TFT Study in “African Journal of Traumatic Stress”

The TFT Foundation is very pleased to announce that its study on the effects of TFT on PTSD, led by TFT Foundation Trauma Relief Committee chairperson Suzanne Connolly and conducted in Rwanda in 2009, was recently published by the “African Journal of Traumatic Stress.” The study abstract is below. For the complete study, please click here.

Abstract

The use of Thought Field Therapy (TFT), a brief therapy technique, is examined in a study titled, Utilizing Community Resources to Treat PTSD: A Random Controlled Study Using Thought Field Therapy, to determine if there is a significant difference in the reduction of trauma symptoms between the treated group and the untreated group post treatment.

Study participants in the waitlist group received treatment after having completing the posttest. One-hundred and sixty four adult survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide received a one-time trauma-focused TFT intervention in this randomized waitlist controlled study. Prior to the study,TFT techniques were taught to community leaders, who then provided them in their native language, Kinyarwanda, to the participants during an individual session. Pre- and post-intervention surveys of trauma symptoms included the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI)

(Briere, 1995) and the Modified Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale (MPSS) (Falsetti, Resnick, Resnick, & Kilpatrick, 1993). After one week, significant differences were found in trauma symptoms and level of PTSD symptom severity and frequency between the treatment and the waitlist control groups. Participants in the waitlist group experienced significant reductions in trauma symptoms following their treatments,which took place after the first posttest. These positive outcomes suggest that a one-time, community leader facilitated trauma-focused intervention may be beneficial with protracted PTSD in genocide survivors.

TFT–Simple and Powerful

It is amazing that a simple Thought Field Therapy protocol, or algorithm, like the one we teach in this blog, can have such a profound effect. We see evidence every day of TFT transforming lives, even at its most basic level of standardized algorithms. The following is an example, given in response to the request “Please share how Thought Field Therapy helped you”:

Problem: “I experienced PTSD, severe anxiety, and intense stress.”

Results: “I felt balanced after doing the algorithms! The relief was wonderful and it was like feeling sane again. I practice the algorithms regularily because I love the feeling of balance it evokes within me.”

TFT and Rwanda’s Remembrance Day

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybnNgW3Gzy4&rel=0]

In April — July 1994, extremists from the ethnic majority murdered between 800,000 and 1,000,00 persons, mostly of the ethnic minority, and displaced two million more.

Children witnessed their families killed before their eyes, people left maimed and scarred. The trauma and terror of this time left the country without peace, without trust and without hope. TFT has played a large part in mending these wounds.

Every year in April, the Rwandan people have a Remembrance Day. A period of time to re-affirm a commitment to peace, understanding, hope and to never let this happen again.

The strength of TFT has become so well-known, practitioners were invited to several of the events to treat those overcome by grief, trauma and pain when remembering those days.

TFT Helps Young Man Reclaim His Life

By Monika D’Agate, London, UK, driving instructor and TFT therapist, shares how a student of hers used TFT to help a nephew reclaim his life.*

This young man is a very kind and sensitive individual, high achiever with very good grades at school. He has a supportive and caring family.

He only had his driving license for one year when an accident happened. Driving his father’s car only on occasion had given him very little experience. Furthermore, the country he lived in has very poor standards of competence, allowing people to take their driving test only after 30h of practical driver education.

Where it could be enough for someone with existing skills, for most people starting from scratch, it’s half or even less of what is really necessary to be competent and safe on the road. Sometimes people think that they are born with driving skills and they acquire more common sense as they get older. It’s rarely the case for the former one and not always the case for the latter.

One late evening, this 19 year old was driving back home from his factory, where he had a part time job. His parents bought him a car the week before. He was approaching a bend, not going fast, but when a car came up from the opposite side, blinding him with its high beam lights, he hit something.

It was a man on a bicycle, wearing dark clothing, on a bike without any lights. Continue reading “TFT Helps Young Man Reclaim His Life”

TFT Healing During Rwanda Mourning Period

One of the worst disasters is when a country or a people are subjected to genocide.

by Joanne Callahan, MBA*

Last month was the Mourning Period from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. TFT is playing a key role in the healing of that nation through the work of the TFT Foundation. From the teachers in schools to the inmates of prisons, they are using TFT to heal from the atrocities of their past, bringing forth love and peace within their communities.

I want to share a small piece from an email I just received from Celestin Mitabu, one of our Rwandan TFT trainers in Kigali, Rwanda.

“This picture was taken during TODAY’S treatment at Kamonyi genocide site where TFT was invited officially by the District of Kamonyi to heal, assisting people traumatized with the Callahan Techniques TFT. The memorial site has got thirty-eight thousand bodies plus 36 bones recovered recently and they were buried today. This was a huge cloud of thousands of people led by many politicians, police, survivors and armies.

The thing is TFT is successful to any trauma. All the cases we faced today they were healed. We healed very strong cases of trauma and people admired. From morning hours till afternoon we worked hard to show to people that we have now a cure for trauma and people have experienced healing.”

Rwanda

Thank you Celestin and your team for your hard work and dedication to help so many begin to heal.

*Excerpted from “TFT e-zine – News on Tapping”, May 13, 2013

TFT and Horses

TFT and Horses: An Interesting Journey

by Steven Rogat, LPC, TFT-Dx

I am excited to share some of the successes, and some of the non –successes of my work with horses using Thought Field Therapy. It is not something I ever planned on doing, but after learning of the helping potential of TFT with Equines, I wanted to give it a shot. I also have an affinity for horses (and ponies are okay too, I guess), so when asked if I could work with a horse, I quickly, although nervously, agreed.

I received a call from a woman, Sylvia, whose horse, Red, shied away from, and tried to refuse to go into tall grasses – anything over about 8 inches or so. This behavior seemed to come on suddenly with no obvious stressor causing it.

All the work we did was via telephone. First I had Sylvia (dismounted) lead Red toward the grass, until Red started showing signs of anxiety (ears flat, breath quicker, eyes tending to roll upward). When the anxiety appeared, Sylvia stopped, and I had her first pat the horse’s PR spot, right behind the shoulder. Then we moved on to Sylvia tapping herself as a surrogate while holding a hand on Red.

We didn’t know what caused the stress, but a general rule of thumb I use is that something happened to cause it – an experience that then provided a memory. So, we started with the complex trauma algorithm. Again, Sylvia tapped her own points while touching Red -Eye Brow, Under Eye, Under Arm, and Collarbone. She needed to do the series twice, and then the horse calmed down.

We took the horse closer to the grasses until the anxiety surfaced, and then stopped in order to do the points again. Closer and closer to the grasses we went. It took about

Continue reading “TFT and Horses”