I was approached by someone who is deeply interested in EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and wonders if I am able to share any case studies or session stories I came across on how EFT has been used for serious disease, traumatic event, allergies as well as pain. Therefore, today, I’ve decided to dedicate this blog post towards some of these great stories, articles and case studies. (Please note that these are general case studies and session stories not exactly associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis).
Before this, I would like to give credits of all the articles I append below to EFTfree.net (where I sourced and referenced from), a community-minded and educational blog and website dedicated to sharing the the art and practice of EFT. They offer a growing library of innovative resources and training materials for students and teachers, including weekly EFT articles. You can explore more on this and EFTfree.net here Discover EFT.
Appended herewith 4 thought-provoking EFT-focused articles on the respective issues from true, personal real-life experiences. Enjoy your read!
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Case Study 1
The Gift of EFT Helped a Grieving Mom
Archive Category: Core EFT Skills | Grief and Loss | Latest | February 12, 2011
by Rossanna Massey
http://www.EFTHelp.com
Chamberino, New Mexico, US
My husband and I had a chiropractic practice in a small town in Southwest Michigan. He had a patient who would occasionally be driven to her appointments by a friend of hers named Debbie. Debbie’s affect was one of a person who looked lost. She would sit quietly and wait for her friend with her eyes cast downward avoiding eye contact with anyone else in the waiting room. Since we weren’t from Michigan, unbeknown to us Debbie had a tragic story which was, by now, common knowledge in our small town. In September of 1991, Debbie’s oldest son, Anthony, was fishing in rough waters off the pier in town on Lake Michigan when he was swept away by a wave. His body was discovered a week later. He was seventeen years old.
One day Debbie actually came in to see us as a patient, looking even worse than I ever remembered. I was compelled to ask what was wrong as she sat in the waiting room looking very small and teary eyed. She replied it was the day before the anniversary of her son Anthony’s death, and always an excruciatingly painful time for her. In fact, all the holidays, including his birthday, were especially brutal. Sixteen years after his death her response to his memory had now become ritualistic in nature, including day long graveside vigils sitting on the ground and sobbing. I sat next to her and held her hand and asked her if she would accept a gift from me. Blinking through tears, barely able to speak, she nodded “yes.”
I began with the painfully obvious, and worked my way forward.
“Even though my entire being can’t accept the fact that you’re gone, I love and accept who I am, and I honor myself for trying to keep you with me.” Reminder phrase 1st round; “I can’t believe you’re gone, I won’t believe it.” 2nd round; “I’ll dishonor your memory if I let you go, I’m afraid to let go.”
“I accept myself even though a part of me died with you” Reminder phrase; “A part of my self is gone forever, you didn’t die alone, mom died too.”
“Even though I’ll never get over the way you died, I choose to be grateful for our time together and celebrate your life…” Reminder phrase: 1st round of “I’ll never get over the way you died,” the 2nd round: “I’m so grateful you were born, and I’ll celebrate your life,” “I’m so happy I had you as long as I did.”
With each of those phrases Debbie released big sighs of relief, and was amazed by how much better she felt, how relaxed she was. We had now unleashed a steady flow of memories, so I followed her lead. She said,
“I had this recurring dream every night before they found him. We’re both together in the water trying to reach for each others hands while he’s calling out to me for help—and no matter how hard I try, I can’t reach his hand. I still have them regularly; it takes me days to shake it off.”
Out of respect to all of my EFT clients who represent a variety of different faiths, unless I happen to know it resonates with them, I refrain from using any religious connotations during my sessions. Debbie is a deeply religious Christian.
“Even though I couldn’t reach out far enough to save you, I trust you took the hand of Jesus, and he safely led you home.” Reminder phrase; “I couldn’t save you, but Jesus did,” “You’re safe in the hands of Jesus,” “Handing you over to Jesus, and trusting in the Lord.”
