Tag: thought field therapy

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”

TFT for Survivors of Child Abuse

Published in UPdate Magazine , Issue 7, Spring 2007:

Special Report

Irish Survivors of Child Abuse: How TFT Can Help

By Eileen McMahon, Solicitor, TFT-Dx

Irish Survivors

I am a solicitor who has trained in Thought Field Therapy®. I have spent 15 years acting for survivors of trauma to obtain compensation arising from accidents and abuse. However there are certain groups that I have represented in the UK that money alone will not rebuild their fractured lives.

I have spent the past 5 years taking evidence from the Irish survivors of child abuse and seeking compensation for them under the Residential Institutions Redress Act (2002) in Dublin. The abuse occurred between the 1930’s and the 1970’s. The average age of my clients is 60. Most of my client’s have waited 50 years to tell their story and seek redress.

We must not take for granted that orphans around the world are being well cared for. This was the mistake made in Ireland and now we are dealing with the horrendous reality of Continue reading “TFT for Survivors of Child Abuse”

Relieving the Effects of Past Trauma

Many thanks to Jackie Rioux, TFT-Dx, for submitting this Apr 19, 2011:

I have been taking TFT courses over the last year and having many successes with friends and family. I have helped a friend let go of the grief and trauma of losing a treasured family pet. I have helped several friends with general stress, relationship and work issues, and tested them for toxins as well. My friends are now quite used to hearing me talk about TFT and all its benefits and some are willing to let me practice on them to refine my skills. 

My new son in law was having issues with the stress and anxiety of a new baby coming and his ability to provide for their future. I was receiving phone calls and texts every few days asking for reassurance and answers to questions about parenting. He has a wonderful secure job and he knew his fears were unfounded yet he was still anxious.

Although I have three other children who are accepting of TFT, this daughter is not comfortable with all my tapping remedies, but my son in law was willing to try it. One evening he was at the point of anxiousness where he Continue reading “Relieving the Effects of Past Trauma”

Relieving Stress of a Trauma Specialist

By Robert L. Bray, Ph.D., TFT-Adv, Update Magazine, Issue 2, Winter 2005

TFT Makes a Hard Day’s Work A Good Day’s Work: Taking care of traumatic stress in myself and others

One night, my wife asked if I wanted to talk about my day. I snapped back at her: “Do you want to talk about the man who was beaten by his mother because he was male and beaten by the older boys in his neighborhood because he was Jewish?

Or would you like to talk about the women with a chronic pain disease and suicidal depression who was sexually abused by her last therapist? Should we talk about the woman who was beaten regularly by her crazy mother, raped as a child, abandoned by her church after a date rape, and strangled by the father of her child? Or, on a lighter note, we could discuss the man who, because of a work related injury, just had another surgery to help control the pain in his hand and faced years of painful back surgery and rehab?”

As the sarcastic words and tone came out of my mouth I realized how much I wanted not to talk about my day but instead to push the intense emotion and stress of my day away. I immediately treated myself for the vicarious traumatic stress I had experienced from being present with my clients. More myself, I then was able to share a couple of humorous and moving moments that occurred in my day’s work.

I have over twenty years of experience as psychotherapist specializing in traumatic stress response. In any given day I hear stories of meaningless violence, evil indifference, and endless despair. I see in many clients the terror, fear, distrust, pain, and suffering still carried by those who have experienced things which I can not even imagine. Continue reading “Relieving Stress of a Trauma Specialist”