Christina Mayhew, TFT-Adv, shares how she used TFT to relieve the trauma of troubled and at-risk teenage boys:

A couple months ago I was asked to present Thought Field Therapy to 16 boys at a local home for troubled and at risk youth. These boys ranged in age from 16 to 21 years old and this was the last stop before going to a youth detention center or to another foster care.

Some of the boys came from some really rough neighborhoods. Others were in trouble with the law for various things or their home life was incredibly negative or dangerous for them.

During the day the boys were in a work program teaching them about construction and then in the afternoon and a couple evenings, they would attend school. The other two evenings were spent with different programs learning ways to deal with their anger, frustration, social skills, etc.

The new social worker was a friend of mine and when I introduced her to TFT, she couldn’t wait to have me come work with the boys. We set aside a night for me to teach them and the other social worker TFT.

Knowing most of them suffered some type of trauma and were angry and may have guilt, I decided to concentrate on the Trauma with anger and guilt sequence. [Note: this is the TFT trauma relief technique]

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived. Sixteen boys in a circle with their heads hung low and looking angry to be there. I’m thinking, “What am I getting myself into?” I’m saying to myself, “Ok, I have 3 boys, two of them are their ages and one has been in major trouble, and I’ve been in the construction industry for 28 years. I do have several connections with them.”

To get things started, I introduced myself and gave them a brief history of my life, my 3 boys, dealing with my son and his antics with getting in trouble with the law, and that I owned my own construction company.

That did get a few comments like, “No way, you’re a girl!” or “What do you know about construction?”  So after a few stories of what I do and asking them specific construction questions, I was starting to gain their trust and respect.

After about 20 minutes of construction talk and asking them what they’ve learned so far, half of the room started loosening up and at least paying some attention. The others just sat there looking very agitated that they had to be there.

Next, I gave them some inspirational stories about various people overcoming hardships in life to become great at making their dreams come true. I told them they may have been given a bad hand in life yet they had the power to change that if they chose.

I had a deck of positive quote cards which I walked around and let each boy pick one card. Each card had a message for them. Some were in shock that the message was on target and others didn’t understand their message.

I told them to hold onto the cards for a while and think about it because I was going to teach them some tools that would help them deal with the emotions they face in life.

I used the analogy of TFT being like tools for the contractor. A contractor can’t go to work without a hammer, nails, measuring tape, construction material, etc.

I explained that TFT tools were used to help reduce or eliminate negative emotions to help them get through life’s challenges and promote a more healthy and positive life. These TFT tools can go with them wherever they go and can be used at any time they need them.

Looking around the room I picked out one of the biggest boys to use as a demonstration of how negative emotions cause the bodies’ muscles to go weak. He stood up and came into the center of the room and I asked him to hold his arm out strong. He did.

I practically hung on his arm to show it was strong. I asked him to think of something that made him mad and then I pulled on his arm. It immediately went weak. He didn’t know what to expect and then he told me to do it again because he wasn’t ready.

I did it again with the same result. Then I asked him to say what color his shirt was and his arm was strong. Then I asked him to say it was a different color and his arm went weak. Now, this got their attention!  They all wanted me to try this on them.

By now they were showing signs of being interested in what I was talking about. I explained that having negative thoughts and emotions causes our bodies to be weak. By using Thought Field Therapy, they can reduce or eliminate those negative emotions to allow the body to stay stronger.

After explaining very briefly about how energy meridians work, I told them that instead of using needles like acupuncture, we would be tapping those points.

I taught them the anger algorithm first by walking around the room and encouraging them to do this technique on something that makes them angry.  They were looking around the room to see if the other boys were going to do it so I picked several that seemed engaged and asked them to show the others how to do it.

Finally, all the boys started tapping. I asked if anyone would like to share what they were angry about and how they felt after doing the sequence for anger. Three boys told their story about who/what they were angry with and that they did feel a little better.

I congratulated them on successfully doing the technique and gave them a “high five”. Next, I went through the complex trauma algorithm with anger. I told them to think of a time in their life that they suffered some type of trauma like losing a parent or friend, having to live in a foster home, being arrested, or being abused.