With that round she exclaimed she felt elated, and no matter how she tested it, couldn’t seem to replicate the terrible guilt and sadness that she’d been feeling for years:
“Actually, I feel a flood of warmth wash over me– almost like warm water being poured over my head, and a tingling rush of energy all through my arms and legs!”
Now Debbie was crying again, but this time with relief. She said that she felt light as a feather and hugged me. And for the first time I saw a smile on her face that was so bright, it was as if the sun was bursting out from behind a dark cloud. Her eyes were gleaming as she said goodbye and bounded out of the room. Since the next day was the anniversary of her son’s death, I asked her to give me a call and let me know how she was doing.
Instead, the next day she stopped by the clinic on her way home from the cemetery, and she had the most beautiful smile on her face! Her energies were completely different. She was bouncy and upbeat! Debbie happily announced that instead of sitting all day on a blanket at his grave site crying and grieving as she did for the past 16 years, she took flowers and balloons and released them as a celebration of his life.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your gift to me, Dr. Rossanna.” This time my eyes were welling up with tears. As I tapped to regain my composure, I made her promise to periodically check back with me as the holidays were approaching.
Right before Christmas, I received a very animated phone call from Debbie who happily reported that for the first time since Anthony’s death she actually decorated her own Christmas tree without being coaxed by her family. And she enjoyed it immensely! Filled with the Christmas spirit, she even pulled out the old ornaments her son Anthony had made in school when he was little, and hung them on the tree in his honor because he loved Christmas too.
“This Christmas feels so wonderfully different,” she said. “It’s always been my favorite time of the year! I can’t believe how good I feel! Merry Christmas to you, Dr. Rossanna. God bless you.”
Imagine the enormity of EFT’s impact, illustrated here by providing such a positive and powerful emotional shift in a session that lasted only twenty minutes. After 16 years of excessive grief, it’s gone in twenty minutes.
Grief, with it’s varying stages, is a normal process. EFT does not erase new grief, or even make you forget the subject you’re grieving for. What it does do is desensitize excessive, panicky grief — the kind that makes you want to die, too. Because it is a self-help tool, we are now capable of having an easier transition to life re-adjusted. An easier, kinder, and gentler way to reach inner peace and the clarity to move on with our lives.
Dr. Rossanna Massey, D.C., EFTCert-II, currently lives and practices in New Mexico. You can visit her online at http://www.EFTHelp.com.
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Case Study 2
“The Last Few Remaining Allergy Symptoms Vaporized!”
Archive Category: Allergies | Latest |
by Terri Webb
Email Terri
As long as I can remember, I’ve always had seasonal allergies. My dad had allergies, so I figured I inherited them from him.
Once I moved from the west coast to here in the Midwest they began to get worse. I blamed first crop hay season in June and July. My sinuses would fill the moment I crawled out of bed and my ears, eyes and throat would itch to no end. Then once it get closer to the end of July the symptoms would lessen and I’d feel better.
A good friend involved in another arena of Energy Healing made a comment that my seasonal symptoms could very well be the result of a childhood trauma to which my body is remembering the “anniversary date”. At the time I dismissed the concept; there’s no way could something that happened to me in the past could be what is causing my snotty head today! No way! HA!
In time, I came across EFT and began a slow change in understanding to what we know is true! Our emotional body is directly linked to our physical body. I called my folks and I asked them if anything traumatic ever happened to me. I couldn’t think of anything. I was never was in the ER, no serious accidents other than the usual bumps and bruises of growing up. No unexcused deaths in the family or friends. Mom couldn’t think of anything either. So now what do I do?
The more I thought about it, the more I could feel there was something beginning to brew; something was coming to the surface but I couldn’t quite grasp it. So one day I sat with my husband and said “Lets just assume something “bad” happened and let’s use EFT to see if we can resolve whatever it is that is causing my allergies… This was mid May, and I was nearing my normal allergy season.
