Dr. Stephen Porges has a socialization theory that ties in so well with why EFT works!
Here is one of his articles.
And here are my thoughts and notes based on this article. Please read the above article and then check out these notes.
Immobilization =freeze reaction = trauma. Dr. Peter Levine writes about this, too, because it is in the freeze response that the trauma gets "stuck" in our nervous system. When we "fight" or flee, we blow off that "energy", often ridding our system of much of it.
When we think we are going to die when attacked, we are flooded with endorphins (think natural morphine), so we are numbed for the possible attack. Endorphins have a relaxing effect in addition to their painkilling effect. The body's biochemical reaction here is really interesting.
In court, women who don't fight off their attackers can be made out to be complicit or "they were looking for it". It's not they didn't want to fight, they cannot fight due to the body's chemical reaction to the attack. Try punching hard when in a semi-sleep relaxed state!
We tap about our perceptions and reactions to the event(s). It's the perceptions, not necessarily the event, that is important and driving our biology. How do we feel about it today? The emotional answer to that question is what fuels our behavior today. Tapping works so very, very well for these memories! When we can pull the emotional content out of a past event, we can heal because the memory then just becomes a neutral, non-biological memory! And that is what tapping does!
We say this often - "trauma to one person is not trauma to another." What bothers one of us doesn't bother all of us. This often is fueled by our own personal history. Chemical biology builds up our experience implanting our perceptions about people, places and things around us. Our reactions to future events is all based on our past epigenetic chemical reactions. These are learned patterns. Not learned in the sense of our thinking brain, but learned by our subconscious mind - learned to keep us safe, a safety as the subconscious mind understands it. The subconscious mind keeps us safe based on past experiences - the subconscious mind isn't interested in whether these "safety" patterns are helpful to you personally in life. Many of our personal habits are safe from a neurochemical perspective, but they still run our life in a disorganized and erratic manner, leaving us feeling stuck and unfulfilled.
A practitioner's job while tapping is to hold that sacred space for the client as they work through the past trauma events. Certified Christian practitioners have been taught skills to keep the client SAFE while doing this work. Unless trained, don't tap big T traumas alone!
ACE score is indeed incomplete. I've said this from the very beginning! Death, medical procedures, natural disasters, accidents, fires, witnessing trauma being inflicted on others, bullying, etc. aren't part of the scoring system. These all can be big T traumas, too.
As practitioners (and even just a friend) we need to listen in an impartial manner without judgment. It's not our life or our trauma when others are telling you their story. Just because we might think that the story is no big deal, it obviously is to the one who experienced it. It's still trauma!
But YOU as the listener can be a huge help in the healing process. The positive social engagement is a big part of this. Connecting with another human being who doesn't judge and tell us "to get over" whatever has happened to us can make all the difference.
Smiling and positive non-judgmental understanding can also deliver oxytocin, a healing/connecting/love hormone, to the one who has experienced trauma.
Remember, EFT is NOT a substitute for medical advice or help, so please contact your own personal physician if medical assistance is needed.
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