Seeing the public health and political emergencies play out directly in our daily lives or impacting our culture are without a doubt unprecedented.  Whether we have experienced the untimely death of a loved one or just survived a bout of Covid19 ourselves or in our family, our community has changed.  Like it or not, the work world and economy has changed.  Remote work and ordering everything online is here to stay.  The struggle to define what an individual can and can not do to protect the many is being examined and redefined forever.

Also being redefined is our trust in our political institutions.  Who do we trust them to give us honest information?  How do we arrive at a conclusion that ground our actions? How do we manage our emotional reactions as we confront the reality of living together?  Never before has our long-held bias toward others been so directly addressed. Racism, classism, sexism; have shown themselves as never before in the struggle of social and environmental justice.

For me it has become even more important than ever before that we heal from our pains of the past and transform the fears of the future to productive, positive plans and actions. لعبه كونكر   As we begin this New Year, I offer a deep heart felt thank you to all.  Each and every one us who has helped another human being personally or professional to get through has made us all better this past year. onecard fawry   This care, concern, and love expressed last year and individually has spread to their families, communities, and in doing so has come to me. كازينو لبنان   Again, thank you and welcome to 2021.

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There is an opening zoom call exercise that asks each person to draw a picture (stick picture are okay!) and then to share a memory of the holidays.  I am surprised by how difficult it can be for many to come up with good memories.  Finding the negative may be easier but not what we want to share with others.  These family and cultural memories of our childhood create our expectations and prescriptions for the holiday.

If meeting all the expectations for the holidays results in you being exhausted, sleep deprived, emotionally overwhelmed, or ….  Then consider writing a new expectation.  “Treat yourself with the same love and kindness as you treat a loved one, friend, or even a stranger. stromectol price south africa ”

If you cannot give up the family and cultural expectations, at least practice a bit of harm reduction with some tapping, positive connection, and perhaps a bit of self care.

When you think of slowing down or setting priorities, notice what you sense in your body. ivermectin mg   If you cannot sense you body or if the feelings are achy or itchy, then start with some tapping.  Do the crisis tapping to start.  When the overwhelming feelings are managed, you can make some new expectations for yourself and your family.

You may need to tap more.  There is tapping to help with depression, grief, season affective disorder and of course the trauma of past holiday disappointments and hurts.

My wish for all of us: may we all active an intentions grounded in love, care, and most importantly for me at this time of year is gratefulness.

I am grateful in sharing this message with you. como tomar ivermectina 2 comprimidos de uma vez

The post Some Help Finding the “Happy” in Happy Holidays appeared first on Thought Field Therapy Center of San Diego.

However, recently she had been experiencing overwhelming emotional distress. Finding herself at times in fits of rage, or frozen in fear, or feeling isolated and alone without hope. Not feeling herself often she knew she had to have some help again. She suddenly was feeling like that little girl who had been locked in the closet with her grandfather’s pornographic magazines – powerless and waiting for him to return and start again on her. My heart hurt as I heard her describe these all too often flashbacks and powerless states. We of course used tapping to help with the pain (hers and mine) and to bring her back to a place where she could work on avoiding or eliminating the triggers.

She was very much aware that the reason she was being triggered was because of the images sounds and actions of Donald Trump. His physical look, unkind and impenetrable expressions, and the complete lack of any indication of empathy or sympathy for anyone were her triggers. As was her way, she found her strength and courage to come back to living in a world so full of reminders of the violence done to children, women, and disadvantaged peoples of all varieties, but knew this should not be so hard after so many years of working through her trauma. Within our sessions we used energetic techniques to help her remain in the here and now, safe as an adult working out ways to know the difference between her grandfather and Donald Trump. Sharpening her perception as to what she was exposed to on the nightly news or disruptive Facebook posts she began to have less (both in frequency and intensity) triggered experiences. And when she did, she knew how to tap and to get the support she needed to stay safe in the here and now.

