f it weren’t for you, I’d probably be curled up on Prozac somewhere right now.”

I was astonished to hear my former client say this to me.

We were on the phone talking about what her life was like currently, and I made some flippant remark about what we were working on together at the time, and this was her retort.

I hadn’t spoken to Andrea for over three years. She and I had finished working together, and I helped her to achieve what she wanted through our coaching successfully.

I had seen some photos she’d been posting on Facebook. I even “liked” and commented on a few of them. She looked fabulous. She was thriving. Her life seemed incredible, and I wanted to experience what it would be like to talk to her now. So I reached out and suggested a phone conversation.

I first met Andrea at one of my meditation workshops, back when I first came out of the monastery. She sent me an email a week after attending it to see if it would be possible to work with me one-on-one.

On our phone call, she sounded like she was full of anxiety. She told me that she had panic attacks at least once every week. That’s why she was interested in meditation. To see if meditation could help her. To see if she could do something about her panic attacks that didn’t involve drugs.

Up until a month prior, she was stressed. But when the panic attacks started coming on, they threw her over the edge. They came on unexpectedly. She was terrified of them taking over her entire life.

I slowed Andrea down and explained to her that I wasn’t a therapist. I told how coaching was different. But after hearing her distress, I reassured her that I felt I could help her. My Zen training showed me how the mind works. And what was happening to her was no different than any other problem. We could get her panic attacks sorted out and then work to make her life better in lots of different ways from there. I asked her if that sounded good.

She was relieved and sighed out her, “Yes.”

I began to tell her about the voices in our heads, something I mentioned at the workshop. I asked her to explain what the voices were saying to her about her panic attacks. What did she hear in her head the moment they began? What did they say while the panic attack was going on? How did that feel?

I kept exploring Andrea’s thoughts and asking her questions until we mapped out the entire process.

Once we laid it out for her to see, her homework assignment was simple.

“Go hunting voices.”

“What?” she asked.

I said, “You’re going to go hunting voices. Instead of them pursuing you and hunting you — jumping you when you least expect them, bringing on the panic attacks — you’re going to go after them. We’re going to turn the tables on them!” I was excited and couldn’t hide my enthusiasm.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

I continued, “Set the alarm on your phone to go off every 20 minutes. Every time it goes off, I want you to look to see where the panic attack is. Do you think you can do that?”

After another pause, she said, “Yes, I can do this.” Then I asked, “Will you do this?” And she said instantly, “Yes, I will do this. If this will stop the panic attacks, I’ll do anything.”

I said, “Excellent! I want you to stay in touch with me to let me know how it’s going. Will you do that too? Can you send me a report in a couple of days?” She agreed, and when I got her emails, it was clear that Andrea was on top of those voices. I was impressed. She was apparently a woman of action and her determination freed her from a complete mental and emotional collapse.

You see, with her paying attention the way she was, there was no possible way a panic attack could happen. Panic attacks take people over when they are unaware. And she became hyper-aware in a big hurry.

That “panic attack project” was just the first of many beautiful things we did together. The rest of our work over the coming months was spent focusing on her business. Getting her out of school (collecting degrees) and into creating a lifestyle that she could love. And while we were meeting weekly, she was doing my 30-day online retreat on self-compassion in her free time. To help fortify herself from the inside out when I wasn’t around.

And Andrea truly blossomed.

When we hung up the phone, I was so happy for her. She gave me lots of credit for helping her get to where she is now, but I can honestly say that it was because of her incredible willingness to take a stand for herself that the magic happened. She faced down those crazy negative thoughts in her head. She empowered her inner mentor. And in the process, she created a beautiful life for herself.

Who wouldn’t be proud of her?