Often a core issue is not based on a childhood event but a recent trauma. It seems to me that all medical traumas are “tappable issues.” If a client has been to the doctor or the hospital recently, or had surgery, stroke or heart attack symptoms any time in the past, these are events that can hold back the body’s healing process and can often be cleared with EFT.

The case below demonstrates that the trauma of the stroke event itself may be a cause of ongoing symptoms.

Mary (name was changed) was 70 years of age. She had poor balance, walked with small steps, and wanted to walk with confidence. On a 0 to 10 scale she was a 7 for these three issues.

We decided to work on the stroke itself and the events surrounding the stroke, since that was a large and recent trauma, which probably needed clearing. I figured that we would address “what does this remind you of?” and past events in her life afterwards. Little did I know that this hour of work would bring her the relief she wanted.

We worked on the following stroke-related events: What happened right before the stroke? Mary (a reading teacher) had been moved to a more crowded classroom, without any notice beforehand. She was hurt and disappointed at the time, but had no feelings about it when we discussed it. We tapped for that event anyway.

Even though I was displaced…
Nobody considered my feelings…
They didn’t ask me if it would be ok…

We did the Tearless Trauma technique on the stroke event itself and tapped around and on that event until it came down from a 10 (tightness in her stomach) to a feeling of sadness at a 3 and then a 0 for the stroke event. Then we worked on events and feeling after the stroke, about Mary’s falls, and embarrassment surrounding her condition. She felt a 3 thinking about it and came down to a one after the following tapping rounds:

Even though I fell on the street twice…
I was clumsy…
I looked funny and felt embarrassed…
I hurt and bruised my knee in the fall…
I don’t like the students to see me like this…

At that point Mary told me that she was going to test her balance by walking across the kitchen without her cane. I nervously asked her to please stay near something secure and to be careful. We were on the phone. Mary was happy to tell me that she had gone from a 7 to a 3 in poor balance, short strides, and lack of confidence in her walk. We tapped a few more rounds and she was at 0 on those issues. She felt perfectly comfortable as she walked across the kitchen.

Mary sent me the following emails, one the next day, and another about a month later:

Dear Ruthi
I’m still feeling confident. Even the PT teacher who passed me in the hall said I looked good and was moving good too. One kid said how come you’re going so fast today? (as I walked them from the gym). Even if it is temporary, I know that I can get it back with tapping. That’s a good feeling. I thank you so much. It helped to have someone do it with me and come up with the phrases. And winter is almost over…no more snow to fall down in!

Thank you very much. I’ll write after a month has passed.
Gratefully, ______

Dear Ruthi,
It’s been almost a month since our tapping session. I’m pleased to report that I’m still balanced and taking longer strides. No snow and ice helps but I’m definitely improved. I’ve tapped by myself several times but your session started me off on the right track. Thank you.

Ruthi Backenroth utilizes results-oriented EFT techniques. She helps executives, professionals, and homemakers find lasting relief from stress, anxiety, and pain. She offers sessions by phone and can be found at www.EFTAction.com.

I’ve known for some time that as a result of being raised by a controlling and very needy person who expected me and my siblings to make her happy, that I do not feel safe at all in this world. To try to understand it better and kick start some specific issues to tap on, I started reading Deborah King’s book Truth Heals. The first chapter deals with the root chakra, which gives us our sense of safety and security. Two things clicked with me – the feeling of powerlessness I felt growing up, and the subject of eating disorders. I probably don’t really have a diagnosable eating disorder, but I definitely have an unhealthy relationship with food.

I started tapping on the powerlessness by inviting the first occasion that came to mind that illustrated it. I was about 10 years old and my grandmother had made an outfit for me to wear on a school field trip. I was very excited about the trip and wearing my new clothes. I made the mistake of mentioning this to my mother, however. She immediately told me that I couldn’t wear the outfit. I asked why and she had no answer beyond, “Because I said you couldn’t.” I made a second attempt the next day in my most unassuming and respectful attitude, but it failed. I was crushed. As my 10 year old self, I tapped:

Even though she wouldn’t let me wear the new outfit and didn’t have any reason besides not wanting her mother to usurp her authority (even at 10 I knew what was going on), I deeply and profoundly love and forgive everyone involved, with compassion.

I wanted to wear that outfit so badly

My grandmother made it for me so I could wear it that day

There was no reason I couldn’t wear it

It was just her power trip

She needed to be in control of everything, even what her children wore

She couldn’t let her mother have any say in her family’s life

She even hurt me to have that control

Control was everything to her

She didn’t care about me-only about having things her way

I’m crushed

It’s so unfair

I feel so powerless and hopeless

I went on in this vein until things stopped coming to mind, then I tapped on asking my body to release the feeling of powerlessness. I learned this method from Lindsay Kenney’s website. She says that sometimes our bodies just need to be given permission, or asked directly to let go of something; sometimes they just don’t understand unless you ask directly. I’ve found that this helps me release particularly stubborn or long-term issues, so I tapped:

Even though I feel this powerlessness and hopelessness, I ask my body to completely release it now.