We have continued sessions throughout Pres. Trump’s term of office. Some of this was simply for her to have a supportive place to process her thoughts and feelings about having to be exposed to this constant reminder of the violence in her past. She also has found a new and deeper understanding of the violence from her childhood. And she has found how this understanding is informing her creative work in new ways.

She was not the only client who found their way back into therapy with me or others as the President’s images, sounds, and behaviors was everywhere.

When a facial expression, vocal tone, or mean intention takes one back to an experience of being a powerless victim of violence remember to tap.

When we look around in our current political, social, and cultural environment the traumatic stressor events are many and powerful. Just withstanding the traumatic stressor events confronting us daily we can easily be triggered into reliving the past. But this is particularly difficult when we are constantly assaulted with uncaring and callous communications from a president who very much looks and acts like a man incapable of caring for human beings in front of him.  With all that power he has- we should be on alert.

I know that for many of you my sharing this political opinion would be outside normal rules of engagement with clients and the public. I understand that and please understand that I am always honest with my clients about what I see and know.  My client was not crazy or wrong. She was triggered by her honest assessment of who Pres. Trump is today.

Remember to tap and that we are capable of kindness to balance the bullying done by those with power and no regard for the impact they have on other humans.  As is often the case, tapping by itself is insufficient in bringing about lasting change – sometimes one as to take other action.  Advocate in your best interest and Vote!

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 I’m talking with a client who has some pretty severe symptoms and ended up with a couple of psychiatric hospitalizations. While her diagnosis was pretty straightforward for the hospital staff (manic-depressive with psychotic episodes) this did little to explain to her how to be better and not end up in the hospital again. So, through my lens of traumatic stress, we started by talking about what she experiences when she’s in this horrible state.  She feels things are going on inside of her causing her to have difficulty sleeping, maintaining focus and concentration. She is so upset she cannot come to a conclusion or understanding that is helpful or that she can rely upon in directing her actions. When asked directly what is going on at the worst times. She says that she sometimes sees things that others don’t, she sometimes feels things others don’t, she sometimes knows things that others cannot know or relate to.  And she recognizes people around her are clueless about what she is sharing with them.

When directed to attend to her experience in her body currently she reports difficulty breathing and an uncomfortable sometimes painful tension throughout her body and despairing sense of being alone in her fear the world gone so wrong. So, while she is trying to make sense of all of this and to explain to her satisfaction what is going on and what she needs to do about it, she turns to a more mystical model of the world. She describes a universe of good and evil forces, of alien being, of ghosts, and of malevolent forces.

While her feelings and experiences may be real to her, they do not serve her in the context of what she desires out of her life. She is explaining what she experiences with references to entities, aliens, and forces of good and evil being played out around her and her roles in setting the universe right. She perceives the universe as a battle of mystic forces. Her model of the world is reflective of how she perceives herself in other areas of her life. For example, the mystic forces that are outside of her, the ones motivating the  misunderstanding, the pain in her body, are all processes of behaviors that she does to herself.

As she shared her explanation of what was happening, I invited her to be notice again what she is sensing in her body in this moment, in this shared space, in our connection, and in her triggered responses.  Then we tap and/or apply other energy techniques to change her level of fear, pain, and muscle tension. Then we talk about a simpler explanation for her condition and the importance of protecting herself and tending to her physical needs before fixing the external world.  Calming her mind and relaxing her body to connect in grounded positive ways without so much talk of the frequencies or entities unseen by normal humans.  As we explored her history her experiences and responses to the world appeared more reasonable. Without giving up her mystical belief she was attending to thinking and acting to heal her fears and pain of the past first and making political, social, or cosmic changes only when she is safe.

It is rare that one will find themselves in the extreme conditions I am describing here but in all recovery processes we must make sense of our experience.

A deeper understanding of the impact of triggers is helpful in making sense out of how one ends up with obsessive thinking, or unending manic activity, and in the most severe cases psychosis. When this psychosis interferes with ability to communicate with others or to act in ways others see as the normal real problems can occur. Psychosis can be the result of biochemical imbalances, toxic exposures, or overwhelming persistence traumatic stress.