Thinking of a trauma brought tears to some and immediate withdrawal. I told them it may be painful to think about it yet the next tool I was going to teach them would greatly help them with those emotions.

Some of the boys I had to really coax to do it. They finally agreed. As we worked through the sequence, tears started flowing, their demeanor changed and I could see them breaking through their hardships.

Again I asked if anyone would share their story. A few did–and by now, instead of the boys being angry and rigid, they started to show compassion toward each other saying things like, “I know what you’re going through man, I had the same thing.” Or “My old man, beat me too when he was drunk and I wanted to kill him so he wouldn’t hurt us any more.” And “I can’t move back home either because my parents are in jail for selling drugs.”

I had more participation this time with them talking about how they felt different and didn’t feel as angry. They couldn’t believe that this weird tapping thing could cause them to feel better.

I offered to give them individual sessions if they wanted. I had about 9 boys line up to see me. I asked them to bring their positive quote card with them.

As I sat one to one with each boy, I asked them what they thought the card meant to them at that point in their life. My heart was truly touched as each poured out their moving stories.

Through those stories, I was able to get them to focus on a particular part that seemed extra troubling to them. I just used general algorithms so that they could use that sequence over and over again as they needed it.

Some had streams of tears as they finally let go of their pain. Others went from being scared and rigid to more relaxed and friendly.

Every one of them had some transformation take place. They definitely felt it and agreed they needed the release.

Each of the boys gave me a hug and thanked me for coming, which totally shocked me.ven the social worker couldn’t believe that they showed gratitude toward me since they usually are so closed and don’t show very much emotion to strangers.

This is why I give of my time even though I’m so busy because the greatest reward for me was being able to work with these boys and make a little dent of hope and healing in their challenging lives.

Jenny Edwards, Ph.D., TFT-Dx, discusses how she–and TFT–were in the right place at the right time:

When I first heard about Thought Field Therapy, I knew that I wanted to learn it for my work in Africa. I give seminars there, and thought that people there would benefit from knowing a rapid way to eliminate trauma, physical pain, anxiety, addictions, phobias, and all of the other areas that Thought Field Therapy addresses. I didn’t know just how much it might be needed.

In July, 1997, I received an invitation to conduct a two-week training sponsored by the Carmelite Community in Nairobi from August 3-14, 1998. I would be working with priests, nuns, brothers, students, counselors, educators, social workers, and others involved in helping professions.

I accepted with pleasure, and made plans to teach a number of topics that had been requested, as well as a section on Thought Field Therapy.

The bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi occurred the morning of Friday, August 7. We were in the training at the time, which was about 25 minutes away from downtown Nairobi. Only during the afternoon did we begin to realize the devastation and the extent of the bombing.

All weekend, the Sisters in the training were at the hospitals serving people. Other activities had been scheduled for me, so I went along according to plan. On Monday, people in the training were starting to question Thought Field Therapy.

We were just getting into the training, as it was one of several topics being addressed in the two-week seminar. They reasoned that, after all, people had just been in a bombing. Surely Thought Field Therapy wasn’t powerful enough to help people with trauma that severe. I knew that I had to and wanted to go to the hospital and work with bombing victims.

The Sisters were going to the hospital after the training was over at 1:00 PM, and agreed to take me with them. As we went through police road blocks on the way there, I began to realize the severity of the situation.

We arrived at Kenyatta Hospital and went directly to the wards. Doubts began to surface. Sure, I knew that Thought Field Therapy worked; however, these people had been in a bombing the previous Friday. Would it work with them?

As I followed the Sisters from ward to ward, I asked myself questions like, “Who do you think you are?” “Fools rush in.” “What if it doesn”t work?”

In many of the wards that we visited, people’s faces were filled with stitches. Eyes were bandaged. It would be unthinkable to ask them to tap on their eyebrows and under their eyes. [Note: In such cases there are equivalent points on the toes. RC]

We went from ward to ward. The Sisters seemed to know what to do. Obviously, they had done this before. I thought I would just follow them around; however, I was praying and asking for direction. With whom, if anyone, should I use Thought Field Therapy?

