Tag: fear

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”

Relieving Trauma from Hurricane Katrina

UPdate Magazine Issue 8, Spring 2008

THE DAY OUR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER

by Ecoee Rooney, R.N., S.A.N.E.

New Orleans, LA

Coming home to New Orleans was not easy, but no one thought it would be. What we had thought would be a long weekend visiting friends during a perfunctory evacuation to North Louisiana, we slowly realized, was the beginning of a long, and scary road home. Nothing could have prepared me for the turns and twists, disappointments in who didn’t help and amazement at who did, and the level of commitment of so many life-long friends and family members who came forward with money, supplies, and all we needed to survive those first months after leaving all we knew as our lives behind.

No amount of sensationalized media coverage could have prepared me for what I saw as we drove into the city for the first time, even though the Mayor still banned entrance to our part of the city. The vastness of the devastation began to truly sink in as we quietly drove down the interstate past a gray, abandoned landscape. Occasionally, houses that appeared to have been blown apart by Continue reading “Relieving Trauma from Hurricane Katrina”

Relieving Trauma from Earthquake in Japan

We have instructions for the TFT trauma relief technique in Japanese. Go to the page listed on the right that says “Japanese”. It will give a link to the ATFT association website in Japan, which has complete instructions in Japanese. Please pass this on to those you know in Japan. It can greatly relieve the suffering involved in such a crisis.

If you need any assistance with this, please let us know by submitting a comment. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Trauma-Related Panic Attacks Gone with TFT

By Suzanne Connolly, TFT-Adv, from the UPdate Magazine, Issue 4, Winter 2006:

Solving the Mystery; Curing the Panic

At a recent Conference on Panic Attacks, a speaker presented as a fact, that panic attacks do not have their origin in past trauma. Speaker after speaker asserted that there is currently no cure for Panic Attack Disorder. While there are undoubtedly cases where this is true, I find that in most cases this upset in the sympathetic nervous system is rooted in past trauma and of course, with Thought Field Therapy, is curable. The following case study offers just one example.

Yolanda’s panic attacks were keeping her from her job as head of housekeeping at a nearby resort, and from her second job of babysitting her friend’s children, and from participating in life in general. She had been referred by her Physician and I began taking a history in an effort to find some specific sources of anxiety to address.

Being around small children seemed to precipitate the majority of Yolanda’s recent panic attacks. Being home alone at night, being around knives, Continue reading “Trauma-Related Panic Attacks Gone with TFT”

TFT After Brutal Physical Attack

From “The Thought Field”, Vol. 17, Issue 3:

Tapping Thru Trauma and Dysfunction To Happiness

Oct 2010, Australia, Gabrielle Williamson

In 2000 I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after a brutal physical attack. Because of head injuries I was unable to complete thoughts or make any sense of the world. This led to debilitating depression as even simple tasks like cooking had become difficult. I was also suffering from severe anxiety and did not know how to engage in society. I became a relative hermit and put on a lot of weight. All I could manage was eating, sleeping and watching videos. My depression grew and intense rage emerged as I ruminated day after day on the attack.

Five years passed in this manner then one day I was introduced to a local TFT Practitioner who listened to my story and offered to give me a treatment with TFT. I was totally skeptical, yet after several treatments I lost the depression and became more functional. Soon, not only did my fear of people and being in public places disappear, but I began to rekindle my former career as a singer/ songwriter and performed my songs at local venues. Previously my memory had been so damaged due to head injuries that I had had trouble remembering my songs. It improved using TFT.

I also became a TFT practitioner and continued to clear phobias, stress, confusion, love pain and rage as they emerged and began helping my friends with TFT as well. Soon I had several regular TFT clients. Chronic depression and anxiety became things of the past.

I realized with gratitude that I had started living my life again and it was better than it had been even before the assault!

In 2006 I won $1,000 first prize in a major local songwriter’s quest and went on to record an album of my songs. I organized every detail of my own album launch which had been an unfulfilled dream for 30 years.

Today I have 4 different part-time businesses which I run myself including a small TFT client-base, many friends, hobbies and interests and am living the life I always wanted to live, as cliche as that may sound! I am an active member of my community and the world at large and feel I have something to contribute. I have no doubt that I am capable of moving on to achieve even greater goals as my life unfolds.

This year, 2010, I will be 50 years old and have never been happier than I am right now. I believe that TFT has very significantly contributed to my healing process when very little else seemed to be working. It is simple, fast and effective as a modality of therapy and easy to administer to myself and others when the need arises. I highly recommend it to anyone. I will continue to rely on its help as it is an invaluable way to be free of all kinds of problems both mental/emotional and physical.