I have a family member who calls me daily and confides to me that he is afraid he is very sick. Last year he thought he had pancreatic cancer but after extensive testing he does not.

The year before it was his heart – he also had extensive testing and his heart is healthy.  Recently he has developed a fear that he has ALS and that keeps him up for hours at night.

He is married – has five school-age children and feels a huge responsibility to provide and he says his fears are based on not wanting to leave his family. I have counseled him to get a therapist and he has had 3. He says they listen and tell him things like “You need to overcome these thoughts and work through them” but they don’t give him any tools. I have taught him the Model and he sees that it is his thinking that is creating his suffering but he believes he can’t shake it.

My question is – How do you help someone who can see that it is their thinking but believes they can’t shake it?