As we sat down to begin the search into my allergies, Scott asked me, “Do you know what traumatic event happened to you?” I said “no” and suddenly I was bawling my eyes out! Where did that come from? Now mind you, I’m not one to cry because I’m having a bad day, I’m a sap for good sad movie but I don’t cry on a whim so this sort of freaked us both out. So we tapped, and we tapped on every question Scott could think of and if it presented any sort of intensity, we tapped until I felt calm again.
Even though I don’t know what happened to me, I deeply and completely accept myself…
Even though this thing is bigger than me…
Even though I am afraid of this thing…
Even though I feel out of control…
Even though I can’t run away from this thing…”
Finally, he followed up with
Even though the idea of my mind holding the secrets is very frightening…
Again, the tears poured out and we tapped until I was truly settled and could repeat all the questions without any lingering intensity. He used his own intuition to try and unearth just what it was that had traumatized me but after 2 hours I was exhausted and, at this point, we still didn’t know WHAT it was that had happened in my childhood.
Here comes the month of June and my folks came out to visit us on the farm. We spoke briefly about EFT and all the accounts I’ve read on healing our emotional scars. When I asked again about anything traumatic happening to me and that it didn’t have to be a life and death matter, just anything that would scare a little kid is enough to set the stage. Mom then says, “Oh ya! You were scared to death of dads motorcycle when you were a toddler! He would fire it up and you would take off running through the house screaming your head off!”
Ah Ha! Bingo! I knew in my heart this was it! The moment she said “dads motorcycle” it all made sense! While growing up in California my allergies were hit and miss all year, and now in Iowa they start in early June; just when everyone gets their motorcycles out of winter storage! My body is reliving those terrifying moments! And knowing my dad, he no doubt rev’d the motor a little extra to see the little kid scream! I finally found the answer to my allergies! Needless to say I starting tapping right away! And it doesn’t matter that today I love big engines in race cars or loud motorcycles, but what happened then is still stored in my body today!
Even though I have this fear of dads motorcycle…
Even though the loud engine scares me…
Even though I love my dad, he scares me…
I tapped for everything I could think of about dads motorcycle and how it scared me, even though I don’t remember the motorcycle, my imagination had to do the work! And think about it; when little kids scream in terror what happens? They get all snotted up! I had to be on the right track with this! I just knew it! I began to see a progressive decline in my allergy symptoms. If they began to flare up I could quickly tap and they would settle down immediately.
Scott and I had been working on new fencing out in the back pasture. Each day got a little better for me. No more snotty head, no more itchy ears. But after about 2 weeks, I still would get itchy eyes. But I couldn’t figure out the connection to the motorcycle, so I tapped a question to the Universe.
Even though I don’t know what the reason is for my itchy eyes, I trust the answer will come soon…
About 2 weeks later, I suddenly recalled a day out cutting firewood with my dad and grandfather. We were driving down a rural road and as a child being expected to help work, I sat in the back seat head hanging off one shoulder staring out the side window as we drove. Suddenly I thought I saw what looked to be a hit and run victim! There was a crumpled up body laying in the tall grass on the side of the road. At first I thought that it wasn’t real so the first thought was, “don’t say anything!” Finally I screamed STOP THE CAR! Dad got out and walked back saying “hello? hello?” and the dead body began a drunken mumble to leave him alone! Dad could see his car parked off in the trees, so we guess he drove so far and was sleeping it off! Phew!
So could this memory be my missing link? Could the fear of seeing a “dead body” in the tall grass be what is causing the itchy eyes? Maybe it’s more like “whats hiding in the tall grass” was the final aspect of my allergies! The memory came for a reason! It had to be a sign! So I tapped;
Scary things hiding in tall grass…
Dead bodies in the tall grass…
Danger in the tall grass …
Bingo! The itchy eyes totally disappeared! But, I was also nearing the end of my normal allergy season so I Iet it rest and hoped that I did in fact have my allergies cured!
Now we come into the next spring so just in case, I re-tap on the fear of dads motorcycle to make sure I got every last ounce of trauma removed. Hard to say, nothing about those fears felt intense any longer, but, once June appeared, so did some allergy symptoms. Not as bad as “normal” and only in the early morning. So, there is more EFT work to do!
