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Transform Your Life: Heal Past Trauma With EFT Tapping

Treat past trauma, Heal post traumatic stress disorder with EFT

In this article, you will learn about trauma, its symptoms, causes of a traumatic event, ways to practice mindfulness and gain freedom from past wounds, and how to use EFT Tapping Therapy to cope with traumatic stress by healing the root cause.

"You are a very bad child!" - That's all it takes to create a wound. 

If your heart and soul have been wounded, you are not alone! Many of us often go through a lifetime of wondering why our lives are the way they are.

Can there be no peace permanently? Is there always a struggle? Am I the only one? These are some of the questions that you may come across when you reach a crossroads in your life, and it's completely okay and normal.

WHAt is trauma?

 Seeking therapy for child experiences and childhood Trauma

Trauma is a reaction to a very unpleasant or disturbing occurrence that overwhelms a person's ability to cope. It generates feelings of helplessness and leaves you with long-term negative consequences for mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being.

Traumatic events frequently involve a threat to one's life or safety, but any scenario that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and lonely, even if it does not involve physical injury, can cause trauma.

The subjective emotional experience of the event, not the objective conditions, determines whether or not an incident is traumatic. The more fearful and powerless you feel, the more likely you are to become traumatised.

According to the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey, at least a third of the more than 125,000 adults surveyed in 26 nations had experienced trauma. When the group was confined to persons with core illnesses as defined by the DSM-IV, the percentage increased to 70%. (the classification found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition). However, those figures are only for cases that have been reported; the true number is almost certainly substantially higher (1).

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF TRAUMATIC STRESS (GIVEN BY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION)

Signs of traumatic events and cognitive processing therapy

Many people have intense physical or emotional reactions right after they've been through a stressful event. Most people will find that their emotions fade away after a few days or weeks. And many people will experience symptoms after months, or maybe a year.

However, trauma symptoms might become severe and remain longer in some people. The nature of the traumatic incident, the availability of emotional support, past and present life pressures, personality types, behavioral patterns, and available coping skills may all contribute to this. The following are some of the most prevalent trauma symptoms:

1.

Cognitive Symptoms

  •  Intrusive thoughts about a possible incident
  • Nightmares
  • Visuals of the traumatic event
  • Weak memory and focus skills 
  • Disorientation
  • Confusion
  • Mood swings

2.

Behavioral Symptoms

  •  Avoiding activities or locations that bring up memories of the incident
  • Isolation from social situations
  • Lack of enthusiasm for previously pleasurable activities

3.

Physical Symptoms

  •  Easily startled
  • Extreme tiredness and fatigue
  • Insomnia
  • Muscle patterns that are chronic
  • Sexual dysfunction is a common problem
  • Sleeping and eating habits have shifted
  • Various aches and pains in various parts of the body
  • Extreme vigilance - continually on the watch for signs of impending danger

4.

Psychological Symptoms

CAUSES OF TRAUMATIC EVENTS

More mental health resources for causes of complex trauma

Trauma can be caused by a traumatic occurrence that has a long-term impact on the victim's mental and emotional well-being. Many sources of trauma are physical in form, but others are psychological in character.

The following are some common causes of trauma:

  • Rape

  • Domestic violence

  • Witnessing an act of violence

  • Sudden death of a loved one

  • Severe illness or injury

  • Breakup of a significant relationship

  • Neglect in childhood

  • Substance abuse

  • Living with a family member who suffers from mental illness or addiction

  • Poverty

  • Racism, inequality, and oppression

  • Community violence, conflict, or terrorism

3 WAYS TO GAIN FREEDOM FROM THE PAST WOUNDS

One thing that is certain is that untreated trauma diminishes the quality of life for the trauma survivor and those closest to him or her and may lead to suicidal thoughts and actions.

Knowing how terrible trauma is for both the trauma sufferer and his or her family, friends, and coworkers, it is critical to recover from it.

The purpose of a healing journey and trauma recovery is to re-establish victims' sense of control over their lives.

Trauma informed care through professional help and support group

"Until you heal the wounds of your past, you are going to bleed. You can bandage the bleeding with food, with alcohol, with drugs, with work, with cigarettes, with sex. But eventually, it will all ooze through and stain your life. You must find the strength to open the wounds, stick your hands inside, pull out the core of the pain that is holding you in your past, the memories and make peace with them." 

Iyanla Vanzant


Here are the three ways to gain freedom from past wounds and practicing mindfulness:

1.

Acknowledge and accept that there is a wound.

The very first step is to acknowledge that there is a wound. Nobody is perfect and we all come with our sets of wounds from surface level to deeply wounded.

This step is very crucial to the healing that follows. Only when we acknowledge the wound, we can get to the root of the issue.

2.

Dig deeper to uncover the root cause of the wound or a traumatic event.

The second step requires a little work after you have identified that you have a wound.

Although this may be the part where there is pain involved, remember that this pain is good - It's going to set you free. 

There may be times when you may have to remember incidents and it may be a good idea to have a pen and paper ready to pen down all of the incidents and thoughts that come to your mind.

There may be a little digging required so be prepared for it.

3.

Release the negative charge from the wound and let it heal.

The last and final step of trauma treatment is to set this pain-free. I cannot even begin to explain the joy and lightness at this stage, to be set free, to breathe again freely, to live again, to be able to fly free like a bird in the sky.

