Hi Everyone,
Puja Kanth from India shows us how she brings relief to a grief-stricken, suicidal client over the phone, despite some cultural difficulties. Puja says, “In India, getting any form of therapy for psychological issues is still considered taboo. Therefore EFT, despite being an energy therapy, is met with resistance. However, once the process is explained clearly and the affirmations customized according to the mindset of the person seeking therapy, the resistance dissolves.” Note that there are pros and cons to doing suicide work over the phone and this is one area where EFT newbies should heed the warning, “Don’t go where you don’t belong.”
The Editors
I am a counseling Psychologist and have been using EFT while working with clients for several years, doing phone and online EFT. I get great results with it. In each and every case there has been immediate relief followed by more improvement with every session. EFT works much faster than traditional therapy and I wouldn’t dream of doing counseling without EFT as an integral part of it.
I would like to share one case in which the woman was completely new to EFT. This session with her was done completely on the phone. I have never met her in person and she had never heard of EFT. For confidentiality purposes I have named her “Lekha”.
I got a call from one of my clients saying that her friend, Lekha, was suicidal and needed immediate counseling. When Lekha called me she was crying and revealed that her 16 year old niece had died in a road accident a few days ago. She could not sleep after the accident and had nightmares. She could not leave her bedroom as she had visions of her niece. She had secluded herself in one room since the accident.
When she called, I explained to her that I would be doing EFT which is an energy therapy. Then I asked her if she could rub the sore spot and tap on a few other points; I described these points to her on the phone. She immediately refused and said that she didn’t have a mental problem and she did not need EFT. I explained what EFT does and how it clears negative emotions. She became hysterical and said that what she was feeling was not a negative emotion, it was genuine grief. Grief is not negative, she said.
I told her that grief was a natural emotion but since it was interfering in her day to day activities, it needed to be lightened. I told her that EFT will not take away her niece’s memory. The memories of her niece will always stay with her. I said – “EFT is like meditation, it will relax you, calm your nerves, will help you to accept the way things are. You don’t have a mental problem. Experiencing an emotion is not a problem; only the intensity of the emotion is a concern which can be addressed by EFT, if you allow me to.”
This made her calm and she agreed to rub on the sore spot. I asked her to repeat the set up statement.
Even though I feel overwhelmed with grief…
When I told her to say this sentence she said that she was not ready to accept herself without grief. Then I improvised the statements and we began tapping on the following –
Even though I’m not ready to accept myself…
Even though I’m not ready for EFT…
Even though I am not ready to accept myself without grief, I love and accept myself.
After 2 rounds of each affirmation she felt calmer and had stopped crying. Tapping on grief followed (2 rounds of each)-
Even though I’m not ready to let go of my grief…
Even though I feel responsible for the death…
Even though I feel that I should have died with her…
Even though I could not keep up my promise to her…
Even though I feel that my niece is somewhere there and I will join her…
After this she said that she felt much better and peaceful. She spoke about the time spent with her niece and the other problems dominating her life. The call lasted for 90 minutes.
She called me the next day and said that she was feeling more relaxed than she had in the past few days .She was sad but getting on with her life. She had a good sleep; without nightmares. She didn’t feel suicidal anymore. My client reported that Lekha has been fine since then. She was able to come out of her room and join her job which she was on the verge of quitting.
The remarkable thing about EFT is that even a few rounds at times are enough for very powerful emotions. Even if the person is not ready to do EFT, the PR technique takes care of that resistance completely. Also, a few rounds on some aspects take care of other associated aspects as well. Lekha got good sleep despite not having tapped on the sleep aspect.
In India, getting any form of therapy for psychological issues is still considered taboo. Therefore EFT, despite being an energy therapy, is met with resistance. However, once the process is explained clearly and the affirmations customized according to the mindset of the person seeking therapy, the resistance dissolves.
Thanks,
Puja