At each point I said:

I now ask my body to completely release this powerlessness and hopelessness.

Next I moved on to the eating disorder. Eating disorders are all about control. Food becomes the only thing we can control about our lives sometimes, so we put our energy into saying what can go into our mouths, how much, and when. I have a fair amount of self discipline, so I haven’t become unhealthy or overweight, but I do use food for comfort and as a reward. Once again, I allowed the first thing related to food in my childhood to come to mind and I tapped on it. It was an incident when I was a pre-teen in which I asked my mother if I could cook scrambled eggs for the whole family because I didn’t want to eat fried eggs. She always made fried eggs, but they made me sick because the yolks were runny. I was trying to figure out how to get eggs I could eat without making it more difficult for her. I came up with the perfect solution – I would cook the eggs myself. I thought it was brilliant. I didn’t think there was any way she could refuse, but refuse she did, again with no reason beyond, “Because I said so.” I began tapping:

Even though she made me eat eggs that made me sick because it was more important to her that she tell us what we could do than it was that we be happy and healthy and she couldn’t accept that she may have been doing something that made me sick without knowing it, I deeply and profoundly love, accept, and forgive everyone involved, with compassion.

All I wanted was not to be sick

All I wanted was scrambled eggs

I was so discouraged when she said no

I felt so helpless

So crushed

So deflated

So unimportant

I even had the perfect solution

And then things started to fall into place. I realized that I believed that no matter how smart I was, how clever, how respectful, someone else always had the power to tell me what I could and could not do. I connected how the eating disorder and my general feelings of powerlessness were related.

But she still said no

No matter what I do, even if I have the perfect solution, I still can’t have things the way I need them

She always has the power

I never have the power

She took the power

She won’t give me any power

Others always have the power

They take it

Then I felt myself turning towards realizing that I had power also and that all I had to do was claim it.

So I could take it, too

I could claim power for myself

I deserve that

Everyone deserves to have the power to say what happens in their own life

And I like the person I am now who is claiming my power (completely winging it here-I was surprised to hear this come up, but I just went with it)

I like how compassionate I am in exercising my power

Next I tapped on asking my body to release “no matter now smart, clever, respectful I am, someone else will always have the power” by saying that phrase three times at the collarbone point as an “even though” statement, then at each point.

I feel more at peace now and much less inclined to react with anxiety when I feel things slip out of my control. I also find that I don’t think about food so much and don’t need it as a reward for accomplishments. I have a better connection with the authentic me – a growing sense and an increasing unshakable knowing of my divinity.

Arinda Davis discovered EFT over two years ago and has been practicing it on herself ever since, with profound healing results – particularly around early childhood emotional pain.

I have just retired from many years as a school counselor. This summer has been interesting, as I am beginning to develop my EFT private business. So, in order to have exposure, I have offered to be a guest speaker and have also offered to do free sessions to develop research.

Last week I worked with a man who will be in a power lifting tournament at the end of the month. I worked with him a total of 1 1/2 hours. At the beginning he told me that he is able to lift 365 pounds, but a couple of years ago he could lift 375 pounds. His goal was to lift that amount again. For the first 30 minutes we discussed what was the “wall” that he hit regarding the amount of weight he could lift. Then I asked him questions regarding what his thoughts have been when he could press more weight a couple of years ago, but cannot now.

He said that doubt would creep into his thoughts, and the word failure would pop up. When asked when failure was an issue, he said that while trying out for a university football team, another player said that he was too small and would never make it. So we tapped on “this George statement.” We tapped for releasing “this George statement” and that George had been given too much power for too long. We tapped about 3 or 4 rounds regarding George. When asked if George’s power was still in his cells, he said that it wasn’t. Also, while tapping for doubt, I asked him if the doubt were an animal, what would it be? His response was that it would be an elephant. We tapped that down to being a baby elephant.

Then we went into the exercise room to test the results. This included his regular stretching and safety issues prior to power lifting. I also showed him the “covert” tapping sequence, in case he did not want others to be judgmental. The covert tapping that I taught him was the tapping on the upper corner of each of his fingernails. So when the other person came into the exercise room, and my client’s doubt was returning, he turned his back to the other person and whispered his words while gently pinching the corners of each of his nails. Because other people were in the room, he did use the covert method. However, after a little while, that did not seem to be an issue.

He easily power lifted the 365 pounds. He stated that the weight seemed lighter. Then we tapped for any doubt that arose. Next, he lifted 370, then we tapped more, then he lifted 375. He was so excited that he reached his goal. Next he decided to try for 380, which had not been his original goal. He was successful! At this point, I looked at my watch and noticed that our total time had been only 1 hour. For the last 1/2 hour we talked about how energy psychology works and what he needs to do for his homework.

I truly enjoy working with athletes because they are already in the mindset of success. Three days later, he was still excited and willing to aim for 400 pounds. This whole session felt like pure enjoyment to me. Work. . . what work?