Triggers take a person out of the moment and sets off physiological and behavioral responses. The sensations one feels and what one does at that moment can be pretty horrible. If we catch this as it is happening, tapping can do a great deal to alleviate this experience. But, if we’ve not been able to manage these horrible feelings and sensations and return to the moment and feel safe, we may jump out of our body by attending to the top of our brain to rationalize or avoid what we feel. We may even resort to extraordinary attempts to at least make sense out of what is going on, especially if our traumatic stressor events started young and continued a long time.

As human beings we all must make some sense out of our existence and experience. The discussion about this need has been around for a long time. When we cannot make sense of something, we begin to make up missing information rather than continuing to work with what we know to be true in the most grounded ways. We need to have an explanation of our feeling and behaviors to feel less out of control.

Once triggered most of us find some comfort in being able to arrive at an explanation of how this horrible reaction came about, as with my client. If our conscious model of traumatic stress is comprehensive and includes an explanation of how we were triggered and what we are experiencing, we can often let go of obsessive cognitive processing and attend to coming back into the here and now experience.

But a common problem is that no matter how we think about something, as long as the triggered reaction continues to be felt in the body we have to struggle with finding a way out. While in the top of our brains we can easily be caught in an abstract loop of modeling and formulating the world to explain what we are experiencing and we just keep going and going and going and going in these thoughts and actions related to this thinking.  And being the wonderfully creative and imaginative entities we have evolved into, we can come up with all kinds of explanations and models without having to be grounded in the physical plane we all live in.  Empirical evidence is not required.

The purpose of all this unconventional behavior and communications with others is understandable but, a simpler explanation can be found with a careful exploration of ones’ perceptions, nuroceptions, and emotions along with a careful examination of their abstracted formulation of the world and relationships around them. A comprehensive history of anyone’s early childhood development and accounting for unique sensitivities to physical, mental, social, relational conditions, one can understand what is going.

When we can’t make sense of why people do the things they do, or aren’t able to discern a purpose for acting in a negative violent controlling way, we may turn to explanations that invoke evil, malevolent energetic forces, curses, soul stealing, black magic or other such things.

To make sense of our experience is to remember all behavior has a purpose.  The purpose is to survive. This simple explanation takes us back to being grounded in our bodies, and a felt sense that our behavior need not to be blamed or shamed, either by ourselves or someone else.

The post A World Without Evil: Living with Persistent Triggers appeared first on Thought Field Therapy Center of San Diego.

In traumatic stress recovery work we often hear,

“I’ve been triggered.”

“That’s a trigger for me.”

“He triggered me.”

     This generally means that one has gone from a calm and relaxed state with a clear focus in this moment and what is in front of them to a state of upset. Suddenly the body feels in a highly activated state. This activation can come in the form of a pounding heart, difficulty breathing, an urge to run, numbness, drained of energy, or being frozen in place. Suddenly, one’s mind is unable to follow a line of thought or concentrate on the task at hand. Your mind simply is reacting to input flooding in from your senses. What a moment ago had no impact on your choices and actions suddenly may now be the only thing holding your awareness.

Common in post traumatic stress recovery of these experiences of reliving an event from the past as though you are there again. A full-on flashback is a horrible experience, as bad as when it first happened. It may feel even worse because now you’re out of time and place and that adds to a sense of powerless. Something that sets you into this place is a trigger. For example, if you were recently in a car crash the sound of brakes screeching or the site of the vehicle out of control and heading towards another may set off a sense of re experiencing what had happened to you. But, not every time and not for every person will this re experiencing happened. Sometimes that sound or that site might remind you of might remind you of something that happened in the past and you will have memory. For example if I see a motorcycle laying down the side of the road that reminds me of some experiences I have had while riding. I can share those experiences or save those stories for another time. All the while remaining calm relaxed and focused on the task in front of me.

