stress – Page 17 – TFT Trauma Relief

Replacing Nightmares with Hope

UPdate Issue 8, Summer

El Shaddai Orphange: Nightmares Replaced with Dreams of a Future

by Gabriel Constans

There’s much more to Rwanda than the genocide that took place over thirteen years ago. Yes, there was plenty of carnage that lay in its wake and everyone in the country (the size of New Jersey) was directly affected, especially the children, many of whom ended up on the street, with distant relatives or friends or perished from neglect. Add the scourge of the AIDS pandemic and you found even more homeless and abandoned children living on the streets. The needs outstripped all available resources.

But it only takes one person to make a difference and the street children, also known as “street rebels” in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, were blessed with one such man. His name is NZITUKUZE Sylvester. (In Kinyarwanda, the official language of Rwanda, last names go first and are capitalized).

While Sylvester was in the Rwandan Army he had a vision that he was somehow meant to help the street kids of Kigali. He followed his vision, left the army and started taking children into his home. It wasn’t an easy task. A lot of the kids were filthy, disease-ridden, taking drugs, angry and traumatized. After a year or two of Continue reading “Replacing Nightmares with Hope”

TFT Trauma Training for Survivors of Haiti Earthquake

UPdate Magazine, Issue 16, Autumn 2010

Haiti 2010: TFT Mission to Haiti

By Phyllis Robson, TFT-Adv, and Howard Robson, MD, TFT-Algo

When we heard of the disastrous earthquake that struck Haiti on 12th January 2010, we immediately thought that TFT would have much to offer to the traumatised population following the initial rescue and emergency interventions.

Haiti has a troubled history; It was occupied by European colonists. The native population died out and African slaves were used to replace them.

Plantations and logging provided great economic benefit for the colonists, but at a critical cost to later generations of Haitians. Deforestation caused soil erosion and mudslides. Despite achieving independence over 200 years ago, the country has been marred by violence, instability, poverty and corruption. There is a lack of infrastructure and a susceptibility to hurricanes.

When the opportunity to visit Haiti came later in the year, on behalf of the ATFTFoundation, we were in a position to volunteer. We were to be part of a mission led by Dr. Jean-Murat Carolle (Angels for Haiti), which was part of a larger medical mission led by Dr Charles René.

We immediately thereafter began collecting supplies for the visit, especially as part of the project was to enable the children to express themselves through arts. These supplies included pens, paints, brushes, books and paper, as well as some medical and dental supplies and toiletries.

We were particularly grateful for the help of our dentist and family and friends. We were also grateful for the provision of the TFT algorithm manual in French from Suzanne Connolly, which we modified slightly for the local requirements, and printed sufficient copies for our expected training sessions. We managed to obtain a reasonable rate from the airlines for our considerable luggage excess.

Essential to visiting a country such as Haiti is to understand the local culture and attend to personal safety and health (vaccinations and anti-malarial drugs). We attended to these issues as much as possible, to maximise our contribution to the mission and not be a burden.

We left home in the early hours of 1st July, 2010, via Newcastle, London, Miami and Port-au Prince for La Vallee de Jacmel in Haiti. La Vallee is a mountain village serving a rural population in southern Haiti, 11 miles from the coastal city of Jacmel. The primary occupation is farming; there is economic hardship, and lack of resources and infrastructure.

Although some distance from the epi-centre of the earthquake, there had been ten deaths within the region of La Vallee Jacmel which also had suffered considerable structural damage. The experience of the earthquake and after-shocks had affected many local people. There had also been an influx of people from more affected areas. These people had lost homes, possessions and whole Continue reading “TFT Trauma Training for Survivors of Haiti Earthquake”

TFT Relieves Trauma of Child’s Death

UPdate Magazine, Issue 2, Winter 2005

Excerpted from:

Completeness Of Treatment with TFT

by Caroline E. Sakai, PhD, TFT-VT

TRAUMA OF A LOST CHILD

Client presented with depression, sadness, and crying three years after the tragic death of the client’s teenager. After working through the grief with TFT diagnostic treatment with SUD 10 down to 0, the client could talk without crying.

Anger about some of the circumstances of the death came up with queries about what else was coming up. When anger was worked through with TFT-Dx with SUD of 9 down to 0, client then experienced waves of guilt and sadness about what could have been different in the past. This guilt and sadness was treated with TFT-Dx with SUD of 7 down to 0.

The client appeared calmer, more at peace within self, and was able to talk about client’s teenager with smiles, recounting fond memories. A peal of laughter broke out as client reminisced, and accessed a humorous and touching past event.

Looking at what else was coming up now brought more fond memories, smiles, chuckles and laughter. Client’s images of the teen had changed from the tragedy to happier times and images, and this grief work was more complete with layers and stages of grieving processed. Peak performance was used to work on coping with the upcoming anniversary of the teen’s death, birthday, favorite holidays and activities.

Relieving Trauma of Refugees and Immigrants

Thought Field – Vol 4 Issue 4

Thought Field Therapy and Traumatic Stress Recovery of Refugees and Immigrants

by Robert L Bray, PhD, LCSW, CTS, TFT-Adv and Crystal Folkes, MS

A pilot project in San Diego has demonstrated the effectiveness of TFT in helping immigrants and refugees to resolve post traumatic stress symptoms. The San Diego Elementary School Counseling Partnership (through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education) sponsored a traumatic stress clinic for children and families in the mid City area of San Diego for two months.

Although short in duration, it proved to be of great value. This project, serving an inner city school area, provided services primarily to immigrant and refugees. Andrew Jackson Elementary School, home base for the study, serves several immigrant communities.

