Tag Archives: Emotional Freedom Technique

Calm Down to Live Longer

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Chronic stress kills.

Chronic stress kills.

According to Nicole Vogelzangs, PhD, of VU University Medical Center in The Netherlands and lead author of a study on the subject, high levels of the stress hormone cortisol strongly predicts cardiovascular death among persons with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease. “Previous studies have suggested that cortisol might increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality, but until now, no study had directly tested this hypothesis,” said Vogelzangs. “The results of our study clearly show that cortisol levels in a general older population predict cardiovascular death, but not other causes of mortality.”

Chronic stress induces chronic high levels of cortisol in the bloodstream, which in turn predicts cardiovascular death. Chronic stress kills.

“Cortisol is an important component of the stress system of the human body but in higher concentrations can be harmful,” said Vogelzangs. “Our study shows that older persons with high levels of cortisol have an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. This finding significantly adds evidence to the belief that cortisol can be damaging to the cardiovascular system.”

High blood cortisol levels should indicate immediate work on creating an effective strategy for calming down in the face of stress.

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Meds Increase Mortality Risk by 36%

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"These medications aren't candy, and taking them is far from harmless."

"These medications aren't candy, and taking them is far from harmless."

Taking medications to treat insomnia and anxiety increases mortality risk by 36%. This is according to a study conducted by Genevieve Belleville, a professor at Universite Laval’s School of Psychology. The details of this study are published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Dr. Belleville arrived at these results through analysis of 12 years of data on over 14,000 Canadians in Statistics Canada’s National Population Health Survey.

“These medications aren’t candy, and taking them is far from harmless,” commented Dr. Belleville. “Given that cognitive behavioral therapies have shown good results in treating insomnia and anxiety, doctors should systematically discuss such therapies with their patients as an option. Combining a pharmacological approach in the short term with psychological treatment is a promising strategy for reducing anxiety and promoting sleep.”

There are so many proven effective strategies and therapies for insomnia and anxiety that medications may be unnecessary after only a short time if at all. Self-hypnosis, especially has been proven effective in treating insomnia. Over many years of practice, I can say that Rapid Eye Technology and Emotional Freedom Technique have proven effective for symptoms of anxiety.

I have to ask, “is it worth the risk?” when the side effects of medications may include a very high probability of death.

What do you think?

Increased Stress

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Stress can be easily managed by you from within you.

Stress can be easily managed by you from within you.

2009 “Perceptions of Stress in Adults”, a part of APA Study, Stress in America survey results show that adults continue to report high levels of stress and many report that their stress has increased over the past year. Additionally, many adults are reporting physical symptoms of stress.

75% of adults reported experiencing moderate to high levels of stress in the past month (24 % extreme, 51 % moderate) and 42 % reported that their stress has increased in the past year. 43 % of adults say they eat too much or eat unhealthy foods as a result of stress. 37% report skipping a meal because they were under stress.

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Honoring Emotion

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Honor your emotions

Even those who profess to have no emotional energy about something may still feel something physical (a sensation) related to an emotion.

I think addressing physical symptoms is the key to healing just about any emotional issue that includes a physical aspect. Addictions, colds, allergies, irrational fears, weight issues, and a host of others I find respond well to healing modalities like Rapid Eye Technology (RET) and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), when focused on “What do you feel in your body when…?” rather than “How do you feel (emotionally) about that?”.

Emotions are so nebulous and esoteric for most people, I think. However, even those who profess to have no emotional energy about something may still feel something physical (a sensation) related to an emotion.

For example, I once worked with a lawyer who had absolutely no emotional responses to “How do you feel about your impending divorce?” But his body was wracked with pains of all sorts that he could not explain. And even for those aches and pains he could explain (over-exercise, etc.), they ALL responded to RET’s Instant Release Technique – but ONLY if I asked “what sensations do you feel right now in your body [as we're talking about the divorce]?”. He had four sessions and turned his life around completely (fortunately, his wife did RET sessions at the same time, so they felt they were working together to rescue their marriage – which they both felt was worth preserving after 40+ years).

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PTSD Inoculations

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An injection of cortisol shortly after exposure to a traumatic event could prevent the onset of PTSD.

An injection of cortisol shortly after exposure to a traumatic event could prevent the onset of PTSD.

Prof. Joseph Zohar from the Sackler Medical School, Tel Aviv University, has found that an injection of cortisol shortly after exposure to a traumatic event could prevent the onset of PTSD.

What a brilliant idea! Why wait for symptoms of PTSD to debilitate a person when prevention can address and effectively eliminate the problem altogether. Further, as inoculated trauma victims are returned to their families and societies, they are more likely to be more productive, better able to cope with their home environments, and quicker to adjust to later possible traumas.

Dr. Zohar’s idea of an injection shortly after exposure could backfire for those people susceptible to cortisol build-up or who’s bodies don’t process cortisol well. Many overweight people have difficulty processing the stress hormone and thus their bodies collect body fat instead of dealing with stress properly.

