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Deepak Chopra, MD
"EFT offers great healing benefits."
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques®) Where emotional relief brings physical health
Self help method often works where nothing else will No Drugs Involved ~ High Success Rate
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EFT tapping for trauma brings unexpected benefits
Note: This article assumes you have a working knowledge of EFT. Newcomers can still learn from it but are advised to get our Free EFT Get Started Package or our Affordable DVDs for a more complete understanding. For more, read our EFT Info and Disclaimer Document
Hi Everyone,
David Lake MD, from Australia shows us how quality EFT sessions can bring about extra benefits, many of which are both subtle and life changing.
Hugs, Gary
When treating trauma and its effects with EFT, there can often be unexpected and multilevel benefits. One reason for this may be due to the sheer amount of meridian stimulation involved in treating a major traumatic event, where the person receives a concentrated dose of tapping. It is very common to find that a client being treated for a major trauma experiences relief from not only the anxieties and phobias associated with the traumatic event itself, but also that other pre-existing fears and phobias can also be positively affected – sometimes permanently. The following examples, one personal and one with a client, demonstrate this process.
A man was due for open-heart surgery, but terrified of the prospect of the operation and also of dying. He had turned into an invalid due to “cardiac” fear, confining himself to his home, and scarcely moving. When I saw him professionally he was very anxious indeed. One session of traditional EFT introduced him to the benefit of regular relaxation and in that session he lost his excessive fear of having surgery. Note that some fear remained because it was realistic to experience dread even though this kind of operation is now considered to be a routine surgical procedure. In the second session he reported that he had regained his self-confidence and was now out and about, and looking forward to getting the operation over with.
What I didn’t realize then was that part of his overall issue was a lifelong phobia of seeing blood and having injections and venous procedures. He was planning to bring this up in the next session, but before he could, he stopped to assist at a car accident on his way home. The injured victim was bleeding profusely and my client helped him apply a tourniquet and to get into an ambulance. The client went home covered in blood and didn’t realize it until his wife saw his clothes and screamed in dismay. Then he realized that his “fear of blood” was not with him for some reason!
The next week his exploratory surgical investigation, where the doctor insets a cannula (a slender tube) into the vein in the groin, went wrong initially - and the blood spurt hit the ceiling. (Start tapping now if you have a similar phobia). His reaction was, “Have another go, I think you missed…” There was no fear or worry, only bemusement. The surgery happened the following week and went smoothly. He needed little post-operative pain relief.
This was such a radical shift for him that he was far more impressed with the emotional results for his phobia than for the fear of surgery. His fear of death disappeared without ever being formally addressed. His rehabilitation went very well and he told everyone that wanted to hear that he was now much better than ever.
It’s quite common to have hidden benefits like this. Sometimes they only become apparent later, after the tapping has been forgotten. It is the rule with severe trauma that the sufferer is not really “living” life to the full, but just existing. The moment for a return to life comes with a healing intervention that interrupts the toxic traumatic pattern forever. Even smaller traumas, the kind we experience in daily life, the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”, respond strongly, in a positive way, to tapping.
Once I was driving along a country road when a driver coming the other way veered across into my lane while she was distracted by playing with something on the dashboard; at the very last minute she corrected her mistake - and went back to the correct side. “Nothing happened” but I felt like I had run a mile in 3 minutes and still had adrenaline surging through my body in waves of panic! I pulled over and tapped on the EFT points randomly and continually, until I was calm, then kept driving. A nice little example of tapping to the rescue.
But here is the strange thing - I forgot all about this incident. I didn’t think about it in the day and forgot to mention it to my wife that night. I only recalled it later, accidentally. “Normally” I would ruminate about this trauma for a long time. I suppose I had better things to do, like living in the moment and enjoying the day.
These kind of responses after tapping are as if part of our true self is revealed, after being burdened by fears and worries. We do “let the trauma go” without knowing consciously exactly what that means. We then emerge with a renewed sense of confidence, and much more self-acceptance. Is there another healing approach that can offer so many benefits, as self-help, and so simply, at the one time?
David Lake, MD