We finally came to a ward in which people had mainly lower body injuries. I went up to a woman lying on her bed, staring into space, and began talking with her. She was in a great deal of pain – a “10.” Her shoes had been blown off by the bombing, and she had walked out. She had a lot of glass in her feet, among other injuries, and was on strong pain medication.

Since her injuries weren’t quite as severe as others, the doctors hadn’t had a chance to work with her yet. After building rapport, I said timidly, “I have something that MIGHT help you. I’m not sure if it will work. It would involve tapping on these particular places on your body (I showed her), and would take about five minutes. I’m willing to try, if you would like me to.”

She said, “I’ll do anything. I’m in so much pain. I also keep thinking that a bomb will explode any minute in the hospital. I know that it’s probably not going to happen; however, I can’t get the thought out of my mind!”

I decided to work with the pain first. After tapping the pain algorithm, the SUD came down from a “10″ to a “5″; however, it wouldn’t go any lower, even after tapping for reversal. It occurred to me that we needed to tap for trauma before the pain would go any lower. Of course, the trauma was a “10″, and it came down to a “0″ immediately. After that, we tapped again for pain, and it readily went down to a “0″.

She blinked her eyes and looked at me, a little bewildered. She said, “I’ve played the pictures of what happened the day of the bombing over and over in my mind, almost without stopping, since Friday. It’s really strange, but I”m not doing that any more. I think that I’ll be able to get to sleep tonight.”

Then she looked straight at me, smiled, and said, “God saved me for a reason.” “Yes, He did,” I said. I told her that the pain probably would return, and wrote out what she could do when it did. I told her that the trauma probably wouldn’t return; however, if it did, the directions were there for her to follow (including Psychological Reversal).

About that time, the Sister came to me and said, “The woman in the bed across the way says she wants to be healed, too.” I went over to her.

She was just staring into space. Her arm was bandaged, and her hand was limp. After talking with her for a few minutes, I asked her if it would hurt if she tapped on the hand that was limp. She said it might hurt a little; however, it would be worth it in order to be able to experience the changes that she had just seen the woman in the bed across the way experience. She was “10″ on both trauma and pain. I decided to work on trauma first. It came down fairly quickly to a “0,” with no Psychological Reversal.

Then, we worked on the pain, which had already gone down to an “8″ after working on the trauma. As she tapped, it went down to “0,” too. She was moving her hand all around, color was restored to her face, and she was smiling and laughing. I wrote down what we had done.

Her husband, who had been watching, asked the Sister if it might help his neck pain. She said, “Of course.” By now, the first woman was sitting up for the first time since the bombing, eating dinner and talking with her husband. They were smiling and laughing.

Her husband told the Sister that usually she panicked when it was time for him to leave at night because she didn’t want to be alone, for fear a bomb might explode. He reported that this evening, for a change, she felt fine about his leaving, and told him that she would see him the next day.

She then told the Sister that she had been on extremely high and frequent doses of pain medication, and was planning to use the tapping to lessen the amount and frequency of the doses.

Then, I went to talk with a third woman in the ward. She was staring into space. I tried to build rapport; however, it was difficult. I made the determination that perhaps I wasn’t supposed to work with her.

The next day, the Sister said that the third woman had later told her, “Why did she heal the other two and she didn’t heal me?” The Sister’s response was, “She wrote down what she did for the other two. Ask them to work with you.”

The next day in the training, the Sisters shared what had happened in the hospital. People were amazed, and as I did demonstrations with people in the training around their trauma related to the bombing, they became believers and launched into the practice sessions with vigor.

Furthermore, they sent their friends with extremely difficult cases to me to work with in the afternoons for the rest of the week. I also had the opportunity to introduce TFT to therapists at a local counseling center. They were planning to follow up by ordering materials from Dr.Callahan.

Yes, I knew that I was supposed to share Thought Field Therapy with people in my seminar in Nairobi. I didn’t know just how timely the training would be.

