Trauma and Memory Holes

Trauma sends our hippocampus (mind's historian that keeps track of events and time) off-line. The trauma is so hurtful the mind simply shuts it down! Trauma also shrinks the hippocampus up to 25-30%, particularly when one has post-traumatic symptoms, so it makes sense that many of us have big memory holes! The hippocampus comes on-line about age 2-3, if I remember correctly, but our amygdala (alarm center) is present in utero; therefore, we have alarms ringing in our mind before we have processes to figure out what is going on. It amazes me how much tapping we practitioners do on VERY early memories, some of them we swear happened before we were born, and as a practitioner, we just go with whatever the client brings to the tapping table. Sadly, science clearly shows us that we carry around so much epigenetic trauma from our ancestors! It's no wonder some of us are so burdened down with emotional stuff! Anyone have a tapping story to share around any really, really early memories? We'd love to hear them! Sherrie Rice Smith Certified EFT Practitioner EFTforChristians.com Author of EFT for Christians 5 Book Series

How Energy Psychology Works with Internal Issues

“How energy psychology works with internal issues: a. Bringing to mind a memory, thought, or cue related to relationship difficulties . . . b. Activates the amygdala and initiates a stress response (cortisol, adrenaline, and other stress hormones flood the system and the hippocampus goes offline). c. BUT stimulating selected acupuncture points initiates an opposing process: d. The alarm response is turned off, even though the memory or trigger is still present. e. With a few repetitions, the memory or trigger no longer evokes the alarm response. f. The hippocampus can process the current experience in concert with the prefrontal cortex. g. This becomes the “new normal” – the internal model has been changed. 4. Acupoint tapping changes the brain in any of five ways: a. Reducing the amygdala’s threat response. b. Extinguishing conditioned responses. c. Supporting hippocampus and prefrontal cortex activity. d. Increasing the neural impact of positive self-imagery. e. Increasing the neural impact of well-conceived suggestions." David Feinstein, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who has served on the faculties of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Antioch College, and the California School of Professional Psychology. Author of more than 80 professional articles and eight books, he has been a pioneer in the areas of Energy Psychology and Energy Medicine. His books have won nine national awards, including the U.S. Book News Best Psychology/Mental Health Book in 2007 (for Personal Mythology) and an Indies Best Books Award (for The Promise of Energy Psychology). Sherrie Rice Smith Certified EFT Practitioner EFTforChristians.com Author of EFT for Christians 5 Book Series

Tapping Specifically Article

Good article from Andy Hunt! Tapping SPECIFICALLY is what is necessary to get the emotional job of neutralizing our negative feelings done.

I want to make one rather BIG and important addition.

In Step 5, last 2 sentences Andy writes, "For example: “Even though they are looking critically at me, I accept myself and how I feel”, etc. The aspect may yield to simple tapping or you may need to track back to memories of similar feelings to neutralise the source of the aspect."

The Set-up statement he uses as his example is, IMHO, still wayyyyyy too broad to be tapped on. It is imperative to "track back to memories" to get the tapping job done effectively.

If a client came to me and told me that exact same sentence "they are looking critically at me," wanting to tap on that issue, I would continue questioning the client asking, "When was a time when you felt as though someone was looking at you critically? Give me a concrete example."

That should afford the client the opportunity to respond with a statement such as, "Well, when I was 13 years old I had to stand up in class, and Mrs. Schmidt gave me the evil eye while I gave my report on the Battle of Gettysburg."

That's a pretty specific time "when" the client thought she was looked upon critically. I might even go on further to get even more specific by asking, "How do you feel now when thinking about that evil eye back then?" or "What exactly did Mrs. Schmidt evil eye look like to you and did you feel about that?"

When tapping we are digging for "emotions" to tap about? Facts are good, but facts aren't feelings, they are facts! Always, always ask yourself (or the client) how they "FEEL" about something they have just told you. They hopefully can tell you 2 things: (1) give the "feeling" an emotional name, such as sadness, anger, remorse, guilt, disdain, discouraged, dismissed, un-validated, ignored, etc. Most anything can be a "feeling" by simply adding the word "feeling" to the client or your words! (2) Hopefully the client (or yourself) can tell you WHERE (gut, head, eyes, shoulder, thigh, chest, heart, etc.) in their body they feel the "feeling" or emotion resides.

This information is ALL that is necessary for tapping specificity.

Here's what my classroom report Set-up and tapping might look like using the steps above:

"Even though I remember the time when I was 13 and I gave that Gettysburg report in Mrs. Schmidt's class, and she gave me the evil eye, right now I feel anger in my left chest, a tightening feeling, I deeply and completely, etc. - finish the acceptance statement. THAT IS SPECIFIC!