I propose that those exposed to traumatic events instead, use a quick de-stress process like RET or EFT to better utilize the cortisol they already have. In those cases where cortisol injections might be especially useful, I propose they be accompanied by RET or EFT sessions so that the cortisol is better utilized.

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Counseling Trauma Victims Can Cause Secondary Trauma

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In a study appearing in the May edition of Research on Social Work Practice, Geisinger Senior Investigator Joseph Boscarino, PhD, MPH and his co-researchers examined psychological stress, job burnout and secondary trauma among 236 New York City social workers following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Secondary trauma includes experiencing symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress such as having nightmares or flashbacks, being easily startled and avoiding situations that remind one of the original trauma. Sometimes called vicarious trauma, it can seriously impact the mental health of counselors, first responders, critical care nurses and others in healthcare professions involved with treating those exposed to traumatic events, Boscarino said.

The study found that involvement in World Trade Center recovery effort was the primary reason why social workers experienced secondary trauma.

The research also showed that a positive work environment for social workers helped reduce secondary trauma and prevent job burnout. Continue reading →

About Physical Sensation and Therapy

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Sight and touch are connected in the brain.

Sight and touch are connected in the brain.

Reported in Medical News Today, a study by University of Southern California shows a direct relationship between sight and feeling. When you see something, you tend to feel it also. Further, when you recall the sight of something, you also retrieve the memory of how it feels to touch what you saw.

I suggest that not only do you feel the sensation of the items you see, you also feel the sensations you felt at the time you saw whatever it was you saw. It’s a memory “package” that includes all sensory and emotional elements involved in the experience.

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Post Trauma Embitterment?

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Chronically blaming others could be a symptom of post-traumatic embitterment.

Chronically blaming others could be a symptom of post-traumatic embitterment.

“Persistent bitterness may result in global feelings of anger and hostility that, when strong enough, could affect a person’s physical health…. When harbored for a long time, bitterness may forecast patterns of biological dysregulation (a physiological impairment that can affect metabolism, immune response or organ function) and physical disease.” – Carsten Wrosch, professor, Concordia University Department of Psychology and member of the Centre for Research in Human Development.

Michael Linden, head of the psychiatric clinic at Free University of Berlin considers chronic bitterness as a mental disorder, labeling it Post Traumatic Embitterment Disorder (PTED).

Trauma can show up in a number of scenarios individualized to each person – trauma to one is not necessarily trauma to another and visa versa. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been well studied and documented, effective treatments of which have been noted in this blog. PTED, however, is not yet accepted as a mental condition. In fact, many don’t see embitterment as a treatable condition – rather, most might simply say, “get over it” or “move on.”

My experience with post-traumatic stress has been that some people can’t simply “get over it” – in fact, they are securely stuck in the trauma. Embitterment could grow out of that trauma just as a number of other symptoms can.

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From Stem Cell to Neuron in the Blink of an Eye

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Brain neurons develop from a pool of stem cells.

Brain neurons develop from a pool of stem cells.

Okay, perhaps not exactly in the blink of an eye. Still, scientists at Columbia University Medical Center have demonstrated that brain cells are created from stem cells and that the transformation can be quite rapid – within 30 days anyway. The transformation has never been seen in a human brain, so maybe the change from stem cell to brain neuron might be quicker – the study shows that the brain stockpiles stem cells, then uses cells from these stores to create new neurons as the environment changes.

More specifically, changes in brain neurology are due to a change in response to environmental changes AND in response to changes in perception and belief about the environment. When you change your mind at a fundamental level (the level of belief), you change your brain’s relationship with your environment. That is to say, when you change your mind about your world, your brain changes in response to that belief change. I think it’s intuitive – change your mind, change your brain. Now neuroscientists have identified the mechanisms responsible for this amazing ability – and why it can happen so quickly.

The trick is – how do you change your beliefs? Continue reading →

Make the Most of RET with Result Testing

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Want to succeed at finals? Get a really good night's sleep the night before.

Want to succeed at finals? Get a really good night's sleep the night before.

After a good night’s sleep, people remember information better when they know it will be useful in the future. The findings suggest that the brain evaluates memories during sleep and preferentially retains the information that is most likely to be needed again in the future.

Humans deal with huge amounts of information every day. Most is stored in memories, but the majority is quickly forgotten. How does the brain decide what to keep and what to forget? Apparently it has to do with a selection formula:

“Our results show that memory consolidation during sleep indeed involves a basic selection process that determines which of the many pieces of the day’s information is sent to long-term storage. Our findings also indicate that information relevant for future demands is selected foremost for storage.” (Jan Born, PhD, of the University of Lübeck in Germany)

The research team devised several very clever experiments to determine exactly how this selection works. Using fMRI and other electronic testing methods, they were also able to determine when such filtering occurred.

“The more slow [brain] wave activity the sleeping participants had, the better their memory was during the recall test 10 hours later,” Born said. The study authors suggest that the brain “tags” memories while awake and then consolidates them during sleep.

This would be akin to the day shift working on a report and telling the night shift to, “Put all the pages marked with red tags into the red filing cabinet, the green tagged pages in the green cabinet, and toss the untagged pages while you’re at it…”

My recommendation base on this study’s results:

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