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| Emotional Freedom Techniques and Recovery |
| Columns - Alternative Therapies | |
| Written by Loretta Sparks, MA, LMFT, DCEP | |
| Tuesday, 04 March 2008 | |
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Sally was sitting in front of me reluctantly rolling up her sleeve to
show me the razor cuts she had made on her arm the night before.
Although she had attended and actively participated in an Alcoholics
Anonymous meeting that night, she still cut herself to alleviate the
unbearable emotional tension she was experiencing. For two years I had been treating Sally, a gainfully employed college graduate, married for 25 years with two grown children. She arrived at the large HMO Addiction Medicine Department, seeking help for her drinking, which by her account, had been a problem for more than 20 years. In the two years I spent working with Sally, she maintained her abstinence, got a sponsor and did her 12 step work. She also attempted suicide three times. Sally’s self-injury increased, as did her bouts with depression. She was admitted twice to our mental health hospital for stabilization. The psychiatric medications she had been prescribed were not helping her cope with her struggle not to drink, and she turned to alcohol to numb her pain. As a licensed psychotherapist with many years of experience in the addiction field, I had been trained in a number of modalities to address trauma. However, Sally was too raw to even talk about the betrayal and horror of the almost daily sexual abuse she suffered as a child. Even the groups that focused on sexual abuse at our clinic could not provide a safe therapeutic environment for the kind of experiences she had endured. So, in 1995, I reached out to my professional community, where I learned of a therapeutic technique — a tool that I hoped would allow for the treatment of her pain and trauma. My introduction to Energy Psychology and my subsequent training in Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) was what I had been looking for — a way to treat Sally’s traumatic memories without re-traumatizing her. I introduced Sally to EFT as a type of emotional acupressure. Though skeptical at first, she was willing to try this unusual approach, and the result of our initial session was stunning. For the first time in the two years that we had been working together, Sally’s emotional pain was visibly eased during our session. Although EFT is extremely gentle, some of Sally’s memories were so overwhelming that we had to find ways of addressing them indirectly. Her fear of talking about them was almost as strong as the pain of the memories themselves. With EFT and some creativity, we were able to find ways to address years of trauma and start the deep healing that was necessary for Sally to have the life she deserved, free of the horrors of the past and free of alcoholism. Today much of the therapeutic creativity Sally and I developed has long since become part of the user-friendly protocols that are commonly used in the EFT treatment. The Tearless Trauma, The Movie Technique, The Tell-a-Story Technique and others all allow you to work with clients in a manner that will yield positive results without creating any more pain. While the EFT case history I shared with you was about an individual with over two years of recovery, I have found EFT extremely powerful at all stages of recovery. In the early stage of treatment, EFT is dynamic and powerful in its ability to stop cravings and urges. It is also extremely useful in addressing psychological barriers to recovery and recovery activities. EFT can eliminate particular stressors that trigger relapse, and when used several times a day, can reduce an individual’s stress overall. EFT is also helpful to family members who have suffered the collateral damage of addiction. Their resentment, guilt, anger and codependency issues can keep the family in turmoil and undermine the addict’s recovery. After abstinence has been stabilized mid-stage in recovery, treatment for trauma can be addressed with EFT. Remember, trauma work is for the client who is stable in recovery. In the final stage of treatment, EFT can be used for any necessary remaining trauma resolution issues. Stress is always a concern in recovery. Stress management and stress resolution are integral parts of EFT treatment at all stages of recovery. Emotional Freedom Techniques —what are they and how do they work? EFT is a kind of psychological acupressure. Like acupressure, EFT addresses the body’s energy system. Foundational to EFT is the understanding that all negative emotions are disruptions in the body’s energy system. These disruptions are at the root of all addictions, anxieties, traumas and phobias, as well as all negative emotions. Most of us who treat addiction have little exposure to treating the energy system. We have been trained to focus on the behavioral and cognitive aspects of our client’s functioning. EFT brings with it the challenge of expanding our view of our clients, a view beyond their thinking or behavior, a view that addresses their energetic system. EFT uses energy meridian treatment points on the face, torso and hand. The client, while focusing on his or her disturbing thought, rates the distress it causes on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 being worse). While concentrating on the troubling thought, the client uses his or her fingertips to tap on the energy meridian treatment points. It is only when the distress of the disturbing thought has been reduced to zero, that the client has truly achieved emotional freedom. After using EFT for a dozen years, I continue to be grateful to be able to share these wonderful techniques with my clients. They are easy to learn, easy to use and a blessing to have in a recovering person’s sobriety tool box. One person has commented on this article. 1. Untitled Pat S - EFT, Unregistered Your article inspired me to look up the EFT website and watch their YouTube clip. I have sent for the manual and plan to learn about it and incorporate it into my therapy practice. I work with many addicts who are sexual abuse survivors and they have NO IDEA that their body is the storehouse for the trauma. Thanks for your insightful article. Posted 2008-03-06 11:47:26              |
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