Monica Johnson is an educator who shares EFT in Tucson, Arizona. She offers her skills to those with peak performance goals, including athletes, sports teams, hiking clubs, physical therapists, personal trainers and schools. Her educators’ support website is www.eftgetsubetter1.com

I have been using EFT for five years and with great results and am always on the lookout for unusual ways of using it. I would therefore like to share an unusual way to eliminate a fear of heights and anything associated with it by watching a Youtube movie and performing EFT as well.

The first time I watched the movie, I had the brilliant idea of tapping along to help eliminate any remaining fears I had associated with heights, as I previously had a fear of heights – especially using high, open elevators, and I always avoided Ferris wheels and similar types of rides .

The movie lasts six and half minutes and is titled “The Scariest Path in the World?” I did find bits of it nerve racking.

I decided to watch it again using EFT and recommend the following to any person who would like to attempt to eliminate any fears associated with heights.

Before pressing the “start button,” tap on the Karate Chop point 3x and say:

“Even though I have this fear of ________(your fear connected with heights in your words), I completely love and accept myself anyway…” After which you may say, “The movie I am about to see is real and am asking for my fear of ____________ to be eliminated.”

Press the start arrow of the Youtube movie, then after viewing it for about 1 1/2 minutes, pause it and rate the intensity level of your fear on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most fearful).

Continue watching and start tapping on the points – eyebrow, side of eye, under eye, under nose, chin point, collar bone and under arm, taking deep breaths along the way .

If at any part you feel extra scared, pause the movie and tap on the Karate Chop point and say, “this part is really scary (or some other comment about what you’re feeling), I love and accept myself and anyway…” then continue watching the video, tapping on the points and stopping the movie at the scary scenes, repeating the comment.

At the end, test your intensity level again while thinking about what you just saw or replay it using the same technique (don’t forget the deep breaths or sighs) until you bring it down to zero or a 1 or 2.

I brought my intensity level down from a 6 to zero – 1. I have not yet had the chance to test it out with a life situation, but when visualizing I feel peaceful about the situation and feel confident I will be okay when faced with one of my fears associated with heights.

Good luck to any person who tries out my suggestion with amazing EFT. I welcome any feedback.

Janice Rennalls
janrennalls@gmail.com

As an amateur EFT’er, I have had great success using it for first aid situations. I am always ready to apply the technique to any emergency occurrence.

The latest was with my 98+ year old mother. We were sitting watching TV when she suddenly began having a seizure. Her body went rigid with violent shaking. I immediately went to her and began tapping. At the first tap (top of head), the shaking began to ease. At the second tap (inside eyebrow) her eyes opened and her body began to relax. At the third tap (side of eye) she was back to herself with no apparent after effects.

Bob Syvertsen
rsyverts@gmail.com

I have a client, I will call her Megan, who had a very hard childhood with severe abuse and neglect. We have had many, many sessions focusing on different issues.

One of her main problems has been Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Especially “smelly” people, means people using ordinary soap, shower gel, deodorant, shampoo, or perfume plunged her into severe physical discomfort and instant panic attacks. When I started working with her, she was practically housebound and feeling hopeless.

After our work together, she now drives everywhere, goes to her daughter’s extremely “smelly” school, talks to her son’s baseball coach right after he took a shower, visits her “smelly” siblings’ homes – and feels o.k. She still doesn’t like the scents, but she does not go into a panic attack and can handle it.

How Did That Happen?

Well, it happened in one session, actually within minutes in that session. (I will get to the “however” later).

She had told me (and other practitioners), that when the smell hits her, it is like a switch in her brain that is being turned on. She feels the panic attack coming on, and then she is physically sick for hours or even days. We had tapped on, “Even though I have this switch in my brain,” repeatedly, but it didn’t have much effect.

One day, it came to me to ask her:

“How exactly does this switch look like?”

Megan said: “Like an ordinary light switch, light beige. It is flipped up when it is on.”

“Well,” I said. “Why don’t we just fixate on it in the ‘off’ position? How can we do that?”

She said: “Duct tape. I am taping it down with multiple layers of duct tape right now. There is no way it can go to the on position.”

From that day on, no panic attacks, only mild to moderate discomfort with those smells. I have checked in repeatedly, and the switch stays securely taped down.

Now, this begs the question: If I had come up earlier with that simple question (duh!), could we have achieved this profound release much earlier?

Actually, I don’t think so.

These were the main people in her childhood who were abusive – and “smelly” (In case you wonder: Her mother was not abusive but weak, sick, and “out of it”).

1. Her father, using lots of aftershave, often flew into a rage and beat his children severely. One of the painful memories was an incident, when Megan witnessed her father beating her 4 year old sister with a belt after she had eaten his jelly.

2. Her much older brother using Irish Spring soap who beat and tortured her for years.

3. Her “smelly” aunt who disliked her and let her know it in many ways. We tapped on one memory when the aunt took her daughter and Megan’s sister to the circus while Megan was not invited to go with them.

4. Cruel, “smelly” foster parents (she lived with several of those) who let her freeze in the cold outside for hours and punished her for things she did not do.

