Passing Exams

Question

How should I deal with someone who has tried to passed very important exams several times, and now faces their final chance. If they don’t pass this time, they don’t get to continue in their profession. Of course, the client is extremely worried because every time they go in to take the test, as soon as they enter the room they get so “up tight” they can’t even think, despite knowing the material. How would you help such a person?

Answer

Some years ago, I worked with a nurse who had failed her boards each time she had taken them and now would be allowed take them only one last time. Her experience each time: She would freeze as soon as she saw the examiner, upon entering the room. So I took her back in time to what was causing that experience, and she realized that she had never been able to please her father. We dealt with "Dad" (the examiner) by releasing his hold over her, claiming that she had been living in a hypnotic spell that he had produced and that the spell was now broken forever. Then I suggested that the examiner in no way related to her father. After that, suggestions about how relaxed she would feel during the exam, how easily information would come to her, etc., took hold, and she passed her boards.