I was at a loss and not sure where to go with it until a fellow EFTer made a comment about my birthday being right in the middle of my allergy season. Ah Ha! Every year for 46 years, mom reminds that she went through 30 hours of labor with me! Could that be it? She was never mean about it, just a gentle joking reminder. Could this guilt of causing mom pain be another aspect of this allergy? When in doubt — tap! I also tapped on the fear and pain it must have been being the new-to-be-born and going through the 30 hours of labor!
Even though I feel guilty for causing mom all the pain…
Even though I am in pain during my birth…
Even though the bright lights and cold air scares me…
And because mom was a month pregnant with me before my parents got married, I added;
Even though it’s my fault mom had to get married…
Even though I am to blame mom had no choice but to get married so young…
Even though I was a mistake…(not that my parents ever made that claim, as the unborn child it may have been a potential thought!)
The last few remaining allergy symptoms vaporized!
At this point, I think I finally have my allergy cured. But the test once again will come next season. And if there is more to it, I know that the needed memories will begin to surface. Sometimes you can fix it all at once, but don’t fret and worry if it takes time. Just go with the flow and your body will do the detective work for you and offer up the evidence you need as you need it. I’m living proof you can heal your self!
Terri Webb
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Case Study 3
Back Pain and the Issue of Being “Not Good Enough”
Archive Category: Latest | Pain | Self-Acceptance |
by Jessie Wyatt
http://www.holisticallyyours.org
The process of uncovering the connection between physical pain and possible emotional contributors to the pain excites me. As a Holistic Wellness Counselor/EFT Practitioner, it continues to fascinate me to see how interwoven the two are.
This doesn’t diminish or take away from the validity or truth of our physical ailments. But rather, what’s important in our journey to healing is to discover how our emotional issues can fuel the pain and hold us back from healing.
I had a client, a fellow in his late twenties, come to me for back pain. He’d read about EFT and wanted to give it a try for the pain. He explained to me how he exercises, works out regularly, has tried physical therapy, acupuncture, sees a chiropractor every week, and yet he still has back pain. His MRIs showed nothing to account for the amount of pain he suffers. He’s driven himself mercifully trying to get rid of this pain.
We started off by tapping on the physical pain and frustration:
Even though I have this problem; I’ve had it for years—this back pain that doesn’t go away, even after trying everything to heal it. I’m discouraged and frustrated by this lack of healing.
I’m angry about it. It depresses me. After all this effort, it should be better! It doesn’t feel fair. I feel cheated. I should be better and stronger. I’ve worked so hard at trying to get rid of this back pain.
My back pain should be gone—it’s not fair. But despite this back pain I deeply and completely love and accept myself.
We tapped on each of the sequence points, saying “this back pain, which won’t heal” and “I’m discouraged and angry”.
As we talked and tapped we discovered that the first time he had back pain was as a young teen, when he started vigorously lifting weights to build himself up. He was always the skinny kid and tired of being teased. So, he engaged in dangerously aggressive physical workouts in an attempt to improve his body.
We explored and tapped on being not good enough, not built up enough, being too skinny, and all of those related issues.
We next uncovered that his mother didn’t think he was good enough and told him he wouldn’t amount to anything. So we tapped on a few specific events dealing with his mother.
As we continued to tap on all of these specific events (“table legs”), slowly the issue of not being good enough and not looking good enough started to collapse. As the table legs (events) started to collapse, he noticed his back pain starting to diminish. This didn’t happen after one session, but after about a half dozen sessions.
Equally important, he started to feel lighter, more tolerant, and accepting, and more relaxed about life in general. He noticed these shifts even before his back pain started to improve! He said he no longer felt quite so critical of himself or others.
We always finished our sessions with a round of sequence point tapping and some positive affirmations. Since we’d cleared his energy system of disruptions from negative feelings, we wanted to reprogram his subconscious with positive replacement thoughts such as these.