5. Rich “smelly” girls in junior high school who tortured her in the restroom because she was poor and didn’t belong.

We had tapped on these – and more – traumatic memories for many sessions. I do believe that all that work needed to be done before the switch was ready to be taped down.

What do you think?

Carna Zacharias-Miller assists her clients from her private practice in Tallahassee, Florida.

Editors Note: Gwyneth Moss is an EFT trainer and innovator based in the United Kingdom. She has several upcoming workshops scheduled for August 2010, including the intensive Tapping at Sunrise Ranch 2010 in Loveland, Colorado, together with Ann Ross and Rue Hass.

Emotion Follows Perception

Aaron Beck, one of the founding fathers of cognitive behavioral therapy, said “emotion follows perception” meaning that the way we feel about a situation is a result of the way we perceive it. In this article we will be considering how, with EFT, the “emotion follows perception” idea is really a two-way street and thus we also see the reverse, namely, that “perception follows emotion.”

We can all perceive a situation one way and find ourselves in the grip of strong emotions that then change as soon as we get more information and a fresh perception. Yesterday I saw a couple of teenagers nosing around and under my car, and I felt a surge of anger tinged with fear.

My car had once been vandalized and now here were the culprits right in front of my house. I ran over and as I was about to shout, one of the boys looked up at me and pointing said: “Our kitten, she ran away.”

Cowering under the car was a smoky grey ball of fluff.

My perception of the situation changed in an instant and my emotions shifted from anger and fear to a cocktail of compassion and kindness. I quickly fetched a blanket to help the boys rescue their frightened pet.

Our brains are meaning-making organs. Whatever information comes in through the channels of our many senses, our brains are seeking for patterns that match to previous experience and then using that “meaning” to create perceptions or expectations of the future. Emotion follows these expectations.

This is the process that allows us to know our world. However, like the small print on investment sales, “past performance is no guide to future returns.” When we get emotionally aroused it is like our attention becomes locked on a narrow view and we fix on the emotional expectation (what happened in the past) and block out the bigger picture (what is actually happening now).

When teaching EFT workshops I often use the metaphor that, as therapists we are like guide dogs (seeing-eye dog) with a blind person. It’s not the guide dog’s job to decide where to go: it’s the guide dog’s job to get across the roads safely.

Address Emotions, Change Perceptions

To give an example, I recently saw a woman, Sue, who reacted with massive resentment whenever she heard her sister’s voice on the phone. Sue had avoided her sister for most of her adult life. However, the two of them were now trying to sort out care for their elderly father and so these calls were becoming more frequent. Each evening Sue would find herself becoming increasingly anxious, anxiety that she tranquilized with red wine, as she anticipated her sister calling.

In an agitated manner that was loaded with frustration Sue told me: “She is such a bitch, a prime bitch, she uses that tone with me, like she’s putting me down, treating me like a baby, and I start to boil with resentment and I don’t hear a word she says and we just can’t get anywhere.”

I introduced EFT to Sue and we did a round with “Even though my sister’s voice makes me boil…” As we finished tapping I paused and said to Sue “take a nice breath and notice what comes to you.” Sue relaxed slightly and said, “She’s been a tax officer too long my sister, she’s too used to telling people what to do, she probably doesn’t know how to be gentle. If I wasn’t so hurt I’d feel sorry for her.” Sue’s perception of her sister had changed and her 0-10 intensity had come down to a 7 of hurt from off-the-scale anger.

So we did another round with “Even though it hurts when my sister uses her put-down tax-office voice…” and again I asked her to take a breath and notice what comes. Sue now looked much calmer and sat back in her chair. She told me that when she was 11 and her sister 16, their mother had died and their father slid into deep depression. Sue’s sister had taken on the running of the household even though her four younger siblings had not made that an easy job.

We tapped on several specific events of the time, of feeling scared, feeling humiliated and feeling guilty and after each round I paused and gave Sue an opening to voice her thoughts and feelings. Watching and listening to her it was clear that her perception of her sister was changing. From a narrow focus of “she’s a prime bitch” Sue was opening up to a bigger picture, understanding how it was for her sister when their mother died, quite spontaneously she said: “Poor lost thing, I feel like I want to give her a hug.”

As Sue’s emotions shifted from anger to hurt to nervousness to guilt and finally to warmth so did the way she talked about her sister. The words she used changed; the things she noticed and remembered came with more detail, her whole perception of this woman she had known all her life was no longer narrowly focused.

Sue returned the following week: She and her sister had been on the phone for an hour long call during which they had both laughed and cried. Sue had found it surprisingly easy to respond to her sister’s natural bossiness with humor and they were now working together to find a place for their father.

The Magic Lies Between the Notes

An old blues man from Mississippi once told me “it’s not the notes, lady, anyone can play the notes, it’s the spaces between them – that’s the blues.”

Throughout the session with Sue I simply chose the most emotionally loaded phrases as she spoke and applied EFT. Then I gave Sue the space to become aware of her shifting feelings and to express them. Sue needed little encouragement from me: she was aware of her thoughts and feelings, open and articulate and able to give voice to them.