Just as there is a difference between a reminder and a memory experience there is also a difference between a flashback and a trigger. A memory is in my control. I choose the images, the feelings, the aspect of the events as they occurred, and the meaning of the meaning of it. A triggered state is out of my control. The images, the feelings, and my reactions happen without any consideration, or reality testing on my part.

Triggers:  Automatic reactions from previous events- flashback to a time and place with a limited set of possibilities. Focus of attention is taken.

Reminders: Activation of information about previous events from the perspective of one’s current time and place. The focus of attention is chosen.

Triggers can come in many forms and may lead to many reactions. Some much more severe than others.

 Recently a young woman shared with me what it was like to hear her stepfather had suddenly died. While they had had a very rocky relationship growing up, more recently she had seen a different side of him as he related to her young children. And she was able to see more clearly the possibility of a positive relationship. But suddenly that ended. When she got off the phone, she was frozen. She could only feel a sense of being locked up and unable to do anything. She had been triggered into a state the only thing was to be still and wait. Maybe because it was him and there had been a history when doing nothing was the safest thing for child to do. Maybe it was because she had never been confronted with death so closely. Maybe because she was already highly stressed by taking care of others and family. But at that moment she was not making decisions as to what was best for those she loved. After some time, she was able to come to an awareness that she was triggered.  Because she has experienced using Thought Field Therapy before, she was able to do the crisis pattern and come back into the moment where she was safe to take care of her baby and deal with this tragic turn of events.

She and I had talked about her growing up and her stepfather before this all happened. When she would talk about him or events that included him, she was able to focus on aspects she thought were important or useful to talk about. She could do this as we tried to piece together her identity grounded in her chaotic home. As we talked, she was reminded of different events and people, but always able to stay relaxed in the body and calm in her mind focusing on the aspects she chose. Very different than news of his death that triggered her…

When you set an alarm clock, this is not a trigger. Even though you may feel like it when you suddenly wake up you, know where you are and you know the time of the  moment you are in, and you take action in that moment. Turing off the alarm, getting your day started, possibly going back to sleep. While a police siren is a warning sometimes, sometimes it is a trigger. Our experiences and ways of responding to the world around us vary much more than the number of the days of our lives. We develop our methods of interacting with the world through the gathering of experiences unique to us. Sometimes experiences happen to us, while other times we create those experiences, but what remains is not so much the experience, but the emotion attached too and created by these experiences. Which is why different people can go through similar situations, some come out with trauma while others do not.  This is a reminder to be kind and accepting of other’s experiences, and mindful that triggers are something we all encounter. It is not to judge in others what triggered the trigger, but hold an accepting and safe space for listening, responding and healing.

The post I’ve Been Triggered… appeared first on Thought Field Therapy Center of San Diego.

The last time I wrote you, I had asked for your help.  This time I am asking you to let me join you in creating a different world.  A world with more peace, love, caring, and joy. If this is the world you want, please take everything I share with you about Thought Field Therapy, justice, communications, and human processes and pass it along.

Most people seek to quickly eliminate anxiety and pain with Thought Field Therapy.  This is wonderful when you feel better.   However, there is a bigger mission – Creating a world of peace and justice where we are empowered to fully express and share the gifts given to us with life.  The first step to any change is to bring about a shift in our awareness, whether that be in an issue we are currently dealing with, or our overall outlook on our situation.  When trapped living in pain, fear, and anxiety every day our only focus are the overwhelming feelings that come along with those sorts of issues. For example, you might find yourself in a situation or stage in your life that causes you to spin your wheels, grind yourself to bone, all the while feeling like things are spinning out of control. This is your anxiety talking. Reduce this pain and fear demanding all our energy using TFT and you will notice the possibility of ending the source of our suffering. Suffering and pain from the violence of social, economic, personal, and environmental injustice is the source of our purposeful reaction, shutting down awareness- when we need to make a change. Preventing further power inequities by thinking clearly, connecting with like minded people and changing the focus of our communities to caring comes from our awareness and  is possible when we tap.

Try this

Notice what you are thinking.  In your mind are you focused on reading this or is there other thoughts pulling at your attention.

