choking Phobia

old. someone chok- intake of food. hierarchy Always was a poor one choking normalized.
ing on their own Fear that food will go down the of power. eater. on their own Increase in weight.
tongue. Com- wrong way and fear of dying. tongue. Happier mood.
plaints increased Avoids swallowing, spits out Memory with More independent,
after a period of food in toilet, keeps food in current strong- takes more initiative,
vomiting cheek. est fear of is more assertive.
(a month ago). Melancholic, does not feel like choking.

Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008

social interaction.
Withdrawn, shows little
initiative.
Insecure, fear of failure.
Girl, 9 years Witnessed a friend Severe weight loss due to No special Witnessed 2 Eating pattern
old. nearly choking on decreased intake of food. remarks. friend nearly normalized.
candy Avoids swallowing, chews choking. Increase in weight.
(6 months ago). excessively, hides food in On a drip at the
house, and spits out food in hospital.
toilet.
Girl, 15 Near-choking expe- Weight loss due to decreased Disturbed Actual danger at Near-choking 1 Eating pattern
years old. rience in candy intake of food. hierarchy school. experience on normalized.
ball (5 years ago). Only eats fluids. of power. Mother has candy ball. Increase in weight.
Complaints have Avoids swallowing, gagging at complaints of More energetic and
increased after a table, spitting. depression. rebellious.
period of throat Various somatic complaints: Less absence from
complaints. fatigue, pains, hyperventilation. school.
Frequent absence from school.

207
incident that had occurred 5 years previously was not M: Nothing.
mentioned in the referral information nor by Maggy or T: Then we will go back to the picture for a mo-
her parents during the intake/registration process. ment. How uncomfortable do you still feel, look-
Further assessment by the multidisciplinary staff ing at the picture? Give it a mark between 0 and
established that this concerned a choking phobia. In 10 in which 0 means not uncomfortable at all
addition, it concerned separationindividuation prob- and 10 the most uncomfortable.
lems and a disturbed power hierarchy between parents M: An 8.
and child. Maggy was first offered EMDR treatment T: What in this picture makes it an 8?
for the choking phobia. This treatment takes 45 min- M: That the lady is not able to get it out (Maggy
utes, after which swallowing complaints and eating places hand on her chest).
problems disappear. After this, treatment shifted to T: Concentrate on this.
focus on the family problems.
*********
The memory of the near-choking experience was
M: That I am not so sad anymore.
the first memory in which the fear complaints oc-
curred, but this was actually also Maggys most hor- *********
rible memory. In this article one can find the verbatim T: And now?
report of the whole desensitization phase along with a M: I am not as scared anymore when I think back
description of the course of the other steps of the pho- to it.
bia protocol. Prior to this, the EMDR procedure had
been explained to Maggy. At her request, her mother *********
was present during the session. Eye movements were T: And now?
used as bilateral stimulation. M: The same.
T: Then we will go back to the picture. How un-
Assessment Phase comfortable do you still feel, looking at the pic-
ture? Give it a mark between 0 and 10, in which
The most charged moment of the near-choking expe- 0 means not uncomfortable at all and 10 the
rience was the moment that the candy ball got stuck in most uncomfortable?
Maggys throat. In this paused picture, Maggy was M: A 7.
standing on a playground with a woman passing by. T: Why is it a 7 now?
The relevant negative cognition with regard to herself M: Because I could no longer catch my breath.
was: I am powerless. The desired thought she would
rather have with this picture was: I can handle this, *********
the VoC score being 2. When she focused on the se- M: Because I called for that lady and I had no breath,
lected image, she felt fearful. Maggy had a disturbance and luckily she heard me.
rating of 9 (score on Subjective Units of Disturbance M: Nothing.
[SUD]) and felt the tension in her throat especially. T: Back to the picture again, do you see it in front
of you clearly? Which mark do you now give for
Desensitization Phase (Overall) how uncomfortable it feels, from 0 to 10?
M: A 6.
After the practitioner told her to concentrate on the T: What is the most uncomfortable thing in this
elements mentioned above, a set of eye movements picture now?
(EM) followed. After each set of eye movements, the M: That this ball went into my throat, I could no
practitioner asked what she noticed or what came to longer get any air and that I shouted help.
mind. When nothing came to mind or if she men-
tioned the same association, the practitioner went *********
back to the picture as it now came to mind (back to T: What do you notice?
target). Thus it can be measured how much ten- M: That it is becoming less.
sion the picture still gives her now. In the following *********
transcript a set of EM with dual attention on the T: And now?
memory is indicated by ********* M: It is yet even less.
M: That I become less scared when I think back to it. *********
T: Continue. T: And now?
********* M: Nothing.