I am on a wonderful journey towards complete healing
I look good and I feel good
My back is strong and healthy
I let go of the need to be perfect
I accept myself the way I am
I heal easily and fully
My back is strong and flexible and feels good today
Everyday I am learning to appreciate myself more
I am choosing to enjoy life
I’m choosing to be happy and to accept myself
Jessie Wyatt
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Case Study 4
EFT Relieves and Relaxes Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Archive Category: EFT Strategies | Latest | Serious Disease | March 24, 2012
By Baerbel Froehlin
http://www.smoothchanges.com
Colorado Springs, Colorado, US
My experience with a group of women suffering from Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is very helpful to understand how insidious and debilitating this illness can be. EFT is valuable because of its simplicity, its gentle and universal use and creative applications.
Many of us work with additional healing modalities; EFT can be the “work horse that pulls the cart forward” in difficult situations.
They Had “No Life Left”
In 2000 I started working with FMS/CFS (Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) clients in weekly group therapy sessions. The first motivation for starting the group was my personal battle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS is a common symptom of Fibromyalgia. The group sessions were two hours long and included up to six clients in one session. The majority of my clients came to join what I called “Relaxation Therapy” because they had “no more ways to go”, “had no life left”, or “just HAD to get help”.
When I started the group I believed it would work well for overall symptom management. I had just started using basic EFT applications in my office and had noticed how much it increased success rates. Never did I expect that it would become the solution for the core issues of their illness for most of my clients. Since 2001 I’ve been in contact with many former group members; all of them are still symptom free. I believe EFT had the greatest impact on the improvements all participants experienced.
Painful Symptoms
My clients were either on disability, not able to work any longer or not able to move around without help, or all of the above when they first came to me. Symptoms typically included widespread pain and fatigue. Very often FMS comes along with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Symptoms include pain in soft tissues, skin, organs throughout the body, muscle spasm, pain in neck, shoulders, feet, back, facial pain, headaches, sleep disturbances, flu-like symptoms, environmental hypersensitivity, gastrointestinal problems (IBS), irritable bladder, depression and anxiety. The pain is unpredictable and more generalized than it is in arthritis or regional pain disorders; there is also a chronic dysfunction, decreased attention span and often impaired short memory noticeable in clients who suffer from FMS/CFS.
EFT as Gentle Motivator
Besides being depressed and anxious, FMS sufferers did not want to invest any time, energy or money, and needed to be motivated constantly during the first time of their therapy. Motivation to exercise, to be patient, understanding and loving with THEMSELVES was a crucial part of therapy. There was rarely any knowledge of body-mind connection. I had to work hard to achieve overall body relaxation, motivating them to especially let go of much pain-causing tension. I had them follow me into guided imagery, never forcing or pushing them into actually doing something. EFT was the most gentle help and motivator during those times and could cover everything that needed to be addressed.
No Commitments
The typical FMS/CFS client shied away from ANY type of commitment, since she never knew what her next day would be like, if she could function at all. The typical FMS/CFS client I worked with could not plan anything in advance. I worked with a 79-year old lady with severe CFS. Her only trip out of the house was the Sunday morning church visit. Every second Sunday or so she would faint and fall to the floor, unconscious, the whole congregation watching her. Another client, a woman in her forties, could never make it through her weekly grocery shopping; she became always paralyzed by pain in the midst of it.
EFT Heals the Effects of Trauma
I learned then that Fibromyalgia really “explodes” as an illness when when clients have accumulated enough traumas in their lives – in their bodies. This can be emotional and physical trauma of any kind. All those car accidents, when nothing “really” happened; all those sad and hurtful times; losses of friends and family members, jobs and identity; parents that had to leave early in life; abuse of all kinds; divorces; suicide of friends, and other traumas. Apparently trauma is stored in our bodies, maybe to different degrees for different people. We HAVE to deal with the things that happen to us in order not to get sick, if we like that or not. In the healing field we have known for a long time that the body does not forget anything that ever happened to it, nor does the mind. EFT definitely came to the rescue here.
