Decades of being trapped in PTSD gone with one EFT Session

Tapping with a Vietnam Veteran

By Rehana Webster

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I had the opportunity to work with my brother-in-law, Dave Thompson retired from the New Zealand Army.  He had heard that I might be able to help him and after 2 years on prescribed medications (nortriptyline,  citalopram and melatonin) he finally thought he would give EFT a try.

Dave had served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1968.  During that period he has witnessed  a lot of death, destruction and violence.  The most traumatic incident during that period was the death of his best

friend who was killed by  enemy fire before his eyes.  This particular memory had haunted him all these years and he blamed himself for not having prevented Jim’s death.

The symptoms he had been suffering from were the classic PTSD, nightmares, recurring thoughts, flashbacks, and anger/grief about certain incidents.

I asked Dave to relate the whole incident to me and asked him to measure his SUD’s from 0-10.  He said they were 10++ and my observation of his physiology confirmed this.  His face was flushed and bright red, his jaw was tightly clenched and his knuckles were tight and white.

I tapped on his face, torso and hands while I asked him to repeat the story.  I asked Dave to recall as much detail as possible about the surroundings, the sounds, the temperature, smells and particularly his feelings, including  his bodily sensation.  We did this 3 or 4 times.  Each time I asked him to just go over the events as best he could.  When I was sure that his SUD’s were down, I then asked  him to talk about his anger and grief regarding the event.  He blamed the commander for not taking enough safety measures and blamed him for being a ‘glory hunter’ and sending out the guys into known dangers.  This patrol was following a fresh trail into the jungle and has stepped right into the enemy bunkers.  I then asked Dave to repeat statements after me while I tapped on his karate chop point

even though I did the best I could Jim got shot

I should have got shot instead of Jim and then I wouldn’t be carrying all this guilt and grief

Jim may still have been killed even though I could have substituted for him

It’s not my fault Jim got shot even though it could have been me as well

It was the commanders fault for being such a ‘glory hunter’ and not caring about the outcomes

The commander didn’t know how to fight in this war and was going by the book

Even though the commander didn’t make a right decision this time, Jim may still have been killed later

Even though I can see Jim’s blue eyes looking at me, I now realize it was not Jim, it was just an empty shell that once housed my friend.

Even though it was a war and people die I did the best I could under the circumstances

Even though I couldn’t save my friend, I choose to remember him when he was alive

Even though my friend died, I can honor his life by remembering the good times we had

I checked with Dave the following day, and he told me he had the BEST sleep in 30 years!  Then the same again the next night.  Previously Dave has lived with  recurring nightmares and flashbacks.  It’s only been a week and Dave tells me he does not have any of the old negative emotions he was experiencing in the past 30 plus years.  Most importantly is that the nightmares have not occurred since the EFT treatment.

Dave is going to continue to monitor the symptoms he previously had and let me know if there is a recurrence.

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Author's Bio:

Rehana Webster has used EFT successfully for over 10 years now.  She also used NLP to help clients changes their thoughts and emotions in short periods of time without stress and continued pain.

Rehana is back living in Perth, Australia after having spent 10 years in New Zealand.

2 Comments

Dawn Drew
Posted March 27, 2010 07:09 AM

I wish to ask Rehana if she added " I totally and completely love and accept myself" after most of the statements, in particular the first few?
Absolutely wonderful article, thank you for sharing this.

Rehana
Posted March 27, 2010 08:21 AM

Dear Dawn,

Many thanks for your comments.

To answer your question:

I NEVER use any setup statements. I NEVER use....I totally and completely love and accept myself. I have to thank the many people I have worked with who resisted that statement because they didnt feel that way.

I developed a routine which I call "trauma Buster" which dispenses with the statements and just uses very specific events to work on. I teach it in specialty workshope. This routine is very efficient is resolving trauma and PTSD.

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