A teacher at the El Shaddai orphanage in Kigali, Rwanda, describes how TFT continues to relieve the fears and anxieties of  hundreds of children who have lost their parents through genocide and imprisonment.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macten/ / CC BY-NC 2.0“>Diane Bahr Groth, TFT-Dx, shares how she used TFT with a mother whose son was tragically killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11:

Today I worked with a lovely woman who lost her only son in the World Trade Center disaster. He was just 24 years old and newly hired by Cantor and Fitzgerald who lost 700 people. She has allowed me to share her story.

We spent approximately 2 hours together. She was at peace when she left my office. The most difficult aspect of the session was to help her alleviate the pain associated with her son’s last phone call to her.

Miraculously his telephone in the office worked only long enough to call her. He described the scene of horror to her very calmly.

“Mom, something hit the building. The ceiling is coming down, the walls and floors are coming apart and there is smoke all around. I have to tell you that I love you and I am going to die”.

At first she thought he was joking but did not interrupt. She realized the severity of the situation and calmly told him she loved him, and to find someone to be with so he would not be alone. Instantly they were disconnected.

She rushed to the television and saw the horror we have all seen over and over. Her husband was in tower 7 and could not be reached.

She has heard her son’s words over and over in her mind and pictured the hell he was in before he died, and felt his fear.

She also expressed fear for her husband’s safety, guilt that she had not said the right words, that she had not protected her son and fear about anthrax.

As soon as she was at peace about her son, she realized that she had been with him so he was not alone–and the “picture” she held in her mind about his last moments was gone. All the other fears vanished as well. She was exhausted, as many clients are after such a session, but left transformed.

Juanita Van Ham describes the horrifying trauma and how TFT relieved her of its debilitating effects. At the end of her story is a link to 5 drawings she did depicting the healing process that came to include other parts of her life as well. Juanita’s husband, Lee, adds his perspective.

Remembering August 1, 2005–

I entered the credit union shortly after 9am on Monday morning. There was no line so I walked up to a teller and handed her my checks, suddenly there came from behind very loud voices yelling obscenities. It felt surreal.

It took me a few seconds to realize these voices were here, now, yelling and cursing for us to get on the floor.I turned around and there were three men in black hooded sweatshirts with white cloth over their faces pointing weapons, large – not handguns, but rifles. They had a young male hostage.

I didn’t get far enough down on the floor. The leader, a very large, aggressive man was barking out orders to everyone and for a moment his words were directed at me. I tried to imagine myself as part of the carpet. I also thought that none of us had any value to these desperate men and we could be shot at any moment.

Feeling like both a fleeting moment and a life-time, the armed robbery was over. We were gathered into an office to await the arrival of the police and FBI.

As the bank employees and I talked a little and cried, I remembered that there was a young African-American man waiting in a car outside as I entered. He had caught my attention because I liked the music he was listening to. I was concerned that he may have been the hostage and walked with one of the tellers over to the window.

The car was there and the doors were wide open but

the young man was nowhere in sight. It turned out that he was the son of the only other two credit union members who were present during the robbery. His parents were limp on the floor sobbing with grief. I remember thinking how many times my older children had waited for me in what I thought was a safe location.

After being questioned, I returned home. The dizziness I had experienced had pretty much subsided and I wanted to get out of there. I don’t know how I drove home.

When I entered and saw my husband, Lee, I began to fall apart. I carried in every cell of my body the image of the aggressive man, holding the weapon, who had no face. I was struck with a terrible migraine headache. The sobs and fears ebbed and flowed as the images took control of me.

I don’t remember much of the next eight days. I did not want to leave this one room in the house. I didn’t want to talk about it, not even with my adult children.

I tried rationalizing what had happened. “This wasn’t like being in Iraq or like the people I had been with in Guatemala who had suffered through the incredible violence of the Scorched Earth Policy.” I had carried my six-year old daughter into the ER in a coma – this wasn’t that bad.

What was wrong with me? Nothing helped. I was frightened at levels beyond anything I had known before. I didn’t make sense. It wouldn’t go away. I felt lost to myself.