Notice what is happening in your body.  Are you relaxed and at ease with your breathing and your position or are other sensations demanding your attention?  If you are anything but relaxed in your body and calm in your mind, then tap the crisis tapping pattern. (link to pattern)

My life experience leads me to expect that all change requires the active participation of those living those changes.  TFT is a powerful form of active participation. Tapping allows you to engage and participate in using your words and action to achieve your desires.

Tapping by itself will not make you lose weight or gain muscle

Tapping by itself will not take you to the next level of spiritual growth –to enlightenment

Tapping by itself will not give you joy and love

Tapping by itself will not heal your love relationships

Tapping by itself will not allow you to live life forward fully.

But Tapping makes the work so much easier and more fun.

Tapping will give you the tools to deal with feelings that are holding you back from living your best life

Tapping will empower you to walk through overwhelming feelings with more control and ease

And lastly, tapping will provide you with the tools to live your life as if you are in the driver seat. In control and In tune.   

We do not talk ourselves out of the fear and pain reactions that happen automatically to keep us safe and alive.  We change these limiting reactions the same way we learned them – experientially. TFT gives us a new experience than the one we had when in the learned triggered, emotional, and  overwhelmed states that stop us from using all of our brain and resources.  Once you have used Thought Field Therapy in one of those triggered overwhelmed moments, you know its power.  If you have not yet used TFT give it a try. https://www.youtube.com/user/DrRobertBray 

I have spent the last 23 years of my life practicing and exploring the knowledge and skills of Callahan Techniques® Thought Field Therapy.  At my first exposure to TFT I was intrigued, fascinated, and excited by the possibilities in my Traumatic Stress Recovery work.  TFT ended my drug addiction, heal my compassion fatigue, and gave me the strength to continue. The more I learned, the more I explored, and the more I looked beyond by initial interest, the more excited I became.  Today this excitement continues to sustain my professional and personal commitment to finding even more ways to use Dr. Callahan’s brilliant discoveries to end suffering.

If your Mission statement includes any of the following, please use all I write and say and let me join you:

Create a world of peace and social, economic, and environmental justice.

 Empower each individual to fully express and share the gifts of life.

Be fully into the moment connect with kindness, empathy, and gratitude.

Know all the value of self and others.

I want to know what you think.  I need to know what is helpful. Email me at rlbray@rlbray.com

End the pain of the past and transform fear of the future into plans and actions of joy.

The post May I Join You? appeared first on Thought Field Therapy Center of San Diego.

I know that I am not alone in these feelings, and many people feel unworthy of help. Whether that is masked by low self-esteem, or even feeling as if you are too good for the help you are in need of.   So before I get on with asking for help I will remind  you that in Thought Field Therapy we have a standard tapping pattern (algorithm) developed by Suzanne Connolly.  Rate your sense of how much you value and care for yourself  0-10 (ten is the good number on this one)- tap EB(eyebrow) , E(under eye), A(under arm) , C (under collarbone), IF (index finger), C,(collarbone) UN(under nose), Chin- 9 Gamut series, repeat previous tapping. Remember to correct for reversals as needed. If you are trained in Basic Thought Field Therapy this should be easy.  Contact me if you need help with this.

That was a good stall. The previous paragraph was me doing my take ‘care of other first’ before taking a risk of asking for help. The tricky thing, and what I find to be the most difficult when it comes to asking for help is the feeling I associate with the act of putting myself on the line, and I believe many can relate. A lot of the times, both personally and when I’m working with clients and I notice the response when I ask people to ask for help, they fear it will not be reciprocated, or it’s seen as a pubic assertion of failure on their part.( Which is a big reason people do not go to therapy) And as I grapple with these feelings, I stumbled upon a very obvious reality of how much I love to help people. I don’t view my clients as failures simply because they are coming to me, asking for help, I believe we are all worthy of help, and I’d like to believe that most people feel the same. Helping someone in whatever way we can, makes us feel good, it reminds us of our own perspectives and challenges us to understand others. The act of giving, makes us feel a sense of validation of own lives, we shift our perspectives of ourselves when we can  help others and it demonstrates, quite frankly, that we in are in a place to give, a place of abundance- while others at the moment may not be.