208 Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008

de Roos and de Jongh
T: Then I will ask you to look at the picture once T: And now?
again. Do you see it? Give a mark for how uncom- M: It is not as disturbing anymore when I think back
fortable it still feels now, 10 means the most un- to it.
comfortable and 0 means not uncomfortable at all.
M: A 5. *********
T: What makes it still a 5? T: What do you notice?
M: That she pressed it out (she presses down on her M: The same now.
own diaphragm). T: When you look at the picture, how uncomfort-
T: What is so bad about that? able is it now?
M: That it hurts. M: Not uncomfortable at all, a 0.
T: Concentrate on this. T: Is it a 100% 0? Do you no longer feel any tension
and can you just look at the picture now?
********* M: Yes.
M: That the ball is out of my throat now. T: That is fantastic. Well done!

********* Installation and Body Scan

T: And now?
M: Nothing. After this, the desired positive cognitionI can han-
T: When you look at the picture, how much dle itis installed. The felt believability is immedi-
tension does it still give you now? ately at a maximum level (VoC:7). In the body scan,
M: A 4 or 3. in which Maggy checks if she still notices tension in
T: What mark do you pick, a 4 or a 3? her body with this picture, she indicates that she feels
M: A 4. tension in her stomach. The tension in her stomach
T: What still makes it a 4? disappears after a couple sets of eye movements.
M: That I feel tense, I spit it.
Future Template
*********
T: And now? There are no other pictures in the near-choking film
M: Nothing. that still give tension now. The memory of the most
T: Back to the picture once again. How disturbing recent experience in which fear complaints mani-
does it feel to you now? fested themselves also has no effect on her. A future
M: A 3. template is installed, as Maggy has been avoiding eat-
T: What makes it a 3? ing situations and swallowing as much as possible.
M: Because luckily the candy ball is out. In the future picture, she imagines herself sitting at
T: That is good, isnt it? But what still gives you the the table, she is eating potatoes, and she swallows the
tension? potatoes normally. The practitioner installs the PC I
M: That it was a very scary experience. can handle it. After two sets of eye movements, the
VoC is 7.
*********
T: What comes to mind? Video Check
M: That I sit down, that I am still scared. At the practitioners request, she plays an imaginary
********* film in her head about a future eating situation, from
T: And now? beginning to end. She gets the instruction to stop the
M: Nothing. film if she still feels any tension. She does this when the
T: How uncomfortable is the picture now? potato is in her mouth and gets stuck. The PC I can
M: A 1. handle it appears entirely credible after two sets of eye
T: What still causes that last bit of tension? movements. Then Maggy forwards the film to the end.
M: That it is in my throat, that this is scary. In the imaginary film she is eating potatoes, vegetables,
and meat in normal bites and has Jell-O for dessert.
*********
T: What comes to mind? In Vivo Exposure and Behavioral Experiment
M: That it is better now. Maggy is now able to experiment. She is asked to try
********* different kinds of foods and to keep track of the pro-

Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008 209

EMDR Treatment of Children With a Choking Phobia
cess in a diary. The tension has gone, but her confi- vision of adequate treatment. The disorder seems to
dence must grow. respond well to short-term treatment.
Due to the disorders physical consequences, most
Advice to Parents children with a choking phobia will first present in a
medical setting. Because assessment and treatment
Due to the confirmed interaction between parents are often multidisciplinary, with practitioners from
and Maggy, the following advice is given at the end medical and psychosocial disciplines, cooperation
of this session: Serve her the usual foods, that is, not and communication are essential. As is the case with
mashed food or an a la carte menu. Furthermore, do all complaints with a physical component, adequate
not pay any attention or react to hiccups, swallowing, medical evaluation is important. The question is:
choking, or vomiting sounds, neither at the table nor Which type of examination should be performed first:
when Maggy is having a snack. medical examination or psychological/psychiatric ex-
amination? If the main hypothesis concerns a medical
Result cause for the complaints, a medical examination obvi-
During the next session, the parents and Maggy state ously has priority. Otherwise, we argue that psycho-
that things are going much better. She is eating break- logical examination must be performed first even if it
fast again in the form of sandwiches, and she is eating is not immediately obvious that there is a time rela-
what everyone else eats. Maggy has not pureed her tionship between complaints and a traumatic experi-
food, mashed it, or mixed food with water and other ence such as a choking or near-choking incident. A
juices. She happily informs the practitioner that she short interview can yield a definite answer to whether
can also eat candy. Now that she spends less energy the memory is actually still disturbing and whether
on eating, she has more energy for fun things such as treatment aimed at processing this experience could
meeting up with friends. She is also not so tired any- be useful. In addition to being a limited investment of
more and goes to school more frequently. When asked time, the psychological examination is also less intru-
how the parents have managed to carry out the diffi- sive and less costly than medical examinations and in-
cult and drastic advice, the mother states: It was quite terventions. It appears from the cases, however, that
difficult for a while. In my heart I wanted to watch swallowing complaints develop gradually and that
her, but I was not allowed to, and so I did not do it. children, adolescents, and their parents do not relate
The near-choking memory is no longer charged, these to the choking incident. A further issue is that
and the EMDR treatment is concluded by mutual the underlying experience is not always recognized
agreement. It is now a matter of building up confi- by bystanders as traumatizing. This means that the
dence for Maggy as well as for her parents by once examiner must play an active role to identify possible
again eating everything and by noticing that eating underlying disturbing experiences.
is going well. There are still a number of interviews The treatment results (see Table 2) in children
with the parents aimed at setting boundaries for up- from different development phases indicate that
bringing and dealing with Maggys resistance in going EMDR could be effective for choking phobia as long
to school. From a telephone interview 3 months on- as it concerns a trauma-related choking phobia. In the
ward, it appears that the fear of choking and corre- case series from our practice (Table 2) that concerned
sponding complaints have not returned. children in various developmental stages, the duration
between registering and incident varied. The degree
of comorbidity, current stress factors, and dysfunction
Discussion of the parental subsystem varied as well. Neverthe-
Considering the limited number of reported cases less, a short burst of EMDR treatment yielded posi-
in literature, it might be concluded that a childhood tive results in all children. Not only did the complaints
choking phobia is rare. However, the confusion in ter- related to swallowing and eating decrease, but the
minology and the time lapse between the onset of the secondary consequences of problems such as fatigue
disorder and treatment suggest that the diagnosis is and sadness diminished as well. Parents reported that
often missed. To overcome this problem, the devel- their children had more energy now and that they had
opment of operational diagnostic criteria is of primary started to behave more appropriately for their age. In
importance (Bailly & de Chouly de Lenclave, 2005). comparison to the cognitivebehavioral therapeutic
This will facilitate the recognition of a choking phobia and medical treatments mentioned in literature, the
for all disciplines involved. Early diagnosis will pre- effect was reached in fewer sessions. The children
vent the escalation of symptoms and ensure the pro- were motivated to cooperate despite their prior fear

210 Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 2, Number 3, 2008

de Roos and de Jongh
and resistance to relive the memory. Obviously those ervaring gerichte benadering. Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie,
who still have complaints after EMDR treatment 40, 623634.
should undergo further assessment and treatment. de Jongh, A., & Ten Broeke, E. (2006). Handboek EMDR:
A limitation of the cases described in this article is Een geprotocolleerde behandelmethode voor de gevolgen van
that no standardized assessment measures were ad- psychotrauma. Amsterdam: Harcourt.
ministered. Furthermore, the presented cases may de Jongh, A., & Ten Broeke, E. (2007). Treatment of spe-
not be representative of the population of children cific phobias with EMDR: Conceptualization and strate-
gies for the selection of appropriate memories. Journal of
and adolescents with a choking phobia, and four ex-
EMDR Practice and Research, 1(1), 4657.
amples are insufficient to draw conclusions about
de Jongh, A., Ten Broeke, E., & Renssen, M. R. (1999).
the general efficacy of EMDR for this disorder. Thus Treatment of specific phobias with eye movement de-
we do not know whether, in the case of the elabo- sensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): Protocol, em-
rate case description of Maggy, the improvement in pirical status, and conceptual issues. Journal of Anxiety
functioning can be ascribed to the EMDR treatment, Disorders, 13, 6985.
to the directive advice to parents to break through de Jongh, A., van den Oord, H. J. M., & Ten Broeke, E.
the reinforcing interaction, or a combination of (2002). Efficacy of eye movement desensitization and
these. Once again, this observation underpins the reprocessing (EMDR) in the treatment of specific pho-
need for more regulated empirical research on the bias: Four single-case studies on dental phobia. Journal of
efficacy of EMDR in relation to other methods of Clinical Psychology, 58, 14891503.
treatment for trauma-related specific phobias. The Field, A. P., & Davey, G. C. L. (2001). Conditioning models
of childhood anxiety. In W. K. Silverman & P. A. Tre-
cases described in this article suggest that EMDR in
ffers (Eds.), Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents:
children can help turn traumatic memories into nor-
Research, assessment and intervention (pp. 187211). Cam-
mal memories and the fear of choking into wanting bridge: Cambridge University Press.
to swallow. Himle, J. A., Crystal, D., Curtis, G. C., & Fluent, T. E.
(1991). Mode of onset of simple phobia subtypes: Fur-
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EMDR Treatment of Children With a Choking Phobia
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