Symptoms quickly fade for a child with a Bi-Polar Diagnosis

By Mary E. Stafford, M.Ed., EFT Master

Sometimes using EFT for complex issues takes multiple sessions to get to all the core issues.  But sometimes what appears as a complex issue resolves quickly.   I had an interesting case involving six year old Susie who had been diagnosed as bipolar.  Her mother was sad at the thought her daughter would have to be on medication the rest of her life and so she brought Susie in to see if I could help with an EFT session.  Not all children are as open, as cooperative, or as articulate as Susie; I was in for a treat.

Susie sat on her mother’s lap while I talked. I asked what was really upsetting her and she said she had trouble sleeping because, at night, she had scary dreams of ghosts coming to get her.  Her mother agreed that she had a lot of trouble sleeping because of her fear of ghosts. 

I explained a simple rating system.  With my hands far apart, as though I were telling a ‘fish story’, I told her this meant maximum fear.  With my hands together, I told her this represented no fear.  She responded by stretched her hands as far apart as they would go.  While she sat on her mother’s lap, I asked her to close her eyes and see the ghosts and feel the fear as I tapped on her hands, face and body.  After finishing tapping, Susie indicated that her fear was gone by putting her hands together.

I asked what else was upsetting to her.  Susie said she could not go to a ‘sleep over’ like her older sister could.  Her mother explained the two had been adopted when she was three and her sister was five.  Now, her sister is eight and is able to go spend the night with a girl friend, but Susie is afraid to be away from her mother.  When I asked how afraid she was, Susie spread her hands maximum apart.  I asked her to close her eyes and focus on her fear of leaving her mom to go to a friend’s ‘sleepover’.  I tapped on her hands, face and body, and then asked about her fear.  Susie put her hands together to indicate no fear. 

When I asked what else was upsetting her Susie said she had expected she was going to have a Daddy -- and was at the point of tears as she said it.  Her mom explained she had been dating a man who also had two daughters.  Both families went on a vacation together.  Unfortunately, after that, she broke up with the man.  Her daughter thought they were going to marry and she would have a Daddy.  I began tapping on Susie while she talked about how much she wanted a Daddy.  When I finished a couple of rounds of tapping, I asked her how upset she was.  She put her hands together.

I asked Susie if there was anything else about which she was upset.  She smiled, said, ‘no’, and asked for a piece of paper and a pencil.  She got off her mom’s lap and sat down at a table with the paper and pencil.  I thought Susie was going to draw a picture.

Her mother told me she had also been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, (ADD) and asked if I could help with that.  I had just been reading about the importance of B-vitamins, calcium and magnesium and use of omega-3 fatty acids for ADD and depression in children so I shared that information with the mother.  In addition, I suggested she ask her daughter how she felt about her teacher and the other students in her class.  My thought was that if she had anger, fear, embarrassment, etc., about the class and the teacher, then these feelings could affect the behavior that contributes to a diagnosis of ADD.  I suggested that the mother could tap with Susie on any negative feeling about any aspect of school.

Susie got up from the desk and showed her mother a letter, written to me.  Susie wrote: “Dear Mary, could I come over to your house tonight for a ‘sleep-over?”  Her mother said, “No”.  The little girl wrote, “Answer -- No”, below her question.  She had perfect printing and spelling.  I had never seen a six-year-old write so well.  I asked her mother if perhaps Susie was bored in her class.  Had she considered evaluating her daughter’s need to be in a more challenging class?

 Then Susie showed me another letter.  It said, “Dear Mary, Could you come over to my house tomorrow afternoon in case I have a problem?”  I told her she would not need me because she and her mother would be able to tap whenever there was a problem.  We talked about the importance of getting into the habit of tapping at bedtime on any distressing issue of the day.  Susie agreed to tap with her mother at bedtime and any other time she was upset.  Susie and her mother left the session smiling. 

A month later, Susie’s mother called.  She said that after our session she had stopped giving her daughter the bipolar medication, prescribed by her psychiatrist because the symptoms had vanished.  [Note: I never suggest that anyone go off medication prescribed by their physician.] This Bi-Polar diagnosis was so easily eliminated that it makes me wonder whether (1) she was mis-diagnosed or (2) she was simply easy to treat because of her young age.

Susie’s mother had been tapping with her daughter daily and Susie was doing well.  She reported to me that she just came back from a visit with the psychiatrist who had told her the same things I had about ADD.   When the psychiatrist wanted give her meds for ADD.  Her mother asked, “Isn’t there another way to treat it -- other than meds?”  The psychiatrist replied: “Well, you could make sure she is getting enough B-vitamins, calcium and magnesium.  You could give her omega-3 fatty acids.  You could put her in a more challenging classroom.  You could try Meridian Therapy!”  [Note: Meridian Therapy is a generic term for energy therapies like EFT]

I had to smile. 

Someday, EFT will be well researched and doctors will try EFT first -- before meds.  Won’t that be wonderful? 

Mary E. Stafford, M.Ed., EFT Master