The reminder tapping statements would simply be: "this anger" or "this anger in my chest." Continue tapping those simple reminder statements on the acupuncture spots until the SUDS drops out to zero!

Go onto the next memory of the time when you felt you were looked at critically, and repeat the process.

When a client or yourself comes in with a broad statement such as "I'm looked at critically" there is probably a huge core issue underneath around self-esteem, etc.

Core issues take more work than just a few individual memories because a client's entire life viewpoint could well be built around that one thought (and sadly many of us have dozens of core issues we need to work on!)

That example I just typed about being 13 years old should give any experienced self-tapper or EFT Practitioner plenty of tapping material if the client has a core issue around the example.

There are probably 100s of other questions that can be asked. It's detective work! But the questions need to be specific while digging for feelings.

Once this memory/incident is tapped to a 0 SUDS, ask yourself or the client, "Do you have another memory of a time when you got a critical look, or a time when something similar happened?"

You continue to repeat this process until the problem is no longer the problem!

I will admit, and this is WHY I've written 4 EFT for Christians books, that any tapping questioning can go in a multitude of directions whereby you find dozens of other thoughts/feelings/events in life that need to be tapped about.

Sometimes the line of questioning gets bogged down or the client/yourself shuts down, and then you can use the advice I give you that I have already written out in detail in the EFT for Christians books.

Wonderfully written article by Andy. My opinion is the more specific we get in our tapping makes EFT so very much more effective.

God be praised!

Remember, EFT is NOT a substitute for sound medical or psychological advice, so contact your own personal physician if you have such needs as these!

Sherrie Rice Smith

Certified EFT Practitioner

EFTforChristians.com

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, 2020)

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Seasonal Reactions and EFT/Tapping

It's seasonal allergy time of the year.

Has anyone used tapping to reintegrate the symptoms?

Tap specifically on each symptom itself.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what the symptoms mean and what event or memory is buried in them, and then tap the negative emotions completely out of the memory.

Personally, I have found that often seasonal allergies are grief based.

If that is true for you, what are you grieving? Death? Relationship? Job? Accident? Divorce? Bad marriage?

Sherrie Rice Smith, R.N. (Retired)
EFTforChristians.com
Author of 3 EFT for Christians books (2015, 2016 & 2017)
EFTforChristians@gmail.com

Memory Reconsolidation and EFT

I like this article. It is pretty succinctly states how memory reconsolidation actually works in clinical settings.

 

This man states what no one else will really say - that we "erase neural circuits".  We all know it is happening, but in EFT circles we are cautioned not to actually say that. I just say it! We are changing our neurology with tapping.

 

The steps of how to accomplish the memory reconsolidation are all packed into how EFT is done with the set-up and the tapping.

 

We ask the client what memory or habit they want changed. We help them retrieve a memory, or God does, that matches how they feel about the memory or habit. And then tapping disconnects the circuits holding the feelings around the memory/habit/event in place, permanently altering it all. 

 

That 5-6 hour window occurs where the memory is friable. In Matrix Reimprinting we tell clients to go through the process of "re-imprinting" the changed scene at least once in the ensuing couple of hours.

 

This may be where doing a floor to ceiling eye roll or the 9 gamut is truly useful in hardening those positive changes made during the session, integrating the new message into all parts of the brain anatomy, truly rewiring those circuits.

 

The author claims we must make the session "truly experiential". EFT does that, as we re-ignite by allowing the triggers to come to the surface around the negative memory or event that haunts us, tapping all the while.  God uses tapping to break down that incessant hardened memory while we set up 2 different thoughts in our mind.

 

"We accept" ourselves in spite of what is going on - this bad memory. The exposure to the problem and just allowing us to be ok with it, or stating we are ok even if we aren't, or hope we can be someday.

 

As the amygdala finally gets the message that we are now safe in this moment of time and that the trauma is now truly over, the hippocampus can put the memory to bed as a past event.

 

The author is correct in that it all works in spite of much input from the "therapist". The coach is the guide to the process, not really much involved other than directing the client to go where one needs to go to change the memory, neutralizing it.  

 

https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/reconsolidation-a-universal-integrative-framework-for-highly-effective-psychotherapy/

 

Remember, EFT is NOT a substitute for medical care. Please call your own personal physician in case of a medical emergency.

 

Sherrie Rice Smith, R.N. (ret.)
Certified EFT Practitioner              
Author "EFT for Christians" on Amazon
www.EFTforChristians.com

EFTforChristians@gmail.com