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Trauma When a School Prank Goes Awry

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It’s Not “Talk” Therapy

—By Nora J. Baladerian, PhD

As the 17-year-old boy flopped into a chair in my office, I knew right away TFT was the right therapy to help him. A victim of violence by his day-program worker, he is an African-American boy, quiet, very engaging and cute!

He was also born with Downs Syndrome and Autism.

He lives with both of his parents and a younger sister in Los Angeles. To communicate, he uses sign language and a communication board to spell out, letter by letter, any words he wants to say—as his verbal output does not always match what he intends to say.  He also uses sign language (finger spelling) and some American Sign Language.

Because of the moderate level of mental retardation that he has, I knew “typical” talk therapy would not work to help him recover from his trauma. In fact, talk therapy is never used in my practice with individuals with cognitive impairments to begin with. But I have found that TFT can have a quick and significant effect.

At our second session I introduced TFT in action, having “prepared” the parents for the unusual, yet non-verbal, approach I planned. This teenager needed quite a bit of modeling, assistance from his father, and encouragement to participate in the tapping, but he definitely did not want to be the only person in the room not tapping!

I asked the father to first do the tapping completely while focusing on the trauma, and then “pass” the treatment to the boy by touching him after the first treatment.

After just one sequence, the teen was able to do it on his own.

After the 3rd tapping treatment—actually, just before ending the final sequence—he began yawning, then giggling.  I knew then that he was feeling better.

Just to check his progress in releasing the trauma, I asked him to think again about the traumatic event, and he shook his head and giggled.  He was done.

At the conclusion of the session, as I was escorting them all back to the exit, he turned, firmly grabbed and shook my hand, and said, “Good job!”

His parents looked at me, amazed! He had never done that before!  Although they often tell him, “good job” when he has done something well, they had never seen him use this term, especially with appropriateness of the comment!

Since that time, whenever we are in session and he feels he needs help, he begins tapping on the eyebrow point, and away we go.  When he starts to yawn, I know we are done.

He has not asked to tell me what is bothering him, first of all because I do not need to know—and secondly, because using words in this way was difficult and tedious for him.

His parents were excited about his improvement, and have learned much about TFT and its application for their own trauma and anger around his traumatic event. Of course, I was completely thrilled with the effect of TFT, and with the joyousness of his spirit.

Excerpted from Callahan Techniques’ latest book, The Tapping
Solution: Tapping the Body’s Energy Pathways

New Rwandan TFT Trainers with Dr. Roger Callahan--Sept 2011, Hawaii

Our Dreams Become a Reality: TFT Healing Comes Full Circle

by Joanne Callahan, MBA

In 2006 and 2007 when the ATFT Foundation first began its missions to help heal the genocide survivors in Rwanda, we had no idea how great an impact TFT could have on this beautiful country. Our first team treated nearly 400 orphans at the El Shaddai orphanage, with wonderful results (PTSD study published 2010 International Journal of Emergency Mental Health).

The Foundation team went back in 2008 and 2009 to train the local community leaders to be able to use TFT to help their own country men and women. Much healing occurred and many were trained in TFT. The PTSD studies that were done had excellent results (2008 study accepted for publication and 2009 study soon to be submitted).

Entire communities were changing from sad, hopeless people, to productive and hopeful communities. The Foundation model for large scale trauma relief had succeeded both in the studies and follow-ups–and particularly in the real life experience of the Rwandan people.

Our desire to expand the reach of this healing even more led to the ATFT Foundation bringing four Rwandan TFT trainees to Hawaii to be trained to become TFT trainers back home in Rwanda. Our hope was that their ability to conduct trainings themselves would enable TFT healing to spread to surrounding communities–and even surrounding African countries.

The ATFT Foundation flew four of the Rwandan leaders, two from Byumba, Rwanda, and two from Kigali, Rwanda, to Hawaii where they spent the month of September, 2011, teaching TFT and supervising  staff at pro-bono Hawaiian clinics, treating underprivileged local people and perfecting their skills. Both the Hawaiian people and the Rwandans benefitted tremendously.

And now we see the dream of sharing TFT coming full circle. The Rwandan trainees from Byumba have already been asked to train a team in the Congo.

They have met with and provided support for 60 of the TFT trained therapists in their region and shared their Hawaiian experience with them. With the help of the ATFT Foundation, their sister Rwandan charitable organization, the IZERE Center, is treating up to 35 people per day and has already helped nearly 2000 people this year.

One of the Rwandan leaders and trainers from Kigali is the Director of the Rwandan Orphan Project (new name for El Shaddai Orphanage), and he is also expanding the reach of TFT. We just heard from him that he is training eight Counselors and Social Workers to help the disabled and retired military. He will then supervise and assist them as they treat nearly 80 wheelchair bound ex-military.

It is truly a blessing to see and hear about these hard working young leaders sharing and expanding the healing of TFT in Africa. The ATFT Foundation, the IZERE Center and the Rwandan Orphan Project need your help to continue this wonderful healing and teaching process.

Please go to www.ATFTFoundation.org  to donate to the furthering of this model of trauma relief, to www.IZEREByumba.com to help the IZERE support their TFT treatment programs, and to www.RwandanOrphansProject.org to help with their work in the community in TFT training and treatment.

The Beat of a Different Drum

—By Guy Marriott

Another volley of gunfire drifted up from the valley as I stared at the battered map and mentally logged the tracks and wadis that were still passable in our four-wheel drive vehicles. I was hoping for an easy answer as to which route might offer a rapid and safe evacuation corridor if the fighting got out of hand.

I gazed at the sun tracing its final descent through troubled skies, momentarily transfixed. And once again I found myself considering how much violence the 30-odd people in my care could or even should endure before I would call ‘time’ and override their desire to stay and help the fifty thousand people that had made it to the refugee camp to the east of us.

There are so many things that you need to consider in a hostile environment: Everything from the skills and abilities of yourself and the people around you to the strategic decisions of rebel leaders.

I often say that working in hostile environments is a lot like white-water rafting…

• You need to be good at reading the water upstream—understanding what kind of rapids you may face and how you’re going to deal with the flow.
• You need to be good at paddling in the white water—when you hit them, hostile environments become highly dynamic.
• You need to be good at making the most of your downstream time—after you’ve paddled the rapids, understanding what you did well and what you need to do better next time.
• And finally, you need to be good at thinking outside the box—to see other options and other possibilities, perhaps getting out of the water and hauling your raft safely past unnecessary risks.

Many of the skills that enable people to operate safely in hostile environments come from the military. Many skills—sadly less often taught—help us understand two-legged mammals.

Operators in this field are often naturally good at sensing their opponent’s intention and understanding the software that drives human beings. They may be good at reading people’s eyes, or hearing beyond the words that are spoken, or feeling and perceiving things that are somehow there, yet remain invisible.

All situations are invariably different in hostile places and sadly there is often no single ‘right answer.’ What works safely in one country might be dangerous in another.

I’m lucky enough to have traveled pretty extensively throughout the world and have seen many things that I long to see again—and many things that I never want to see again.

I now divide my time between operating in hostile places and teaching those skills to others. The people I train come from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), government agencies and corporations. The skills we teach include things that you’d expect—like Anti-Ambush Drills, Mine Awareness, Checkpoint Procedures and Surveillance.

Many people are surprised to learn that TFT has a place within our core skills modules. Yes, we really do show TFT to big, rough, soldier-type people! And most, I’m happy to say, really appreciate it—mainly because TFT is highly effective and works for them.

My company, Ground Truth Consulting, runs 5- to 10-day Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) programs. They are highly experiential and very realistic. We demonstrate the basic TFT trauma sequences for our participants—usually after we’ve let them experience the shock of capture and hostage-taking for themselves. We demonstrate the impact of trauma on people and we combine TFT with Critical Incident Debriefing techniques.

