Natasha

Natasha is a patient who had survived a plane crash and developed a fear of flying.

History
Natasha had been in a plane crash and developed a fear of flying. In order to get to her sister's wedding, she needed to fly, so Sheldon got on a plane with her to try to talk her through her flight. They got on the plane, but as they started up the engines and started to move, she panicked and was unable to calm down. Sheldon explained that she'd been on the Flight 97 crash the previous year and they deplaned.

In a session in his office, Natasha told Sheldon that she was just going to drive to the wedding, that she could have a good life without ever leaving the ground. He reminded her that she wanted to be able to fly again. He talked her through what had happened on her aborted flight the day before. She said she didn't know what had triggered her anxiety. Sheldon asked her to think about what she'd been thinking right before her panic. She said that he had triggered it, by touching her arm and telling her to breathe, just like she did, the woman who was sitting next to her in the crash, the woman she killed.

She talked through the crash. She had unbuckled her seat belt, but the woman next to her couldn't get hers undone. She asked Natasha for help, but Natasha left her and exited the plane, saving her own life.

To get Natasha to come back to therapy, Sheldon went to her house and told her a story of when he led to someone's death and gave up. He wanted to give her back the life she had before the crash, so she agreed to let him him.

He was able to get her through her flight to San Francisco.

Familial
She has a sister who lives in San Francisco and was getting married.