Seventy percent of the 1,165 students at the school have limited English proficiency. Ninety-seven percent of the students receive free breakfast and lunch at the school. This population was chosen for several reasons. Continue reading “Relieving Trauma of Refugees and Immigrants”

Eliminating Severe Effects of Rape

Thought Field, Vol 1 Issue 1

Beliefs, Attitudes and TFT

Fred P. Gallo, Ph.D., Hermitage, PA

In “Transcending Painful Memories: and the emergence of the new psychotherapies”, I reported on one of my first cases of successfully applying TFT. I used the pseudonym of Barbara in the section on Rape Trauma. At age thirteen Barbara was raped while on a date with an eighteen year old boyfriend. The trauma continued to cause her suffering well into her thirties.

Additionally Barbara had a drug and alcohol problem, suffered severe bouts of depression with suicidal intent, and evidenced a number of other symptoms subsumed under diagnoses such as major depression, dysthymic disorder, bipolar disorder, poly-substance dependence, and borderline personality disorder.

She had received treatment at a number of facilities, both outpatient and inpatient, and she was not doing well at all when I first saw her.

When Barbara discussed the rape with me, she definitely appeared to be “reliving” the event to some extent. She cried deeply and evidenced profound remorse and referred to herself in the most negative of terms.

At first I interrupted the reliving episode by having her attend to the external environment by describing what she saw heard, smelled, tactually felt, etc. After she calmed down, I told her that I was working with a technique that might help to relieve the pain that she felt each time that she thought about this event. I asked her if she would be willing to give it a try, and she agreed.

Within several minutes of treating her for psychological reversal and using the basic trauma algorithm, Barbara no longer felt emotional pain while reviewing the memory. What amazed me even more so at the time, however, was the fact that Barbara’s beliefs about herself and the incident were simultaneously transformed.

For example, I asked her what she thought about the event and she replied in an almost casual tone that it was “just something that happened when I was a kid”. I even pushed her on this to test the reality of the transformation by asking with an accusing tone, “Don’t you think that you were to blame? Don’t you think it was your fault?” Her response to me was an unshaken and softly stated, “No, I don’t think I was to blame. I was just a kid.”

I couldn’t believe it. Just moments previously she had gone on about what a no-good so and so she was, and now she was doing an about face! How could this happen in an instant?

I saw her about a week after the treatment and she reported that she continued to not feel bothered about the rape. She told me that she tested this out at times over the week by thinking about the rape, and she did not feel any distress. That was about two years ago and I know that Barbara has continued to do well, since I have had intermittent contacts with her concerning other issues in her life.

As I reported in the article, Barbara was not instantaneously and totally cured, even though the traumatic memory was completely cured within a brief period of time (or even outside of time, depending on how one thinks about such things). While relieving the trauma certainly seemed to have a positive ripple effect throughout Barbara’s life, I should note that I also taught her treatments for addictive urges, anxiety and depression. These treatments were mostly employed during therapy sessions, although she did practice the algorithms at times on her own when she remembered to do so.

Today Barbara is not dependent on drugs and alcohol and her self esteem appears to be on the rise. She went on to complete an undergraduate degree in psychology, is now working on a graduate degree in social work, and is holding a responsible job in the field.

Mother Calms Panicking Son with TFT

This post was sent in by “a proud mom and TFT-Dx practitioner in Canada”:

Perhaps it is a mother’s bias, but I love my kids. They have all grown up to be wonderful adults and I now have grandchildren as well.

Mother’s Day 2011 was wonderful. I received a BBQ dinner, a spa gift certificate, and they also did some yard work for me. My morning started off with my son, the youngest, making breakfast for me. It was simple and seemed thrown together, but I didn’t think much of it despite his sister harassing him for so little effort.

I love my son. He is a bright kid with a big heart. He graduated last year and wanted to take some ‘time off’ before continuing with school or looking for work. I supported his decision knowing full well he deserves a break. You see, my son is labeled ADHD and has a few social issues.

There is also history of mental health issues on both sides of the family so I have been diligent in trying to keep on top of anything that might develop. Through years of counseling we learned that he has problems with ‘central auditory processing’ which means that sometimes the dots just don’t connect with him. He often asks questions that seem annoying to most people because the answers may seem so obvious he if would just ‘think it through’.

He endured many years of bullying throughout his school days and really does not have many friends to hang out with. However, he has found a following of friends in the online world of gaming. He plays games and makes music videos. He is quite skilled, I might add.

Sometimes his fascination with all this online world may seem silly to some, but I read a news article a few years ago where a 12 year old boy hung himself because his parents took away his gaming privileges abruptly. I understand that these online friends he communicates with are just as real as someone next to him and this keeps him company when his local friends are not available.

When I was introduced to Thought Field Therapy techniques and starting taking courses, I saw the amazing results of these new skills with friends and family. All along I had hoped that I would be able to use these skills with my son, but a year and a half later he still thinks mom’s tapping stuff is weird and he has been unwilling to let me show him anything.

Mother’s Day 2011 was over and we all went to sleep, or so I thought. About 5:30am my son barged into my room and collapsed into my arms, visibly distraught. He said I needed to get some anti depressant pills for him immediately!

I was half asleep, but I have done TFT for so long that I just started doing the complex trauma algorithm surrogately while my son admitted to me that he was scared of the thoughts he was having of grabbing a kitchen knife and hurting himself. Continue reading “Mother Calms Panicking Son with TFT”