HYDERABAD: From a common flu, to relieving Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, one therapy that works effectively is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), according to Dr Paula Horan, an American psychologist, who is known for her expertise in alternative therapies.
“This was first started in the early 90s on soldiers who survived the Vietnam war and haven’t slept for 25 to 30 years. At a time, when no psychological therapy or drugs worked. And what EFT does is tap at least five or six of their worst memories and the trauma would be gone,” explains Paula, who conducted the workshop at Meghavi - Spa, Salon & O Cafe, Banjara Hills.
Talking about how the therapy is really very basic, she says, “When one is in pain, the first thing we want to do is get rid of it. In an attempt to get rid of it temporarily, we start resisting it. And whatever you resist, persists.” The therapy identifies what you resists and finds the root of the pain. “So when you say it out loud, you talk about it, come to terms with it and get over it,” she says.
A simple two-step strategy, EFT is a psychological acupuncture technique that taps the various meridiens that store memories.”When one goes through a traumatic experience, it is not just the brain that stores it. It is also stored in one of your meridians, possibly also in your sub-conscious and that is what causes the pain to keep coming back,” points out Paula. And EFT is one therapy that identifies the meridian, helps people recall that traumatic experience and hence get over it. “We don’t know in which meridien the pain memory is stored in. We tap all meridiens and eventually end up tapping the right one, which helps one get over the pain,” she explains.
Elaborating this, Paula gives us an instance. “There was one lady that I was working with EFT on in China who was suffering with Myrmecophobia, fear of ants. She didn’t have a problem with a single ant, but she freaked out when there were a lot of them. I started the therapy on her and after tapping her meridians, she realised that what freaked her out was not an army of ants, but an instance that she witnessed when she was seven years old.”
The lady, as a young girl saw an old women being pelted with stones by a huge crowd. “Her fear was not actually an army of ants, but this instance that got buried in her sub conscious. With EFT we succeeded to erase it. She talked about it, and then her memory erased and her fear of ants gone,” explains Paula who is currently busy with her visits to China twice a year, working with people traumatised by cultural revolution in the country. Apart from this, this technique also helps one wade away negative thoughts and help build confidence. “If someone is not able to perform their job, this technique helps them identify those aspects that are not allowing them to move forward in life, by saying them out loud and hence removing them from their mind,” informs Paula.