Not all clients are like this. For some feelings are too scary and thoughts are something they keep to themselves. It can be tempting then to tell the person what we think, or to steer them towards what they should think. But that would be like the guide dog steering the blind man towards the butcher’s shop.

As an EFT therapist we can be confident that EFT will do its job and that the results will happen within the person. If we choose well their specific words that tune the emotion then as we tap we can have confidence that the emotion will shift. So it’s part of our guide-dogging job to help the client find the words and then to help them become aware of their changes in perception. (These changes in perception are the person’s own and it is not up to us to supply them.)

To do this we need to be keeping their attention with their present inner experience by asking open and vague questions followed by a good long pause.

Questions like:

And you can simply notice what comes to you now.
And what do you know about that now?
And what are you experiencing about that now?
And how can you feel differently about X now?
If that were to happen again what can you do now that you couldn’t do before?

Like the blues man said the magic lies between the notes. So after asking something open and vague give a good long pause, longer than may seem polite, chances are your client will fill it as they, like me, see the kitten under the car.

The client’s name has been changed to insure privacy.

Stuart came to me recently because he was feeling stuck. He wanted to get a new job and he was procrastinating. We started with some generic statements:

Even though I feel really stuck, I accept how I feel
Even though I’m not sure why I’m stuck, I accept myself anyway
Even though I’m procrastinating, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway

Stuart felt a little more relaxed and I proceeded by asking him the following questions:

Why do you feel stuck?

What is stopping you from going for it?

Has there been a similar situation in the past where you’ve felt the same?

We tapped on:

Even though I’m scared to move forward, I deeply and completely accept myself
Even though I’m anxious about changing my job, I’m open to the possibility it won’t be as difficult as I think it will
Even though every job I look at, I think I’m not good enough, I accept myself and my feelings

With further tapping we revealed all of his fears: Fear that he wouldn’t be good enough. Fear of the unknown – would his new job be better or would it be worse? Fear of letting go of the known, fear of whether he would enjoy a new job.

Fear is a major reason for keeping us stuck. Most of the time though, the fear is worse than actually doing it! EFT can really help us eliminate our fears. We continued with:

Even though I’m scared of changing my job, I accept how I feel about this
Even though I’m full of fear about changing jobs and I just can’t move forward, I accept all of my feelings
Even though I feel stuck and I’m too scared to take any action, I feel safer just staying where I am, I accept all of me anyway

Eyebrow: I’m stuck and I’m scared
Side of Eye: I’m full of fear
Under Eye: It’s just too scary to take action
Under Nose: I want to change jobs but I’m too scared
Chin: I hate feeling this fear
Collarbone: I can’t stop feeling this fear
Under Arm: I don’t want to feel scared
Top of Head: I wish I could let this fear go and take some action

Eyebrow: I’m procrastinating because I’m scared
Side of Eye: I’m afraid and I’m stuck
Under Eye: Changing jobs is too scary
Under Nose: I can’t change jobs because I’m afraid
Chin: I don’t want to make mistakes
Collarbone: I’ll embarrass myself if I try
Under Arm: I’m scared and I won’t do it right
Top of Head: I wish I could stop procrastinating

We tapped on all of Stuart’s fears until they were gone. We did some positive rounds to help the shift to a more positive outlook:

I’m open to the possibility it will be easier than I think
What if I just tried
Maybe it won’t be so difficult
Maybe I can start with small steps
What if it was easy
Maybe I can do it
What if I enjoyed getting a new job
I can do it

We focused on his feelings of not being good enough. We tapped through four rounds on this before it was down to zero. Stuart then tuned in the objections that were coming up for him. He said that he felt he wouldn’t have the freedom he has now and he was worried about the impact his new job would have on his family. There was disappointment about losing his freedom. We tapped on this disappointment and it cleared in two rounds. The worry about the impact of his new job would have on his family just went without us tapping on it directly. Stuart felt a big shift was happening at this point. He could feel “dust and cobwebs” being cleared in his brain! We stopped tapping for awhile and drank some water whilst Stuart integrated these changes.

Stuart had been playing a movie in his mind of being in an interview and it going really badly, with the interviewers saying, “Why are you even here – You don’t have the right skills.” It was time to check in on this movie. I had him close his eyes and really try to recreate this movie. He could not recreate this movie – instead he imagined the interview going really and actually enjoying it. Then he imagined the call to say he’d got the job and how much his life had changed for the better when he started his new job.

At the end of the session, Stuart was feeling calm and excited about the possibility of changing jobs. What a turn around!

Louise Woods assists her clients from her private practice in Exeter, United Kingdom. Visit Louise on her website: www.freeflowingenergy.co.uk

Click here to read Scleroderma: EFT Offers Relief and a Sense of Empowerment – Part 1

My “scleroderma client” visited me here in the States for a two week one-on-one healing clinic – very intensive ongoing therapy where we met daily for a 5 hour session.