I did see my counselor and she diagnosed me with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and said it would be a good idea to call my physician and get on medication for awhile.

On the eighth day, I went to see Paul Oas. He had been out of town when Lee had called and had just returned. I knew nothing about the treatment (TFT). Lee had read some information out loud to me, I think, but nothing was sticking in my brain. I couldn’t read or concentrate.

We entered Paul’s office and I remember feeling confused and unsure but very open to try a technique that worked with the wisdom of the body, not drugs. The actual experience is kind of a blur. I remember working hard to concentrate on what Paul was saying and to follow his patterning of tapping movements. He had me say words that I mostly don’t recall.

I experienced a shift inside as we repeated the techniques. Eye movements were a part of it. I remember the instruction to sing a childhood ditty and thinking, “This seems odd.” Mary had a Little Lamb came instantly to mind and as I sang it, there was the sensation like a flood gate opening up and I felt awash with joy.

I couldn’t believe the sensation as I felt the rigidity of fear leave my body and my muscles relax. I laughed out loud!

If anyone had told me that I would be shifted from a paralyzing fear to joy-filled laughter in one Thought Field Therapy treatment, I would not have believed it. I had to live it!

The huge, looming, armed robber without a face was now a small figure in my head. I told Paul about it. He explained that this experience was now a memory, no longer a trauma.

The following week I had a couple of set backs. First, I was feeling good and was going to see my Naturopathic doctor. I have been driving expressways for 40 years but found that I went into a state of panic on the road; feeling convinced that the aggressive driving meant they were out to get me.

Two days later, Lee and I were in a different credit union in National City and I began to panic thinking about how quickly these young peoples’ lives could be changed if a robber entered. I had to leave before the transaction was completed. I was not traumatized to the extent I had been but definitely shaken up.

Talking with Paul, he explained about the surfacing of older traumas and told me to go through the treatment again. I did and have been doing very well even experiencing some significant healing regarding other parts of my life.

I am appreciating the body’s ability to heal itself at levels far greater than I could have imagined. I am grateful for the compassionate healing abilities of Paul Oas and the Thought Field Therapy technique.

Click here to see Juanita’s drawings.

Husband Lee shares his perspective (Oct 25, 2005):

We walked up to the church offices where we had an appointment with Paul Oas because eight days before Juanita was deeply traumatized when, while at the teller window, three masked men with large weapons robbed the credit union.

It was a summer morning in San Diego, but Juanita had on extra layers and was chilled.  Like the other days since the traumatization, vacuous eyes looked out from a lifeless face.

Paul welcomed us into his office, and, after a bit of conversation establishing human connection, he came around his desk and led Juanita through the de-traumatizing process of thought field therapy (TFT).

I felt I was observing a miracle. During the eight days Juanita had, in the words of her therapist whom she had gone to see, all the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): headaches every day and sometimes throughout the night, crying when daily things stressed her, being startled by noises or movements, unable to drive, inability to sequence thoughts in conversation, unable to work, basic and general dysfunction.

But in this brief treatment, no more than 10 minutes, a huge shift happened. Juanita giggled, sparkles shown from her eyes, she was flushed with energy and took off the jacket she’d needed just minutes before. Her images of the robbers were reduced from huge, intimidating men to harmless midgets.

She sat relaxed. She was present again. I think all of us brushed some tears from our eyes, being emotionally affected by this simple and profound procedure that broke the grip of trauma and let her whole person reintegrate toward health.

In the next days, Juanita began gradually to re-engage life. She could think a sequence of thoughts again and plan her day. No more headaches. Her appetite gradually returned.

When expressway driving was still too much for her, we decided on a second treatment. Having a written copy of the treatment sequence with us, I led her in it. Again, there was remarkable improvement, and she was soon able to drive in heavier, faster traffic.

How grateful I am, as the spouse, for those who are learning how to work with energies in therapy, integrating spirit with body and mind.