Creating “Relaxation Therapy”
I created “Relaxation Therapy” because it is a gentle but determined approach and works beautifully well. It’s a technique any therapist can adopt, follow and even create more and more of as they go. It consists of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), group hypnosis, guided imagery, metaphors and suggestions for physical and emotional well-being, some coaching techniques. It provided tools for re-empowerment of the client, re-gaining self-confidence and self-love, explorations of how trauma manifests in body and mind, establishing awareness of the body-mind connection, and artistic expression to explore and communicate with Self. EFT here is especially important for stress management; it is easy to apply once clients are motivated to use it.
Relaxation Treatment Results
After having talked to approximately 80 FMS sufferers and working intensely with more than 30 acutely ill FMS clients, I had some women who were completely symptom-free after 6 weeks of weekly group sessions, and still remain symptom-free after 12 years. Most of the others at that time were able to reduce their very severe symptoms to as little as 10% to 30%, with symptom-free times in between sessions. Flare-ups appeared only in extreme stress situations, or when the client did not stick to the relaxation routine she learned during group sessions.
EFT was an important part and applied regularly each time in the most basic form. Clients would tap the Karate Chop (KC), face points and collarbone (CB) only for two or three rounds, addressing silently in their minds anything that felt disturbing or painful at that time. Before and after tapping, FMS symptom charts were filled out with numbers between 1 and 10, to rate the typical symptoms. Filling out the charts was a potent psychological motivator since the pain numbers dropped drastically low after using EFT. In the beginning of the group sessions I often had individual participants address their concerns and pains which the group then tapped on. Everyone to some extent shared the concerns and later the healing. Tap for one; get six free, I used to think to myself.
Included in this therapy were the audiotapes (yes, it was such a long time ago!) that I customized for my FMS clients. There is a basic procedure and sequence of tapes clients listened to daily. Here EFT was used to tap along while listening to the hypnosis tape. I greatly encouraged that and of course, I still do. Tapping along with positive messages for healing works powerfully well to quickly establish physical and emotional wellbeing.
Baerbel Froehlin is an Advanced EFT Practitioner. Visit her online at http://www.SmoothChanges.com
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Finally and Again on How to Tap:
Adapted from The EFT Free Manual
Please Note: Before trying EFT, you agree to take full responsibility for your wellbeing, and for your exploration of these techniques.
1. Notice something specific that is bothering you. It might be a feeling in your body (tension headache, tight chest, heavy heart, etc.) or a specific thought or negative emotion in your head (angry about my friend, overwhelmed by work, my horrible boss). For the sake of this exercise, lets name your bothersome issue “this stress.” Now rate the intensity on a scale of 0-10. How intense is this particular stress?
2. Do the EFT Setup. To perform the Setup, tap on the Karate Chop point (outside edge of hand, fig. 1) and repeat the following phrase three times: Even though I have this stress, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.
3. Tap through the Sequence (figs. 3 and 4, several times on each point) while repeating the words “this stress…”
4. Pause to notice the effects of the tapping. Give yourself a moment to think about what has been bothering you. How intense is what you have been calling “this stress?” Has the number changed? What number would you give the intensity now?
5. Repeat the tapping process again. The second time around, we often change the wording a little:
Even though I still have some of this stress, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.
6. Exhale the words “this stress…” as you tap on each point, tapping until your intensity subsides substantially and you feel better. Repeat the whole process if necessary, until the emotional intensity is as low as it will go.
Is the problem still bothering you in the same way? You may feel a lightness or a distance from the problem that you had not previously felt. Notice the changes you have been through, and congratulate yourself. You have just given yourself an experience of EFT.
Sources & References:
http://www.eftfree.net/category/physical-issues/serious-disease/
http://www.eftfree.net/get-the-eftfree-manual-2/