EFT

[Truebluemom]

I just came across this website.  The link is to a free download of how to use Tapping (a form of acupressure) to clear blockages.  I believe this is an abbreviated form of the therapy and can be used by anyone.  EFT, I believe, stands for Energy Focused Therapy.  I have used a form of this myself to help with trauma issues.  It helped me.  Not making any promises and this may not be in everyones comfort zone, but hey, it's free.  Check it out if you are interested.

http://www.EFTuniverse.com/images/pdf_files/eftquickstart.pdf

[Roxanne]

Hi Trueblue...

Last week I went to a therapist who used EFT on me... It was the most miserable thing I had ever been through, I cried and cried and cried, went home and laid down on the bed for the rest of the evening with a strange headache, some nausea and outright exhaustion.  I'm not sure how much of that was me admitting I don't like my new DD10 of 3 months, and how much of it was actually me just releasing some deep feelings. 

She told me that it was good that the final paperwork wasn't signed, and that this child is as damaged as children come.  She agreed to meet again with DD10 and I in a week, which was last night.

Well, 45 minutes into the session all three of us were still painting/drawing houses and I'm thinking... this could get expensive, but at least I'm having some quiet art time.

Then she sits us down on the couch and explains that she had seen a lot of sadness and fear in his drawing.  She asked him if this was true and he agreed.  She goes on to explain a little bit about EFT to DD10 and then has me hold him and start tapping on him.  She had him repeat things she was saying as we tapped like "I'm very very sad"  "I'm a good boy"  "I'm an innocent boy"  "Nothing that happened was my fault" and he started weeping about 15 seconds into it.  She had me keep repeating what she was saying and kept tapping, then he took over repeating again.  When it was all done she asked if he felt ok and if he wanted to give his mom a hug.  He nodded and gave me the most genuinely loving hug I had received from him in our 3 months together. 

The therapist then says to me "I think we can work with this" and tells me that she didn't see any violent signs in his artwork, but unfortunately she isn't trained in RAD and I will cautiously continue forth with eyes wide open.

I don't know if it will really work, it's too early to tell, but it did seem to release some of what he was holding inside. 

I'm interested to know if anyone else has tried it?  Any success stories or comments out there?

[neitlingme]

Thanks for sharing your experience Roxanne...

I have no experience with it, but what you just said makes me want to investigate it a little further now.    Keep us up to date on how it goes!

[blessingsindisguise]

Very interesting.

Keep us posted!

blessings

[Roxanne]

Quick update: 

DD10 has been asking me to do the tapping on him the past 3 nights instead of a story,  (that's EVERY night since we met with the EFT therapist).  He does seem calmer and more balanced the past couple days.   Of course he still does silly things, but he seems to be opening up a lot. 

I have been and asking him nightly if there's anything that happened during the day that made him feel sad, angry, worried or upset and he has been specifically stating what that is.  We taptaptap it away, and he seems relaxed and happy.  To me this is amazing progress. 

On the other hand, the past few days DD6 seems to be acting out... Just get one mellowed out and another one makes sure I stay on my toes.       Soooo, I'm definitely interested in trying out the EFT tapping with him too.

To be continued.

[MaKettle]

I did EFT with DD's AT several years ago.  It was over an old unresolved loss issue of my own.  I was able to get thru the entire grieving process in one afternoon.

[Roxanne]

First off, holy snappers!  I just realized during this whole post I've been calling my DS10 - DD10 and my DS6- DD6!  OOPS!  So sorry for the newbie flub.     

An update on DS10.  After the first 3 days of wanting to do EFT he all of a sudden didn't want to anymore... at the same time I also noticed a slip in behaviour and attitude.  At the next session when the therapist asked if there was anything he wanted to tap on, he said no, he felt much better.  Huh.  Just like that.  Closed door.  I suppose I should find ways to work it in because I do feel like it helped, but you know... sometimes I just don't have the patience.

With DS6 the therapist let us borrow a "tappy bear", basically a teddy bear used as a surrogate that the child does EFT on.  It's really been fun bonding time for the whole family at nite... DS10, DS6 and DD5.   

This is how it's been working for us... After a group bedtime story I start animating Tappy, speaking in my best squeaky-but-cute-teddy-bear-voice, "I'm really happy to meet all of you but I'm really worried and scared being in this new house, can you help me feel better?"  (The boys have only been home for a few months).  Instantly DS6 goes to work tapping trying to make the bear feel better.  Then DS10 wants to be the one to control everything and grabs the bear which irritates Tappy, and so now he's now growling that this makes him very angry and can someone please help him!?  It makes everyone laugh, but it's really interesting to see the different reactions of the three kids.  I definitely have two lil' kids with a lot of empathy and one older one who would really rather stir the pot.  Just like real life. 

For those of you who have porcupines with extra long quills, the Tappy bear is definitely something to look into, even though you aren't actually tapping on acupressure points on the child, it might be a good starting point.   

Tonite Tappy bear is going to teach every kidlet's chosen teddy how to do EFT because he has to go back to the therapist.  I'll sew on some little beads on the spots that need to be tapped, just like tappy bear.  (I'm in Mexico, so shipping 3 tappy bears here could get expensive, but if you're interested in the original, here's some more info...  http://www.tappybear.com/blog/)

For you skeptics... I know the whole tapping on your head things seems bizarre... tapping on a stuffed animal even more so... Just know that it is still sort of weird to me...  but at the very least I got some guilt, negativity and fear out of my own system with my solo sessions with the EFT therapist.   Also for the kidlets, I think it's a window into their true feelings, I've seen some true emotion where there used to be a wall of aloofness.  I do feel like it is based on scientific principles, I have seen some changes, and it is free, so I'll keep it as one of my tools in my tickle-trunk.

Thanks to Trublu for this great link... It's a really good intro to EFT. 
http://www.eftuniverse.com/images/pdf_files/eftquickstart.pdf