This all relates to asking for help, because it should show us that although we may be seeking help now, at some point in your life, you’ve helped someone and it made you feel some sort of positive emotion worthiness, happiness, protectiveness, security ….In that light, we can  begin to see the intimate relationship between venerability and joy, and ancient practice of giving and receiving. If asking for help is getting in the way, think about as receiving something you have already given. Don’t allow the ego, which holds the perceptions of ourselves, that low self-esteem, the feeling of being unworthy etc.. to block what it is that is coming to you naturally. We are all worthy of help, just like we know that of others, we should know that of ourselves. Help does not mean you’ve failed or you are weak, it means you are human and it reminds us that our venerability and humility can be the next step in the natural progression of life. After all that I will have to tap again before asking, graciously for help.  

What I would like help with, is making some changes in my way of doing business.  If you or anyone you know can help, I would greatly appreciate this.  I am committing to reaching more people with TFT – doing more live training, virtual training’s, online training’s, more speaking to non-profits, and conferences. I want to reach beyond the energy psychology and trauma associations I have been attending.  To do this I need to change the way I do business with individual clients.  I will do fewer session a week and move away from health insurance payments.  This will allow me to have the time to do proposals, outreach, and prep for different audiences.  To do this I need to rent out more offices in my condo and to find another therapist to take on insurance clients. Again, I am avoiding asking for help by explaining myself. I will tap again. It is a good thing I am good at this tapping stuff.

So please help me by spreading the work I have space to rent (see ad below).  Please spread the work I need to share my psychotherapy Thought Field Therapy based practice with someone willing take health insurance.  Please spread the word I want to reach more people with speaking and training.  The larger the number I am speaking to or training the better. If you know some who sets up training’s or speaking please tell them you know some one who is good at demonstrating, explaining, teaching and sharing cutting edge healing techniques.

Well I asked and I feel good about it. We are on this journey together.  Heal the Pains of the Past and Transform the Fears of the Future into Plans of Joy.

Thanks for your help.

*************AD***********

Hwy 8 at Fairmount Ave. One to three offices available $500- $700 each full time- Negotiable.  An owner-occupied office condo suite. Good sound proofing, large window, handicapped accessible, free parking, waiting room, light signaling system, kitchenette, in suite restroom.  Willing to work with those starting a private practice. Robert Bray 619-977-0804

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First, my reflections on the ending year can bring some positive cyclical energy. zakłady sportowe i bukmacherskie kontra multilotek chomikuj This year I can see the importance of kindness. The kindness of my clients who remind me of my value to them. One woman responded to a question of how she choose me, to help her through the suicide of her husband, “you were the only counselor I called who started by saying you felt sorry for what I was going through.” I hope I always remember expressions of generosity are the best points of contact when touching those who are hurting. Another client returned after 24 years. Now at eighty years of age, she was having some health and relationship challenges. When I asked why me, she said “what she remembered was a couple of ways that I helped her understand her situation. But, more importantly, she remembered how kind I was.” Their kindness in sharing these thoughts was lovely. Hearing just these two acknowledgments of me certainly helps me get through these short days. gry casino automaty online Long nights are a good time for such reflections. With all that said, remembering why we are important to people, and how with our own unique set of skills, we affect those around us in positive and joyous ways can create in us, a sense self-gratitude. Which is important as we often overlook our own needs and requirements for self-care. Reflect this season on the kindness we have shown others and also the kindness which others have shown us. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of our contributions to others, in order for us to give more fully and receive with more grace and presence.

Second, remember to tap. At this time of year even those who rush out with positive expectations into the celebrations, emotional stress generally increases. Tapping reduces the over-activation that comes with the stimulation of family, friends, and things to be done. With my increased sensitivity some things may bother me that at other times of the year would not bother me, so I tap. I give those around me special permission to, without hesitation to remind me to tap when they think I need it.