There are many methods and self-help strategies that can be used for this step. The one that I can identify with is EFT Tapping or Emotional Freedom Techniques.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is an alternative technique for overcoming physical, emotional, and mental trauma. It has been proven to be effective and long-lasting. At the same time, implementation requires relatively little time (2).

EFT Tapping for past trauma and wounds helps the body's ability to let go of or release any trauma that may have been formed as a result of a previous traumatic experience.

This technique has been proven successful and long-lasting in the treatment of patients who previously experienced large levels of stressful trauma but no longer do as a result of EFT.

EFT Tapping is particularly efficient in relieving the symptoms of past trauma, here's how:

  • EFT Tapping reduces tension by making your body more relaxed. This aids your body in resetting all of its systems to a more relaxed level of functioning.

  • EFT Tapping is a technique for reducing the severity of emotional trauma.

  • EFT Tapping alters the way our brain interprets emotional signals that lead to Past Trauma.

If you would like to experience the power of EFT Tapping first-hand, just download the EFT Tapping Booklet below.

HOW TO RELEASE PAST TRAUMA WITH EFT TAPPING?

Practice self care and other mental health resources to release trauma

EFT methods for working with past wounds and trauma treatments are as follows:

Tearless Trauma

This is a gentle method of using double dissociation to keep the client safe from abreaction, and it is usually the ideal place to start when working with a specific traumatic incident. To summarise, find a specific trauma and project it onto a movie screen, then tap around it until the intensity decreases.

The Movie Technique

The premise is the same as Tearless Trauma but without the double dissociation. If the trauma isn't considered too severe, this is also a good place to start.

In this step, you'll make a mini-movie of the occurrence and assess its severity. You can pause the movie and tap around it if the tension rises. Continue until the entire film is clear of any emotional impact.

Telling The Story

This is a great technique to double-check your findings and eliminate any leftover issues. Use this ideally after you've reduced the intensity to a manageable degree or totally cleared it.

However, as said above, there are situations when you will need to use it right away. You narrate the triggering event here and tap around it at each level.

Ask yourself if you can recount the complete narrative from beginning to end. When you can do this while remaining calm, your work is done.

Trauma victims may relive their memories as well as endure other emotional and physiological symptoms. They may have also cut themselves off from normal life because they perceive the world as dangerous, causing them to detach and withdraw from both physical and emotional participation.

The following is a sample EFT Tapping technique to work with, or release past trauma:

Step-1

Identify the surface symptoms

The first step is to identify the surface symptoms associated with your past trauma, such as mood swings, nightmares, or any other symptoms.

Step-2

Start exploring memories

Explore memories associated with the emotions found at the surface symptom.

Step-3

Explore memories of past trauma that are left unresolved

Work gently with the techniques you are comfortable with, such as Tell the Story or Movie Technique. This part can take a couple of weeks depending on how much trauma is present.

Step-4

Explore Limiting Beliefs that may have been born 

Sometimes, with past trauma, people can have some limiting beliefs related to the trauma. "I can't do it", "I can never succeed", "I'll always remain a loser." These limiting beliefs need to be worked with.

Step-5

End with positive tapping

Finally, end the procedure with positive tapping. Work with a mental health professional who can assist you in figuring out how to begin rebuilding your life when the trauma has passed.

DOES EFT TAPPING REALLY WORK FOR PAST TRAUMA?

Prolonged exposure therapy benefits for Trauma

In a 2012 pilot study, the participants came from a facility where children are taken by court order if they have been physically or psychologically abused at home. Sixteen males between the ages of 12 and 17 were divided into two groups. Subjective distress (SUD) and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) were used to assess them. The IES measures two aspects of prior trauma: intrusive recollections and avoidance symptoms (3).

The experimental group was given a single session of EFT (emotional freedom techniques), a quick and innovative exposure therapy that has been shown to be effective in reducing past trauma and co-occurring psychological symptoms in adults but has not been tested in juveniles.

These findings are similar to those observed in adults, indicating the effectiveness of single-session EFT Tapping as a quick and effective treatment for reducing psychological trauma in juveniles (3).

Although Emotional Freedom Techniques can be administered on the self, it is recommended to consult a professional EFT Practitioner or mental health professionals to get help for physical and/or emotional trauma you may be facing.

In conclusion, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a highly scientific approach that can help with all aspects of trauma, including the symptoms and after-effects.

Trauma healing, like the healing of a broken arm, is critical to living a healthy, functional life. Moving toward a healed life and realigning with your own wholeness allows you to be more fully present in the moment, allowing for more connection, intimacy, and freedom.

Although it can be difficult to overcome past trauma, there is hope for a life free of trauma.

Cheers to the hope of healing from trauma and leading a peaceful life!

Love,

Dr Rangana Rupavi Choudhuri (PhD)

P.S. Want to discover if EFT Tapping is right for you? Book a Complimentary Discovery Call. 

In summary, past trauma is very exhausting and gets you drained every second, but your life can get better if it no longer controls you and your physical well-being. You can overcome it by using a clinically proven method namely Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). It is a very powerful tool to deal with the symptoms of past trauma and heal wounds from the root cause. Techniques like Tearless Trauma and The Movie Technique are beneficial in clearing the emotional impact of trauma and promoting a stronger mind-body connection.

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