Dr. Caroline Sakai shares the following story from the ATFT Foundation’s recent mission to Rwanda:

One older woman was hearing voices, as well as reliving the traumas and horrors of the genocide in a highly agitated state.  She was initially unable to focus, and she had a vacant yet frightened look.

She started gritting her teeth, looking around at the voices she was hearing that were threatening to kill her and her family, and talking back to the voices while rolling her eyes, or looking around at what she was experiencing internally, and waving her arms, stamping her feet on the ground, and tipping herself backwards on the bench she was sitting on.

At one point she spat as she yelled out while flailing her arms.  She stood up and was about to run away from the voices, when the psychological reversal and initiation of the trauma algorithm started getting her more grounded in the here and now.  She shook her head as she started to look directly and intently at the therapist and assisting support ATFT team therapist as if actually seeing them for the first time.

We then did a TFT diagnostic assessment, and the Rwandan therapist continued her treatment using the diagnostic treatment points.  Her agitation subsided, and she remained focused, and her body visibly relaxed, and the light went back on in her eyes.  The gritted teeth relaxed into a broad smile of release and relief.

The voices disappeared, and she remained in good eye contact and fully present.  She no longer went in and out of dissociation, and was not responding to compelling internal experiences.

Her only fear at the end of treatment when her subjective units of distress went from 10 plus to 0, was that it might come back again.  The treatment protocol was written in Kinyarwanda for her even though she could not read, since she lived with the surviving 7 of her 13 children, and a couple of them could read. She also was informed of the on-going TFT services that would be available twice a week at the Izere Center.

She stated with amazement that it was as if she had been lost far away, and she had come back to earth now.  She stated that it was now quiet in her head without the voices and painful flashbacks.  She no longer felt she was cursed, and her stabbing pains in her chest and stomach totally remitted.  She was elated and expressed her joy and gratitude for her experiencing release and relief.

Actor Conrad Bain describes how he used the TFT trauma relief technique to help a friend who was severely traumatized by the suicide of her husband. (Note: he refers to it as the “love pain algorithm”, but it is the same technique as described on this blog.)

Note: The “love pain algorithm” mentioned by Mr. Bain is the TFT trauma relief technique.

Suzanne Connolly, LCSW, TFT-Adv, shares the following story from the ATFT Foundation’s recent mission to Rwanda:

Kamal holds his hands to his head and says with wonder, “It’s gone! I can’t remember it!” He jumps up and gives me a hug and won’t let go. He dances around the room so we dance around the room hugging tight.

Kamal is 16 and been through more than anyone of any age should have to go through. He was born while his mother was still studying at the University so he lived with his mother’s sister.

When Kamal was three years old his mother died. When he was six his aunt, the only mother he had known, was killed, leaving him and his cousin Abdul orphaned.

He and Abdul were sent to a refugee camp in Uganda and while there he witnessed a horrific massacre. Until now he could never get it out of his mind, and he felt constant sadness and could trust no one. He thought anyone could change at any moment and kill him. He lived in constant fear of danger.

“I know it happened still” he says, “but I can’t think about it!” “Oh I am so happy!” Thank you!  Thank you” “Murakoze.”  He hugs me again and we do the dance for the second time. He finally lets go and we say good bye.

I see Kamal later in the school yard. He has changed to a dress shirt and walks like he has springs attached to his feet. Sometimes he almost skips. He comes back to thank me once again.

It is great to be able to share this moment with Kamal, and to be able to share it, like so many moments, with you. So many beautiful moments shared here in Rwanda, thanks to TFT and the wonderful ATFT members who have contributed to this mission.

There are so many stories, Kamal’s (not his real name, of course) only the most recent.

To go to Suzanne’s blog about this mission to Rwanda, click here.

Martin Law, C.Psych, describes how he used the TFT trauma technique to relieve his wife’s severe trauma after having witnessed the killing of their dog by a cougar:

It was a beautiful Fall Saturday in November 2001 when my wife (Viv) decided to go for a walk into a forested area close to our acreage west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Our one year old Samoyed dog (Nakoda) happily trotted along with her.

One of our twin sons (David) tagged along as well, then decided to turn around for home after walking for 75 metres. To this day we are thankful that he chose to turn back for home.