Many of our government clients were skeptical of TFT at first. However, because our training is realistic and often triggers memories of trauma, we know that the participants—particularly those who have already been through the classic hostile-environment cocktail of fear and trauma on a previous assignment or mission—will actually experience TFT working on their own trauma and get tremendous benefit from it.

I often see post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms being masked by people working in hostile environments—masked by nicotine, caffeine and alcohol. Even in safe training environments, we know that some people will re-experience trauma and stress-induced responses when they undergo realistic training.

All of our training team are qualified medics and—having seen TFT used over the years (even with the most skeptical ex-military types)—they all understand that knowing the TFT tapping sequence for trauma is as essential as carrying a ballistic trauma pack in places where the AK47 rifle is common!

I personally have used TFT all over the world to great effect, on every continent except Antarctica. It’s a fantastic tool because it is culturally mobile; it works beyond language—an enormously limiting factor for interventions which use cognitive psychological techniques.

Whether I have used TFT post-earthquake, post-crossfire, post-bombardment or even due to something farther back in time and less obvious, TFT has been a tool that I’m incredibly grateful for.

The last time I used it in a training program was with someone who had been kidnapped from Darfur in Sudan only a month before. They had suffered through mental, physical and emotional violence including being forced to endure mock executions. Another person in the program had been kidnapped 13 years earlier. During both treatments, their SUDs came down to 1 and 2 respectively after just 5 minutes using TFT.

We intend to keep promoting TFT as one of the most valuable tools for teams and individuals working in hostile environments. As I write this, I am thinking about what to pack for my next trip, tomorrow night to Zimbabwe; another country on the brink of violent collapse. One thing that I am grateful for is that I will never forget to pack my working knowledge of TFT.

I’m constantly amazed at what it does and how well it works. Even under fire.

Excerpted from Callahan Techniques’ latest book, The Tapping
Solution: Tapping the Body’s Energy Pathways

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While visiting a friend’s farm recently, the farmer’s daughter shared with me the story of her 7-year-old mare, who was extremely fearful of people—and especially hostile to men. The horse had been mistreated by its previous male owner. By now, it needed veterinary treatment to trim its hooves—which were overgrown and causing the horse extreme discomfort.

Unfortunately, the local veterinarian is a man and couldn’t get near the horse, even to examine it.  Not wishing her mare to be sedated, the farmer’s daughter shared with me her dilemma.

Could TFT help calm this anxious horse, I wondered?

I explained briefly about TFT, then asked the daughter to stroke the horse’s forehead, and tap gently under its eye. I then asked her to tap behind the horses foreleg (as close to where I imagined the arm point would be), then tap the horse’s chest—as close to the collarbone as she could get.

Since it was impossible for me—a man—to get near the horse initially, I asked the daughter to tap out the algorithm instead.  As she tapped away to my instructions, I could see the horse calming down from a distance. I entered the field and slowly walked to the animal, repeating the algorithm where the daughter left off.

In just a few minutes, the mare was almost asleep.

I asked the farmer’s daughter to walk away and leave the field. By then, she was extremely surprised to find the horse calm, receptive and unaffected by her departure—particularly when the mare had not been bridled in any way, nor had I used any treats.

Later, as I walked about the field, the horse followed me, nudging me in the back—her fear of people (and men, in particular) completely resolved. Even another male visitor to the farm that afternoon couldn’t change the anxiety-free state of the mare.

Of course, the veterinarian was able to treat her hooves with ease.  But getting her to hum a tune while tapping was a different matter entirely!

—Brian Ewart as told to Ian Graham

Excerpted from Callahan Techniques’ latest book, The Tapping
Solution: Tapping the Body’s Energy Pathways

Excerpted from “The Thought Field”, Volume 18, Issue 5:

Dear Dr. Callahan and Joanne,

I wanted to take the time to thank both of you for giving myself and my family tapping sequences that helped us cope with the trauma and grief of surviving a horrific car accident.

Last summer we were hit “head on” by a drunk driver, the speed at impact was estimated at over 110 miles per hour. The drunk driver died on impact and although we all survived our injuries were extensive. My husband sustained a broken neck, broken lower spine, broken sternum and two broken feet. My 14 year old son fractured his leg and burst the main artery in the stomach lining. I sustained severe whiplash, broken sternum, “dented” stomach from seat belt, broken toes and foot.

Upon leaving the hospital and having necessary surgeries it was very difficult and anxiety provoking to get into a car. Because of the extent of our injuries we had to be taken to San Diego to be cared for by family.

I consulted with Dr. Callahan on October 12, 2010. He took turns asking each one of us different questions and then gave detailed instructions on tapping sequences. Each one of us were given a sequence to use for trauma/anxiety. In addition to this my son was given a sequence to ease the stress of the surgery he had undergone. My husband was given a sequence to clear side effects associated with the medicine he was taking. And I was given a sequence to gain confidence to drive again.

Just after performing the first tapping session we all noticed a more peaceful and calming state of mind. Within in 1 day I had enough confidence to get behind the wheel and run an errand. I was so happy I started to cry. Slowly but surely we all started to get our lives back on track and start the recovery process. We still go back to these sequences any time we have to make a stressful phone call or receive bad news.

I am happy to say that one year later we all doing well and thriving. My husband was able to go back to work in January, my son was able to start a fresh new school year and I am able to make long drives from the desert to San Diego by myself without experiencing severe anxiety.

We are grateful to the Callahan’s for their expertise and sincere concern for our health and healing process.

With sincere gratitude,

Mark, Mary and Tice Ledbetter La Quinta, California

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by Lisa Borg:

After experiencing tremendous trauma in my life, I eventually found myself suffering terrible panic attacks. By 1998, I couldn’t stand in line at the bank or the supermarket without feeling panic to the point of fainting. I’d panic at the thought of taking the train or bus—feeling trapped by the crush of all those people.

I rarely shared my pain with anyone, but one day, a hairdressing client of mine gave me a voucher for a psychologist who conducted TFT sessions over the phone. A note with the voucher said it would change my life. If only, I thought. If only that would come true!

I remember feeling strange sitting there on the phone and tapping on myself. I can’t bring up my inner feelings, I thought. Assuming briefly that it would never work, I finished my phone session and walked outside for some fresh air. How relaxed and at ease my body felt!

Two days later, I went to the bank—expecting that familiar feeling of dread. Amazed, I felt nothing but calm.

For six panic-free years, TFT changed my life.

But, for me, the trauma that originated my panic attacks came back in full force as I suffered a miscarriage and was diagnosed with cervical cancer during another pregnancy—eventually losing my dream of having more children. My father committed suicide. Then when my mother-in-law died tragically, I found myself nearing a breakdown and in yet another state of panic.

Since TFT had provided relief six years earlier, I telephoned my previous TFT practitioner and—again—TFT saved my life.

Even today, it continues to help me function. Unfortunately, I’ve been recently diagnosed with an extremely rare disorder, Mal de Debarquement—a balance disorder distinguished by a persistent sensation of motion, difficulty maintaining balance, extreme fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. Needless to say, the disorder comes with an extra measure of anxiety.

To cope, I practice the Panic/Anxiety sequence every day before work, and it’s because of TFT that I still manage to work.

Because of TFT, I’ve survived over the past year—even with this debilitating illness. My doctors and psychologist are interested in TFT, now that they’ve seen amazing results in me.

I know that if I didn’t have Mal de Debarquement, my anxiety would never return. TFT is that amazing. I recommend it to everyone. I even talked two neighbors through the anxiety sequence and they were amazed at the instant results. Thank you, Dr. Callahan for giving so many people the power to heal themselves with this simple technique.

—Lisa Borg

Excerpted from Callahan Techniques’ latest book, The Tapping Solution: Tapping the Body’s Energy Pathways.

By Katherine Bragin, LCSW:

I work with a unique population–Russian immigrants 65-years-old and up. Our practice is in the heart of a Russian community, famous Brighton Beach.

Coming here to the U.S., my patients brought with them a myriad of issues – some are unique only to this population group and some are universal for all elderly–the loss of  social status, familiar surroundings, life-long friends, rich Russian culture, profession or career, and part of the family (left behind).