In our work I used some hypnosis with lots of EFT, also journaling and some Art Therapy. My client, because of his physical limitations, got tired easily with tapping, so hypnosis brought about quick changes in how he felt physically. Visualizations and healing imagery offered through hypnosis are great motivators.

There were some difficult moments during those intense 2 weeks:

• Doing 4 hours of one-on-one therapy daily with a physically restricted client, I had to find ways to make tapping possible physically.
• I also had to find ways to keep myself going on in “turbo” and not miss a thing.
• I had to “catch” my client when he was having an emotional breakdown, suddenly telling me “You can’t do anything anyway, nobody can help me, this therapy won’t change a thing” – and luckily I succeeded.

The following tapping phrases really saved the day. Whenever he felt stuck or tired, we did them; always with the result that his mood changed completely and he felt much better, emotionally and physically:

Even though I am completely healthy …. I can accept myself
Even though life is wonderful and complete …. I profoundly accept myself
Even though I have everything I ever wanted in my life …. I do accept myself the way I am…

… I am moving around comfortably … feeling at my very best …. never felt better in my life …. life is really good …. couldn’t be better for me ….nice hands … there is nothing I can’t do for myself ….. the sky is the limit! ….. I feel very strong …. I am extremely capable …. and I am well!

The day he left for the airport, he told me he felt “profoundly” convinced that he is going to get better; There were no doubts in his mind. The improvements in his physical symptoms were:

• The skin on his claw-like fingers seemed to become more flexible and elastic.
• The hardening of his esophagus and the resulting pain have gone completely.
• He has cut his daily meds to very low doses, two of them he only takes when needed for pain.

Overall the pain has decreased to mostly 1; his discomfort stayed there for most of the time. In rare cases it briefly went up to 4 or 5 level when emotionally or physically triggered; either by physical activities or and in the very first days, by outbreaks of depression.

We are now waiting for medical tests to be done. It was a precious experience. It’s amazing how much you can achieve when you see the client every day.

Final Follow-up: Stopping EFT and the Return of Physical Problems

I had not heard from my client for several months after he had been in Colorado Springs for two weeks of one-on-one therapy and went back to Germany in late August. He told me then he was “done” with therapy, including “all the tapping and advice” and would be fine on his own. After that he never responded to my e-mails until recently when I received a letter from him.

This man is now back to serious physical health conditions, things have gone back to where they were when we started his therapy. As soon as he was on the plane back to Germany his pain level, which had been consistently low for months, shot up into extreme heights and he was forced to again take his strong pain medications. Back home he had blood work done which showed high inflammation counts.

I am writing this report because this is a classical “secondary gain” case; it contains important facts that may give valuable and much needed information to other therapists, while dealing with clients with serious diseases. You can read all related details of his therapy in my earlier articles about Scleroderma including several follow-ups.

My client’s mental condition however has become and still is absolutely great.

In his letter he thanks me for the COMPLETE emotional well-being he is enjoying. He describes himself as emotionally balanced, always in a good mood now. He talks about “looking forward into the future optimistically.” He sold his business and enjoys financial independence. He plans on spending the cold months of the year in a warm climate, reading and doing many enjoyable things he was not able to do before while he was tied up in his business.

It is important to take a look at this client’s background to better understand the changes in this case:

He is a 41-year old male, divorced, lives alone, describes his family of origin (two brothers) as good. Had his own thriving stone-masonry business, employed several people. Over-achiever, no way to communicate feelings besides anger and rage, which he was feared for. Never felt good enough, constantly pushed himself further to achieve more. Sometimes aggressive expressions and behavior, analytical, critical thinking, difficult to communicate with during therapy, frugal with words and empathy for others.

He does not express himself willingly: “I’m not used to talking about my problems.” Trust has always been an issue, needing to constantly protect himself from “exploitation” by others, not easily convinced about anything. Has lived his life, always feeling he could never have what he really wanted!

One-on-one therapy with him turned out to be real hard work for me, mostly because of the unpredictability of the case development. Each day was different. Some days he refused to even look at the possibility that he could be well again or at least much better than he was.

His “skeptic”— his extremely critical part — was all over his dreams, the pictures he drew and made him refuse tapping. The “skeptic” insisted that “no human being can get out of my illness, it’s impossible, and no tapping will change that.” On other days my client was in a more receptive mood, he seemed to enjoy what we did and even had a peaceful way about him. Because he often was exhausted already in the morning, I used hypnosis many times to help him regain motivation and physical strength.

Looking back I have realized this type of therapy made it possible for him to finally find his inner voice, his core, that led him to understand deep down inside what he really, really needed. Coming back out of his increasingly deeper trances, he slowly started to be a different person, a more warm, caring and patient individual.

Obviously he came to understand and accept that his illness would make it possible for him to live in a different way than he demanded before. It may even have felt like the “door to a new kind of freedom” for him, including changes that would not have been accepted in his culture or by his family, if he would have regained his health. Those changes could have been to let go of his business, the work that he had invested so much energy into, just to have “an easy life without the hard work”.

