I want to highlight out a few important points: Please read the article. It explains a lot about why you feel the way you do. It's not your fault, but it is your responsibility to do something about it!
1) "Only a state of non hyper-arousal allows activation of the prefrontal cortex needed for learning and problem solving."
Cathy Corbett Reiling says this about every post she makes! Tapping quiets the body and mind. Only when your mind and body are QUIET can you process your emotional issues. Period.
2) "When those hormones reach a high level, they suppress the activity of the hippocampus and it loses its ability to function. Information that would make it possible to differentiate between a real and imagined threat never reaches the cortex and a rational evaluation of the information isn't possible (Rothschild, 2004)."
I've said this a thousand times. We need tapping because our subconscious mind (SC) has NO concept of time (kinda like God - not saying our mind is God b/c it isn't but it is made in His image, like the rest of us!), so our old emotional stuff isn't truly IN the past tense UNTIL we tap and put it there! This is the work of sanctification. Salvation is FREE, but our work here on earth (sanctification) is to actively DO something to become more like our Savior. Tapping will accomplish that if you do it well and thoroughly!
3) "If a particular stimulus is misinterpreted as a threat, this leads to immediate fight/flight/freeze responses (to non-threatening stimuli). This causes this system to respond to minor irritations in a totalistic manner (Streeck-Fischer & van der Kolk, 2000)."
When we have had trauma, particularly early childhood trauma, we ALWAYS misinterpret everything! We've been programmed to do that. Repetition of hard emotional events ARE learned just like learning your multiplication tables in 3rd grade!! Over and over events are repeated, until trauma is implanted so solidly in our SC we misinterpret minor things in a major way - automatically. We fly OFF the handle at the slightest provocation (and then feel remorseful, sad, guilty, etc. afterwards)!
4) "Research shows that environments of extreme stress lead to increased cortisol levels (Murray-Close, Han, Cicchetti, Crick, & Rogosch, 2008) which can lead to decreased hippocampal volume. Decreased hippocampal volume has been associated with poorer declarative memory which places adults at greater risk of developing PTSD-like symptoms, and is closely correlated with experiences of depression and physical inflammations (Danese, Pariante, Caspi, Taylor & Poulton, 2006)"
Hippocampus, which is our SC's "historian", can go off-line when abuse happens in early childhood. We remember NOTHING - all our memories, both good and bad, are buried. It's a protective mechanism.
Hippocampus shrinks about 35%+ in PTSD like trauma.
Sadly, our SC knows the emotional pain is still all there and runs our life around it. We become sick, depressed feeling, anxious feeling, crabby, act out, etc. and we cannot figure out why we (or our children) do these things.
We do them because our emotional pain has never been dealt with completely. Our body, mind, and soul are screaming for help. We need to tap. We probably should hire a EFT Practitioner to help us process our emotional stuff. We need emotional help and God has created tapping to do just that!
5) "Through this chain of events, violence and abuse pass from generation to generation (Teicher, 2002)."
I've never really said what I am going to say here this pointedly, except in personal conversations. And I may make some people angry when I say this.
Emotional issues are running YOUR life and they WILL run your children's life, too. This stuff IS generational. It is what Exodus 34:7 & Numbers 14:18 say. Your emotional issue may NOT be your fault, but the pain will continue for 3-4 generations. We see it all the time. Scientific research is proving this fact.
Will the buck stop with you? Are you willing to do the work necessary so that your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be FREE to live their lives as our Lord intended in His joy, peace, and freedom?
Are you?
Sherrie Rice Smith
Certified EFT Practitioner
Author of EFT for Christians Tapping in God's Peace & Joy (2016)
Author of EFT for Christians Advanced (2017)
Author of EFT for Christians 52 Tapping Devotions (Christmas, 2017)
Author of EFT for Christians Devotions (Christmas, 2019)
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