And much more…They miss the traditional cultural closeness of the family. They come here so they won’t be separated from their children, and their children often move to different parts of the country, leaving them in Russian neighborhoods to take care of themselves.

They also have unique pain and memories: fighting in WWII, running from Germans, famine and labor camps of Stalin’s era, and concentration camps or ghetto.

They are now getting older, with more medical problems that also affect their emotional well-being.

Mr. T, our patient for many years, is a WWII veteran. He fought during the war from Moscow to Berlin and was wounded a few times. He fought in the battle of Stalingrad.

Every night he would still fight during his sleep: screaming, yelling and making strange sounds. TFT has relieved this trauma. He still has flashbacks and talks about his war experience, but his wife reports that he is not screaming in his sleep anymore.

PTSD symptoms are normally very hard to treat, especially with the elderly. I am very grateful that I now have this knowledge and skill with TFT.

The main difficulty in my work with the elderly with different levels of dementia is their comprehension level. I find it hard to explain to them the concept of SUD and often have to judge our progress by the facial expression and patient’s subjective reaction.

The other problem is how to make the handout and explanation easy to understand for use at home. It often takes three or four sessions to do so.

I am very glad I learned TFT–and have it as the main tool in my tool box. It helps my patients enormously.

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Layoffs Hurt, But TFT Helps

Lay off one person from his or her job and it’s a disaster for the family; layoff hundreds of people from a business or plant, and it’s a disaster for that town.

Layoff disasters occur throughout the United States and other countries every day because of our current economic recession. Paradoxically, our movement out of the recession is not ending layoffs nor is it creating enough needed new jobs.

Economic recession causes a chain reaction loss of jobs that affects the security of millions of people. The outcome generally results in serious emotional problems for those affected.

I’ve been called to visit a number of different companies recently that were in the process of laying off employees. Most of the people being laid off are people who have been with their company for many years; some, upwards of 20 or even 30 years.

Most of these people are not ready to retire and they have essential bills to pay each month such as a mortgage, utilities, car payments, school loans, etc., and they usually lack other financial resources. Therefore, the news that they have to find other employment comes as a terrible shock to them.

One of these companies was on the brink of a shutdown when I was called. The employees had not yet been informed that a layoff was com- ing, so the management wanted me to be on the scene when the announcement was made. In essence, I was like a “first responder” to help employees deal with the firestorm of bad news.

There were 250 employees about to lose their jobs and frankly, they didn’t know me from Adam, but the management assured them that I would be available for counseling if they wished to see me. I was also available to help any of the managers who might become overwhelmed with the problem, and some were.

Over three days, I met with 40 people; some in small groups, some individuals and some couples. In one instance both husband and wife worked in the same company and both were being laid off.

When I arrived, I immediately sensed the tension and the apprehension among the managers. The core treatment I use is Thought Field Ther- apy in these circumstances, but it’s also important to help the employees in other ways. Mingling with them in the lunch room, being an empa- thetic listener, learning which of the employees knew others whom they might refer for help, and following the instructions of management are all important factors.

In general, I believe it is a good idea to help the employees understand how stress can affect them in negative ways. I explain Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Theory for stress, and involve them in talking about how they manage their own stresses. I help them appreciate the fact that stress is cumulative and that everyone has their own “comfort level” for tolerating stress.

When problems are not resolved satisfactorily and in a timely manner, the individual can move to a higher stress-level, that is, higher than their “normal” stress tolerance level. When this happens, the person may start thinking that their new stress-level is what is “normal” for them and they forget what it means to be in their own comfort zone. This problem can be magnified by multiple stressors that fail to be resolved until the person’s system is at high risk for physical, mental or emotional consequences.

I also explain how a person’s resistance to disease changes under stress as their chemistry changes with the introduction and persistence of stress hormones such as cortisol, and norepinephrine that are released at periods of heightened stress. The hormone regulating system is known as the endocrine system.

Cortisol is believed to affect the metabolic system and norepinephrine is believed to play a role in depression and hypertension. Severe trauma or stress events, or even caffeine, can elevate cortisol levels in the blood for prolonged periods.

I also explain to them that heightened stress can also cause loss of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, memory problems, lack of concentration, ten- sion and fatigue. These problems can lead to accidents on the job or interpersonal problems at home or work. Short temper and anger sometimes result. When nothing is done to alleviate the stress, a person’s immune system can take a serious hit which can then lead to other medical problems.

When appropriate I also remind people that the loss of a job can also result in them going through a process of grieving. After all, it’s not just the loss of a paycheck; it may also be the loss of relationships developed over many years when people have to move away.

Clearly, the employees often react with denial. “This just can’t be happening.” And with anger, “How can they betray me after I’ve been so loyal! Or, “Why didn’t they tell me this was coming!” Elizabeth Kubler Ross defined 5 overlapping stages of grief as Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.

Once I have my employee-clients sharing and understanding the importance of doing something positive to manage their stress, I explain there are also ways to eliminate stress. I usually take them through the TFT complex trauma algorithm by having them think privately about a problem they are experiencing.

We use the Subjective Units of Distress (SUD) scale as well. Not everyone has the same problem on their mind during such a crisis. Some are worried about their mortgage payments; others about their age and difficulty finding another job; some are distressed about their medical benefits and what may happen to them.

By the surprised and doubtful looks on their faces, it’s obvious that my first mention of “tapping on one’s face and fingers,” elicits some snickers and grins. But with a little coaching, good humor and clarifying that they don’t have to talk about their problems, the client-employees participate in the exercise.

But not everyone is ready or willing to do TFT or to sit down with a counselor. It’s not unusual to find some employees quite devastated by the layoff news bordering on panic, yet the only one he or she will turn to is a close friend or colleague.

But I’ve also seen employees change from a highly distressed state to a calm state in which they become resolved to help themselves and others over the layoff hurdle. One employee commenting on how calm he felt following TFT remarked, “Why doesn’t everyone know how to do this!” A month after meeting with the employees, I read in the newspaper how happy they were that the company brought in a counselor to work with them.

Layoff’s are not the only time employees can use TFT. Sometimes I’m called to work with employee groups when a coworker has died. In these situations I still use the psychosocial approach to understanding stress, and the elimination of stress by using the Complex Trauma Algorithm.

In one such situation however, a participant became very indignant with me and angrily told me I have no right to have them bring up painful emotions as they were trying to heal their own grief. I was not expecting this kind of response at the time, yet anger is a normal part of the grief process.

While I don’t remember exactly what I said, I tried to sympathize with her. I also asked the group of 25 employees for their permission to continue with the algorithm and they approved my doing so. The complaining person then relented.

Following the use of the complex trauma algorithm, the group spontaneously applauded. They asked for more information, and the angry participant also appeared happy.

On another occasion I used TFT to help an employee and his family members after they had been kidnapped at gunpoint by armed robbers. The adults and children had exceedingly high stress levels but following the TFT intervention they functioned normally once again. The employee could finally relax stating, “I was so frightened for me and my family but now I can breathe again.” I also taught them how to use TFT for their anxiety that the gunmen would keep their threat to come back to kill them.

So Thought Field Therapy can help many employees who lose their jobs and their family members. It can also help employees in other distressing circumstances. Callahan Techniques should be made available to all Employee Assistance Counselors and crisis counselors for this purpose.

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From “The Thought Field”, Vol 2, Issue 3

by Fred Gallo

A young mother, 23, saw me about the trauma when her first child was born and died in the hospital a couple days later. This placed a strain of her relationship with her husband since he did not appear to be caring or understanding about this. She was depressed and had lost the love she previously had for her husband.

Although I couldn’t do much for her marriage, we successfully treated the trauma of the death of her baby with a few minutes as well as the trauma of a cousin’s suicide. I saw her for a time and helped her resolve the depression, also with TFT. The traumas never came back to haunt or bother her.