By watching him becoming a more gentle, peaceful person, becoming more confident with his body and his outlook on life, I can still remember feeling that things changed into unknown territory during those last few days we spent together. He couldn’t wait to get back home, he obviously had found what he’d been looking for.

I am happy for him, reading that for the first time he likes his life and he enjoys doing what he chooses that he wants to do. It took me a while though; I had to battle my own demons that were telling me I had not done good enough work, not showed him more or better alternatives for dealing with his illness, not done who knows what. I had to do some tapping on myself. It was helpful to hear from my client’s father. His dad told me (I also had phone sessions with him), he has never seen his son as “alive and well” emotionally as now! He points out how my client has changed his attitude, how calmly he his making his decisions now. “There is a deep calm about my son that was never there before!”

This helped me understand that I did exactly what a good therapist has to do: to facilitate healing and empowerment, so that the client is able to make his own decision.

Love and lots of encouragement to all who have decided to work with seriously ill clients.

Baerbel Froehlin serves her clients from her private practice in Boulder, Colorado. She specializes in Acute Crisis Management.

Editors Note: This article is Part 3 in a series, sharing how persistent and systematic EFT can help heal the physical and emotional effects of war trauma. For a deeper understanding of the history of Cynthia’s work with Anna-Lena, you may wish to begin by reading Part 2: Anna-Lena and The Knife Attack and Part 1: Anna-Lena and These Russian Tanks in My Neck.

Session 3

Anna-Lena reported that the previous sessions were definitely positive for her. Her moral is better (less pessimistic), but the last few days she had begun having big problems with pain in the neck moving upwards to the back of the head, getting worse under stress and feeling, “like swords lancing into my head.” She feels unstable, a kind of a staggering feeling. She was also having some problems with her vision and hearing.

When I asked for the symptoms, she brought up that she had a terrible accident with her electric bicycle about 2 years before, flying over her bicycle and landing in a ditch with her head first. It turned out that a barrier tape had been removed by whomever, so the ditch could not be seen. She lay in intensive care unconsciously for two days. They told her that her brain had been injured, and afterwards she needed to have rehabilitation measures. Anna-Lena reported that her condition had improved somewhat since, but sometimes she still had problems and discomforts which she would attribute to the accident. She stated: “It is as though the shock (of the Knife Attack) brings this all up again.“

I preframed with her that it is very likely that her body shows up a new item which it wants her to deal with, and that all these experiences (Knife Attack, Tanks from Behind, this accident) have been stuck in her neck and head area. In fact, all the symptoms she related to in the beginning of this current session could be connected to this accident. I pointed out that addressing and releasing all aspects of the accident will very likely be critical for relieving the described symptoms.

I also pointed out that we still wanted to check whether there were “loose ends“ of the “Russian Tanks“ or the “Knife Attack.” She wanted to test imagining taking the subway or returning to that same subway station in the future.

I then checked the list of known symptoms from the previous sessions and it turned out that her sleeping quality had greatly improved: While she had woken up 3-4 times at night before our first session – having nightmares, being cramped and stiff – this was only happening once a night now. She also reported that when she did wake up, she would find herself pressing her head into the pillow, being stiff in particular on the left side. She stated her sleeping quality was 9 out of 10 now (very good). She also had discontinued sleeping pills.

This shows how important it is to test back regularly and ask frequently for previously reported symptoms.

An Unplanned Test

She describes how she happened to see some Russian tanks on TV. Her spontaneous reaction was to turn it off. She did have an intensity level of 3-4. I remember that her intensity was down to 0 at the end of the second session. This tells me that there must be something else in the past she wants to protect herself from – another aspect – which we can address when the time is right.

Physical Symptoms

Shoulder pain: 5
Neck pain: 8
Back of the head: 9, round spot, size of palm of her hand; currently no lancing pain but pressure, color: brown, connected feeling: danger.

The Session Unfolds

Starting with the Setup phrase and speaking of “this brown danger“ I started seeing little brown figures before my inner eyes – in uniforms associated with Nazis. Following my intuition, I mentioned this in a humorous way like: “Isn’t that funny? I see little brown uniformed figures before my inner eye and think about Nazis. Can you imagine?“

Continuing to let her in on my intuition, I began speaking and tapping:

This brown danger…all these old memories in my muscles and cells…

Within seconds Anna-Lena burst out into tears and we tap, tap, tapped… After a while I asked her what had come up, and she came out with the story about when her father was forcibly torn out of the house by the Nazis early one morning without any previous warning. She remembered him resisting vividly but having no chance. They forced him to work as a medic in military hospitals. Her father was a man of peace and a doctor, and did not want to join the war. This particular incident happened when she was a very little child (3-4 years old). She didn’t remember every detail of the situation, but she watched when the Nazis came to take him. The pain of this early loss burst out again and again, and it took some time to deal with the intense feelings. She began crying and sobbing desperately, all the feelings of this little child being fully present:

“Vati (synonym for Daddy)… I need you so much!… all this pain… Vati!!… all this helplessness… all these feelings… Vati!!… all this pain…“

Anna-Lena also reported that there had been a constant atmosphere of fear at home. They listened to BBC regularly and had to be very careful. They were in constant fear of being trapped or denounced.