So reflect kindly on yourself and tap. Hope to see you at a Thought Field Therapy workshop somewhere next year. Happy holidays!

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“I just want to feel better, but words get in my way.”  There are no words to express the depth and intensity of my feeling.  I can’t find a word to describe what is happening in me.  Finding words seems impossible when there is nothing but pain and fear.”

Stop and Tap. Thought Field Therapy does not require words to help immediately.

As someone who’s life work is healing pain and transforming fear, I hear statements like the one above a lot. And I see the endless struggles to find words in hopes of feeling better, or at least making sense out of what is happening.    The expression on ones face, the tension in the body, the difficulty of breathing, the body’s movements, and the sense in ourselves all make it clear the other is caught in a torrent of sensation and unable to think, much less, to find the word to frame the experience acutely.

Thought Field Therapy is so simple.  Feel the feeling and start tapping.  Statements of the problem and/or affirmations -fake or real- are not needed to relax the body and calm the mind.  The Crisis Tapping pattern is almost always the best place to start.  You know how bad you feel just tap the points in the order given.

As the pain or fear, or whatever you end up calling it, dissipates your ability to think, find words, and act will return.  Your problem with words is not about being inadequate.  You use word all the time. Please don’t ever think you are too stupid.  The problem is you are overwhelmed by the part of your brain that controls your energy to keep you alive.  Our sensations commit us to fight or flight, freeze or faint, and often to responding without thinking.  We are creatures of habits and the triggers in and around us, set off learned responses that guide us. Sometimes in my life the best or safest thing to do is to not think or act.  We learn and keep habits that serve us.  We learn new habits when the old ones stop working.  You don’t have to understand the words in this paragraph to be better.  Notice what you feel and tap.

Thought Field Therapy is the original meridian point stimulation therapy discovered by Dr. Roger Callahan over thirty years ago.  Today the Crisis Tapping Pattern as with well as our other standard tapping patterns do not require words.  Enough words- go tap.  Link to video.

When you are ready for more attend a workshop and learn more specific techniques to help yourself and others.  As you go along you will recognize one of Dr. Callahan principles- the more specific – the more powerful.  The Basic workshop will give you tapping patterns and other energy techniques, practice, theory, research, and confidence.  The Intermediate Workshop will give you the skills to communicate directly with the control mechanisms of the person without words using Muscle Testing.  At this level you will be an even more specific and powerful healer.

A note for those who are familiar with EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and using the words;  Dr. Callahan stopped using affirmations shortly after the author of EFT left his study. Getting people to use words often complicates the treatment and does not improve the effectiveness of TFT treatment.

And finally, I want it to be known that I use a lot of words.  As a life-long social worker committed to ending useless suffering I know that part of the recovery process from traumatic stress is making sense of your experience by sharing your story with those you trust. More about this approach in my book.  Words are powerful means of connecting and growing. And, shaping and changing the world.  I love to hear my client’s word but only after the overwhelming upset has been tapped away.  Start with tapping. Stop Suffering.  Think and Act.  End you pains from the past and transform your fears in plans of joy.

Please watch our latest video as I go into more depth about the way TFT can bring about a more joyous life, free from mental health struggles, without needing to find the right words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvyVvCXs7T8

The post Too Many Words… appeared first on Thought Field Therapy Center of San Diego.

Courage is not a decision, but we all are courageous at times.

Courage is what we all felt as we watched the Dr. Blasey Ford during the recent Senate Supreme Court confirmations hearings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XqbQH0__o8  We all recognize courage when we see it.  In moments when one speaks one’s truth, acts with integrity, risks one’s well being for the well being of others we see courage.   But, saying that one chooses to act with courage is not accurate.  No one chooses to act courageously any more than one chooses cowardice.  In such moments when any part of our being is at risk we do the best we can.

I came to this conclusion while talking with friends at a dinner party.

Part One.

