Category: violent conflict

TFT Healing Comes Full Circle in Africa

New Rwandan TFT Trainers with Dr. Roger Callahan--Sept 2011, Hawaii

Our Dreams Become a Reality: TFT Healing Comes Full Circle

by Joanne Callahan, MBA

In 2006 and 2007 when the ATFT Foundation first began its missions to help heal the genocide survivors in Rwanda, we had no idea how great an impact TFT could have on this beautiful country. Our first team treated nearly 400 orphans at the El Shaddai orphanage, with wonderful results (PTSD study published 2010 International Journal of Emergency Mental Health).

The Foundation team went back in 2008 and 2009 to train the local community leaders to be able to use TFT to help their own country men and women. Much healing occurred and many were trained in TFT. The PTSD studies that were done had excellent results (2008 study accepted for publication and 2009 study soon to be submitted).

Entire communities were changing from sad, hopeless people, to productive and hopeful communities. The Foundation model for large scale trauma relief had succeeded both in the studies and follow-ups–and particularly in the real life experience of the Rwandan people.

Our desire to expand the reach of this healing even more led to the ATFT Foundation bringing four Rwandan TFT trainees to Hawaii to be trained to become TFT trainers back home in Rwanda. Our hope was that their ability to conduct trainings themselves would enable TFT healing to spread to surrounding communities–and even surrounding African countries.

The ATFT Foundation flew four of the Rwandan leaders, two from Byumba, Rwanda, and two from Kigali, Rwanda, to Hawaii where they spent the month of September, 2011, teaching TFT and supervising  staff at pro-bono Hawaiian clinics, treating underprivileged local people and perfecting their skills. Both the Hawaiian people and the Rwandans benefitted tremendously.

And now we see the dream of sharing TFT coming full circle. The Rwandan trainees from Byumba have already been asked to train a team in the Congo.

They have met with and provided support for 60 of the TFT trained therapists in their region and shared their Hawaiian experience with them. With the help of the ATFT Foundation, their sister Rwandan charitable organization, the IZERE Center, is treating up to 35 people per day and has already helped nearly 2000 people this year.

One of the Rwandan leaders and trainers from Kigali is the Director of the Rwandan Orphan Project (new name for El Shaddai Orphanage), and he is also expanding the reach of TFT. We just heard from him that he is training eight Counselors and Social Workers to help the disabled and retired military. He will then supervise and assist them as they treat nearly 80 wheelchair bound ex-military.

It is truly a blessing to see and hear about these hard working young leaders sharing and expanding the healing of TFT in Africa. The ATFT Foundation, the IZERE Center and the Rwandan Orphan Project need your help to continue this wonderful healing and teaching process.

Please go to www.ATFTFoundation.org  to donate to the furthering of this model of trauma relief, to www.IZEREByumba.com to help the IZERE support their TFT treatment programs, and to www.RwandanOrphansProject.org to help with their work in the community in TFT training and treatment.

TFT in a Hostile Environment

The Beat of a Different Drum

—By Guy Marriott

Another volley of gunfire drifted up from the valley as I stared at the battered map and mentally logged the tracks and wadis that were still passable in our four-wheel drive vehicles. I was hoping for an easy answer as to which route might offer a rapid and safe evacuation corridor if the fighting got out of hand.

I gazed at the sun tracing its final descent through troubled skies, momentarily transfixed. And once again I found myself considering how much violence the 30-odd people in my care could or even should endure before I would call ‘time’ and override their desire to stay and help the fifty thousand people that had made it to the refugee camp to the east of us. Continue reading “TFT in a Hostile Environment”

Relieving War Trauma of Russian Immigrant

By Katherine Bragin, LCSW:

I work with a unique population–Russian immigrants 65-years-old and up. Our practice is in the heart of a Russian community, famous Brighton Beach.

Coming here to the U.S., my patients brought with them a myriad of issues – some are unique only to this population group and some are universal for all elderly–the loss of  social status, familiar surroundings, life-long friends, rich Russian culture, profession or career, and part of the family (left behind).

And much more…They miss the traditional cultural closeness of the family. They come here so they won’t be separated from their children, and their children often move to different parts of the country, leaving them in Russian neighborhoods to take care of themselves.

They also have unique pain and memories: fighting in WWII, running from Germans, famine and labor camps of Stalin’s era, and concentration camps or ghetto.

They are now getting older, with more medical problems that also affect their emotional well-being.

Mr. T, our patient for many years, is a WWII veteran. He fought during the war from Moscow to Berlin and was wounded a few times. He fought in the battle of Stalingrad.

Every night he would still fight during his sleep: screaming, yelling and making strange sounds. TFT has relieved this trauma. He still has flashbacks and talks about his war experience, but his wife reports that he is not screaming in his sleep anymore.

PTSD symptoms are normally very hard to treat, especially with the elderly. I am very grateful that I now have this knowledge and skill with TFT.

The main difficulty in my work with the elderly with different levels of dementia is their comprehension level. I find it hard to explain to them the concept of SUD and often have to judge our progress by the facial expression and patient’s subjective reaction.

The other problem is how to make the handout and explanation easy to understand for use at home. It often takes three or four sessions to do so.

I am very glad I learned TFT–and have it as the main tool in my tool box. It helps my patients enormously.

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”

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”

TFT Trauma Relief on Healing Talk Radio

 

 

Suzanne Connolly, MFT, LCSW

 

 

Written by Diana Hoffman, Healing Talk Radio:

Hello friends and colleagues,

I am excited to announce that international trauma expert Suzanne Connolly will be joining me on Healing Talk Radio for a live demonstration of Thought Field Therapy in the treatment of PTSD.

Suzanne has healed trauma and trained trauma therapists throughout the world.  She was invited to travel to Littleton Coloroado to train professionals who were treating the traumatized survivors of the Columbine High School shooting.  Suzanne has also traveled to Kuwait, France and Rwanda  to train community workers in trauma recovery and to directly treat victims of genocide.

Suzanne has participated in three different research studies, including the study “Treatmentof PTSD in Rwandan Child Genocide SurvivorsUsing Thought Field Therapy, published in Winter 2010 edition of International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 12(1), 41-50.   Suzanne is also author of the book  “Thought Field Therapy:   Clinical Applications Integrating TFT in Psychotherapy. published in 2004.

For our radio program a local client volunteer with disabling symptoms of PTSD will join the program and Suzanne Connolly will work live on the air with the client to resolve her problems, which include intense nightmares almost every night and severe, intrusive fears.

After over 20 years of practice and research, Thought Field Therapy continues to produce dramatic results in the resolution of brain-stem based emotional issues.    Meridian-based tapping releases have been shown in studies to be the fastest  of all release methods for phobias and fear issues, and can produce dramatic improvement for these problems one session.

With its precision, carefully developed algorhythms and history of humanitarian use for trauma, Thought Field Therapy is the premier and original meridian-based release therapy.

Listen in for a powerful demonstration of the best of brain-based brief therapys by a renowned national expert.

For more information go to healingtalkradio.wordpress.com

This program will broadcast live on Healing Talk Radio at 11 am Mountain Time, Wednesday March 30 on KSTAR, 1400 am..   Healing Talk is also syndicated to three internet radio stations:   wcww.com, planetarystreams.com, and shoutcast.com.   The program is streamed worldwide starting Saturday, April 2nd.  It will replay daily for a week at 11 am and 2 am mountain time.   To connect go to healingtalkradio.wordpress.com.