Soon we addressed several aspects which were connected to this event:

I am responsible for the family… for my mother… for my little sister… I couldn’t do a thing about it… I am safe now… and my little Anna-Lena too… I don’t have to be responsible any more… I’m safe now… no more Nazis… my poor Vati… my poor Vati… he didn’t want to go there… I choose to know, that he didn’t want to leave me alone… that he didn’t want to leave my mother and my little sister alone… that he was with us always… in his thoughts… with all his good wishes… with all his love… always with us…

Even though Vati was challenged by his fate… I choose to know that all he achieved was passed down to me… his spirit of freedom and respect… and love for mankind… and I choose to know… that he did his best at the places he was placed… to keep up and live… this spirit… and that he did his best… to help men… because this is… what a good doctor does…

This overwhelming sadness… this endless sadness… (at least 3 rounds)… I take my little Anna-Lena into my arms and comfort her… and cradle her… yes… that’s what you needed then… my little Anna-Lena… no wonder you were sad… I understand this so clearly… me, the adult Anna-Lena… and I take my hat off to you… for all the power you found as a little girl…

Anna-Lena reports that she could always find this power and that others confirm how powerful she always has been in spite of everything that has happened… Working through the aspects, the charge on helplessness sank from 7 to 3, and sadness went to a 0. And then Anna-Lena said:

“A feeling of thankfulness and inner peace prevails… the inner connection remains… like a sun, which shines above all… inner power.“

She stated that her inner power had risen from 8 to 10 and added: “I receive it now. I welcome it with open arms.“

Then she reported that during the process of tapping, the back of her head started to get a bit warm and a feeling extended “as if a mountain would crumble… and permanently trickling like water pearls…“

We continued working with the crumbling and brought the former 9 (pressure on the back of the head) down to a 2, due to my persistent, “Let’s give this another try!“ But time was at end, and Anna-Lena wanted a break in spite of the remaining pressure. So I finished with a tapping phrase around being open to all the remaining pearls trickling downwards and releasing the pressure in the back of her head, and we finished for this session.

“What we’ve done today was critical,“ Anna-Lena stated when she left. “I feel deeply thankful to my father and have a stronger connection to my inner power.“

Feedback 3 weeks Later:

Anna-Lena reports that she had a 1-week-period of feeling deeply tired and exhausted after the last session: “I’ve never been so tired in my life before…” She even had someone come cook for her.

I said that it’s obvious that a lot of tensions have dissolved, and by this has made room for a huge relaxation. After releasing tension that had been going on for so long, no wonder the body needed to reorganize.

Head condition is now “definitely better.” She reported that after the tiredness had disappeared the lancing pain on the back of her head had also disappeared and since then never come back. Neck discomfort has reduced – but pain still comes back, especially in the evenings when she gets tired – a result of arthrosis (as her doctors told her) due to the bicycle accident.

Seeing and listening qualities have gradually improved since then. While staggering hasn’t improved, she explained that this may be due to possible heart valve problem.

First she claims that her sleeping quality was fairly the same but after asking it turns out that she has no more nightmares at all, only wakes up once at night to go to the bathroom and has no more tensions in her neck and no more head pressing backwards into the pillow.

More Aspects

She also reports that from time to time pictures are coming up which have to do with danger from the behind, “but the fear is not that big anymore.“ It then turns out that she has found another aspect belonging to the Knife Attack: “The moment I hear the click of the knife opening on my left ear…” We had addressed her attackers voice speaking to her already before but this detail was not in her awareness then. And there still is a more global feeling of “this moment you realize that somebody is after you.” She also states that this feeling doesn’t belong to the Knife Attack but to some older incident(s).

I point out that I suspect further progress is possible for her, especially by addressing her bicycle accident, along with any remaining aspects of the Knife Attack incident.

At the moment Anna-Lena doesn’t want “another period of tiredness to recur“ so she will wait for another session to address the remaining aspects. She also made good progress using EFT on her own.

I asked Anna-Lena to read through my report and to give her own opinion on her experiences with EFT, she sent to me her “final evaluation“ some weeks later:

Final Evaluation

“After having practiced the Emotional Freedom Technique for some time, I can truly say that it is a very effective technique. During my life I have been in therapy for longer periods several times. Therefore I feel that this very positive judgment is not given lightly. In a relatively short time my mood and feelings changed. Every time I practiced this technique my experience was that it helped a lot and gave me more and more confidence and motivation.

What I particularly like about this technique is that I can practice it whenever I want and wherever I want on practically every issue. Once you have learned the acupuncture trigger points you are no longer therapist-dependent. I appreciate this independence a lot. I am grateful Mrs. Doll was recommended to me. She guided me through the procedures with admirable intuition and attention.

I am very, very grateful to her and to Gary Craig who so generously put it out into the world. Anna-Lena, Netherlands“

Cynthia Doll specializes in EFT for trauma from her private practice in Maintal (near Frankfurt), Germany.