“Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood and untreated cause of human suffering.”
- “Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes” by Peter A Levine & Maggie Kline

In my early practice I was puzzled by the group of clients who became truly agitated whenever they talked about frightening or terrifying incidents from their early lives. They acted as if it were happening right now. People would tell me how much previous therapy they had tried: how they talked, wept, shook, and eventually learned some management techniques. But somehow they just could not get over it. The incidents they described were diverse, but what they had in common was the way their distress escalated and became manifest in their bodies as they talked.

As a counsellor in the 1980’s I was used to reassuring people that what they were suffering was a natural response to a shocking, or terrifying event. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing was used to help emergency workers “get over” truly shocking sights, sounds, and smells. It worked – sometimes.

Since this group of clients often escalated into terror in only a few seconds, maybe, I wondered, there was a way we could reverse the process just as quickly.

That was twenty years ago, and the start of a long and at times frustrating journey.

First I created a self-help psychological tool kit for victims of trauma. Then I created a different kit for helpers of trauma victims who themselves became overwhelmed by the horror stories. I learned debriefing processes, cognitive techniques, self talk, various forms of desensitization, meditation, distraction and more. I trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprogramming next, because it seemed to provide a greater degree of release than anything else at the time.

Later, during three years of HakomiTM Body-inclusive training I was introduced to the work of Peter A. Levine. His book, ‘Waking the Tiger’ was a revelation. Levine devoted many years to the study of animals in the wild. He recorded the physiological process animals go through when they respond to danger. He applied this knowledge to the process humans experience in response to trauma. This was my first introduction to the way people process and release old traumatic reactions through the body.

For several years now, I have followed mind-body research. Over the last ten years technology has advanced to the extent that researchers can track the physiological process of arousal in the brain. We now understand that what we experience in our bodies cannot be simply controlled by thought. It was not surprising that the old talk therapy model left some clients saying “I can’t get over it”. Armed with this information it was very easy for me to include EFT’s simple tapping procedures into my trauma resolution model.

EFT proved to be the difference that really made a difference.

For clients suffering acute trauma, as well as those with post traumatic stress disorder, EFT is now my method of choice.

Every new piece of research adds something to the trauma picture, and it is useful to be able to validate the efficacy of EFT to the skeptical. The good news is that when confronted with a client who has become highly aroused in an escalating trauma reaction, I really don’t need to know all the theory:

We just need to maintain eye contact and keep tapping.

David Baldwin’s website is a good resource for up to date research and articles on trauma. Click here: trauma pages

I will be posting a series of articles on trauma resolution over the coming months. Please visit again.