I’m bringing this case to the EFT community to make a point that we practitioners are very concerned about our vets through the Stress Project (
http://stressproject.org), but I think we need to actively watch for anyone else related to these PTSD soldiers, too, as many of them are suffering from the same issues as their loved ones. We need to see that they are also treated by using EFT to eliminate their issues around military deployment and retirement.
Catherine’s son is an active military soldier, serving his country proudly, but Catherine is the one who is also showing signs of PTSD. As she sat in my office, her stoicism came through – she was trying desperately to hold it together. I gave her my standard EFT how to speech & had her sign the waivers, etc. She pulled a package of tissues out of her purse, so I made sure I gave her permission to cry all she wanted.
Catherine started off with her story. I need not relate all the details and I used the standard Gary Craig EFT short cut tapping procedure, but in the beginning I essentially could not get Catherine to take a breath. She had to tell me the entire story around her son’s military career and how he ended up in the physical mess he is in. I literally couldn’t get a word in edgewise. After about 5 minutes, I told her I would listen, but she needed to pick a tapping spot & just tap while she talked, using the tap & rant technique. Everything was a SUDS of 9 for her.
Her deployed son messed up his back in basic and something else went wrong with his heart, giving him a cardiac issue, forcing him to the point where he was forbidden by the Army to exercise, although he had been a star athlete in high school. It took our US Senator to get the Army moving on issuing her son’s medical discharge, which was coming up soon, meaning he would be back home again with them. The empty nest was about to be refilled! Catherine was scared to death!
On his last leave her son was experiencing nightmares, screaming out much of the night, while keeping a loaded gun under his bed. “I’m scared for him” and the tears started in earnest. To be honest, I have not had a client cry this long or sob this hard ever! Usually, the tears dry up within a few minutes, but not so with Catherine! She cried for nearly an hour. Some of the time, I simply sat next to her, saying nothing, except reminding her to continue to tap & telling her the pain would release.
Catherine, a Christian, like we all would, had some deep-seated fears around the fact that her son would hurt someone. “He loves us so much, but I’m so afraid of what he could do. He was the gentle giant in high school, always looking out for the underling & standing up for them,” she told me.
Finally, I had an intuitive hit that she was fearful that her son might simply commit suicide, so I said, “I’m afraid he will kill himself.” I surely had that one correct!
The sobbing started all over again. Then the core issue showed itself. “I want all my kids in heaven with me, but if he kills himself, I will never see him again.” And the sobbing continued unabated.
I told her that I pushed the issue, saying what the Holy Spirit whispered to me, because it was the most awful truth she was actually thinking – the bottom line, so to speak. With the core issue out in the open, and the tears finally subsiding,
Catherine & I cleaned up on a couple other emotions to include: sorrow, regret, anger, feeling stuck, EFT’s favorite thing to do, unstick us, and other odds and ends.
When Catherine left, I could see clarity in her eyes and a steadiness that wasn’t apparent when she walked in initially. I told her so, too.
She had nicely reframed most of the issues on her own and I could see she was ready to take them on however they presented themselves. We tapped in a few of her favorite Bible passages to seal the deal.
There are 2 crowning blows that makes the synchronicity of the connectedness of us all so unbelievable is this: I had a box of toys in the corner in an old poultry gift box. Catherine spotted it and told me, “It is one of ours.”
Sure enough and I had never noticed the printing before, since this was my first meeting with Catherine, the box had her last name on it! They had sold their farm a few years back when the children had all left home.
Here I had picked up that box years before at a rummage sale & now Catherine, whose farm name was on it, was sitting in my office for EFT 10 years later!
Secondly, her R.N. daughter was leaving shortly to serve at a denominational medical mission in Africa where a friend of mine 40 years was the 2nd R.N to serve at that exact mission site! What a crazy “coincidences” these are; however, we all know there are no such things as coincidences!
As a Christian, I know God has it all lined up just the way it all should be.
For more information, go to
EFTforChristians.com.
To schedule a free 15 minute consultation to see if EFT is right for you, email me at
eftforchristians@gmail.com
Always remember to take complete responsibility for your own health and well-being. Contact a medical professional, if necessary.
Sherrie Rice Smith, R.N. (Retired)
Certified EFT Practitioner
Author of
EFT for Christians (available on my website)
EFTforChristians.com