“Healing pains of the past and transforming fears of the future into dreams of joy”, I said explaining what I do for a living to a new acquaintance.  My new friend then asked how this happens and I started talking about Thought Field Therapy as a means to calm the mind and relax the body and come fully into the present moment. Using TFT as an effective way for people to find themselves in a safe place, and from this place of safety repair the injury and hurt from events experienced long ago using natural healing mechanisms …..  This where most people start to space out.  I get so caught up in expanding my understanding of humans, I forget most people don’t spend their days working on these questions.   So, to keep it interesting, I asked.” how do you think people heal from traumatic stress?”  My new friend, as I came to find out, just so happened to be a Buddhist.

We were on the same page about being fully present as a prerequisite to moving beyond old pains and fears of the future. But he suggested it is matter of perspective. To see the one’s upset as separate from the from reality.  Recognize the importance of what is really happening and don’t give illusions the power to control your feelings and actions.   I liked this perspective, as it led to some probing questions about how we actually go about not giving power to illusions that control your feelings. I enjoyed our discussion about meditation and a disciplined life.  But he had no answer for what to do when one is in such high levels of pain or panic when meditation or reasoned action is not possible. My new friend’s perspective is that we have the power to choose our feelings, and more importantly we have the power to choose how we react to those feelings. But does that ring true for the majority of people? Do we choose to feel panic, anxiety, and depression, or is it a response to traumas in our past or things we have experienced? Is there a root cause of this pain and can we end suffering simply by changing our perspective? But what happens when we are unable to change our perspective, for it a takes an extremely displaced mind and highly conscious person to reach that level of acceptance. And the majorities of us, including myself are either currently on the journey, with all its intended hiccups, or just beginning to take control of our mental health.   Amidst our interesting discussion I was called away, as it was time to start cooking the pizza for dinner.

Part Two

I was then asked again about my work, and what my role was in facilitating healing in others.

“Think of me as a tow truck.  When a person has gone off the road, stuck in a ditch, unable to get back on the road and move forward on one’s life journey, I come along.  I bring the tools and the power to get going”, I said in response to the question about my work.

I like this way of thinking of my work because just like a tow truck resting on the solid asphalt I don’t have to figure out what happened or to make judgments about the driver.  I just have to get them out of the ditch and if they need repairs make them on the spot or get them to a repair shop. I don’t pick the direction or route for their journey.  They have ended up where they are, stuck because of a lot of reasons, mostly not of their choosing or within their control.  And it is not my job to make them feel worse than they already feel.  Most of what happens to us is not of our choosing and the way we feel about what happens is not of our choosing.

Part Three

Dr. Blasey Ford’s time speaking was courageous, and she evoked pride in our shared values, and compassion, and empathy. But had she not come forward, and we knew her story, would have evoked these same feelings of compassion, empathy, and pride?  She survived a trauma and was moving forward in her life with love, service, and joy.  She was brave in her steadfast testimony.  At that moment she spoke, all the experiences in her life required her to do what she did. Thanks to her family of origin, her family she created, her professional and home communities, her friends and therapist, she found the will to speak up for herself and all of us who have been wronged.  She made the effort to protect those she cares for as best she could. Dr. Ford was courageous, but she did not intentionally choose to act with courage, for courage is what we perceive her actions to be, when in actuality she was acting from a place of protection.

I am saying this because so many of us have responded in ways that would not be described in such positive terms.  At moments in my life I have acted in ways that shown me to be less than the man I hoped to be.  I can only share these moments when I know I will not be shamed, accused of cowardice, stupidity, or being without of integrity. And as I understand those events now I was doing the best I could.  We all feel in an instance what is safe and what is dangerous.  This recognition causes us to react from our experience of what is necessary to protect ourselves and those we love. Most of the time we just do what has become habitual without engaging the higher parts of our being.  We can change these habits by learning to calm the mind and relax the body with Thought Field Therapy.  Then we can think, plan, and act to be in service of more justice in caring for those we love. Including ourselves.

Be kind to yourself and to others as best you can.  Let me know if this rings true to you.  Keep tapping.

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