About a half-hour into her walk a flash of light brown came bolting from behind a tree, knocked Viv to the ground, suddenly did a 90 degree turn and pounced on Nakoda.

Totally stunned and bewildered, Viv stood up to witness the cougar mauling Nakoda. The sights and sounds of Nakoda’s death were seared into Viv’s brain as she began to take in what was happening. In a panic she fled the scene, feeling helpless, confused and disoriented, as well as guilty for leaving her beloved dog to the mercy of this wild animal.

I was with our oldest son 60 kilometres away at a tennis tournament when all this took place. Fortunately, a distant neighbour who lived close to the site of the attack was home when Viv came crashing through the bush. He drove Viv home.

While this was a short drive, Viv was panicking, not knowing if David had made it home safely. Fortunately he had and for the rest of the day, Viv and our twins stayed with our neighbour until I got home.

Up until this time, we had no idea that cougars would be anywhere near our acreage. We later deduced that this particular cougar had actually been prowling around our home!!

When I arrived home, I heard the whole story. Not surprisingly, Viv was incredibly shaken up. We talked about what happened and I basically followed the standard protocols for defusing following a critical incident (per the Jeff Mitchell CISM model).

That evening Viv could not sleep, with classic flashbacks to the event, a re-living of the sights and sounds of Nakoda’s last minutes. The next day we

continued to talk and debrief the whole episode. The second night was a repeat of the first for Viv. She was exhausted and in incredible emotional pain. I had to do something to get Viv some help.

I am a psychologist in charge of an Employee Assistance Program for one of the largest employers in Calgary. I started to think about the options for referring Viv to a specialist in psychological trauma.

Then it occurred to me that I should try something I had just learned in Edmonton at a 2 day workshop by Dr. Robert Bray.  Yes, I should try Callahan Techniques Thought Field Therapy!  It was now Monday and I made a point of bringing home from the office the protocols from the workshop.

Monday evening, I selected the algorithm for Complex Trauma with Guilt (guilt because she left Nakoda at the mercy of the cougar, and guilt for all the “what if’s” knowing that it could have been David!). Viv could not speak as I asked her to tune the thought field. Her eyes immediately filled with tears. I knew she had a SUD of 10 (her face was raw emotion!). We tapped.

She dropped to a SUD of 8. Thank goodness, a two-point drop. Straight in to the9 Gamut series. We finished the tapping. She did not give me a final SUD rating however. She just said she was incredibly tired and felt like sleeping! I ‘cemented’ with the floor to ceiling eye-roll and we went to bed.

Viv immediately fell asleep and did not wake up until the morning. She was energetic, refreshed and back to her normal, bubbly self. Whew, what a relief.

This was my first, real-life application of TFT, and what an incredible impact it had on our family. What a relief, but would it hold? I knew about toxins and how a toxin could undo the wonderful work to date.

Six months after the attack, with no more nightmares, no negative emotional residue. In fact, Viv and I decided to walk together and re-visit the site. Not far from the attack site the cougar had dragged Nakoda’s body and buried it at the foot of a tree. This was now the permanent burial site for our dog.

To my horror, as we approached the burial site, we found bits of fur, bones and two front paws strewn about the forest floor! – the result of other animals (coyotes probably) having dug up bits of the body! (I had previously reconnoitred the site and no such remains existed then!).

I watched closely to see how Viv would react.  Incredibly, nothing. She was just very matter of fact, describing again what happened, where she was, where the cougar came from and where Nakoda was mauled. But absolutely no further evidence of the emotional pain she had experienced six months prior. I was amazed, and relieved!

We recently visited the site again 12 months following the attack. Viv has shown no ill effects since the evening we tapped!

I am most grateful to Dr Roger Callahan for discovering this incredible treatment. I have purposefully waited a year before writing this as I wanted to be sure the treatment effect would hold. I’m pleased to say it has and now I expect it always will.

Medic Terry Iddenden talks about how he used TFT to relieve a colleague’s trauma after being struck by a car: