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The TFT trauma relief technique is very different. Yes, it looks strange and seems just too simple to be able to do much of anything. And yet, 30 years of testimony from thousands of people around the world show it to be revolutionary in its ability to help people achieve emotional freedom and peace of mind. Simply put, its effectiveness feels like a miracle as its speed and power defy all expectations and previous experience.

On top of that, the algorithms, which were derived through diagnosis, are available to anyone, regardless of education, nationality, age, race or creed. And thanks to the internet–it is FREE!

Millions of people worldwide suffer from violence, natural disaster, illness, divorce, loss of job, home or loved ones, etc. Such trauma has a severely debilitating effect on one’s life as an individual, as a community member and as a world citizen. It is the goal of TFT Foundation to reduce suffering through the powerful tool of TFT. It is also our stand that relieving the effects of trauma—the fear, grief, guilt, stress, anger, hatred–frees the individual and opens the heart, facilitating peace within and among communities.

The story of TFT and the Rwandan elder is an example of this type of transformation. During the genocide, this gentleman had seen his family brutally murdered and was attacked and left for dead himself. For years he had endured severe emotional and mental torture, even dizziness and falling. In response to the profound relief he experienced from TFT, he offered to take three or four orphans into his modest home!

Using TFT to relieve the effects of trauma can open people to peace, compassion and community. It is the intention of the TFT Foundation–and this blog–to make trauma relief available on a global scale!

Just give it a try by following the written instructions and/or the video demonstration. It takes only a few minutes. If it doesn’t work for you, or it works only partially, ask questions by posting a comment. We promise to answer as soon as possible. You can also visit the TFT membership directory for a list of TFT practitioners for further consultation.

Our world-wide projects include PTSD research in Africa, humanitarian efforts in disaster areas, and education in areas of need from poverty, trauma, and disease.

CLICK HERE to find out about our current and upcoming projects.

CLICK HERE to read about our previous projects over the past few years.

I am happy to announce the first of our team of Rwandans from the IZERE Center in Rwanda are arriving in Honolulu tonight.  The others will arrive later this week.

We are so very excited about this project as not only will four Rwandan TFT practitioners become trainers, spreading TFT far and wide in Africa, but many underprivileged in Hawaii as well as the clinics that serve them will benefit from TFT training and treatment during the month of September.

Using TFT to relieve the effects of trauma can open people to peace, compassion and community. It is the intention of the TFT Foundation–to make trauma relief available on a global scale! You can learn more about he Foundation’s work by clicking here,

We would like to ask for your help to cover some of the expenses in this far reaching project. As the air tickets were more costly than expected, and we have over run our budget.

We are seeking donations toward their food and incidentals while in Hawaii. If anyone can assist us with this, we can accept donations of any size. If you would even assist with one meal, it would make a huge difference for our guests from Rwanda.

Donation form is found here.

Thank you all for your help with this sharing of TFT with those who need it.

The ATFT Foundation (charitable arm of the Association for Thought Field Therapy) provided a generous grant and the gracious help of a husband and wife team Dr. Howard and Nurse Phyll Robson, both TFT trainers from England, we provided a 3-day training involving 30 Haitian teachers, nurses, community leaders, medical and nursing students, from as far as Port-au-Prince.

The training not only helped them personally but also gave them the opportunity to help relieve the trauma of as many earthquake survivors as possible. Even more importantly, trainees learned techniques on how to relieve pain, which would be beneficial in an area when medical personal and pain relief medications are scarcely available.

Many community leaders asked me to convey their heartfelt thanks to the TFT team. I have talked to some of the attendees in Haiti for these past few days. Here is what they had to say:

“In a culture where a mental illness is frowned upon, the TFT training gave us a new perspective on how we human work. This tool is a lifetime gift. Many of us now see our fellow human being in a different light.”

“After taking the training, it has helped me improve my communication with those I serve.”

“After losing everything including my home, family members, and everything I worked for, participating in the TFT training gave me a new lease on life. I am now a healthy citizen who is using the tools I have learned to help those who were suffering just like me.”

“It was such a great gift that we received from the Robsons – who taught from the heart.”

“As a teacher, I use these techniques with my students; their attention span in the classroom has greatly improved.”

For the past five years, the Association of Thought Field Therapy Foundation has sent teams of TFT practitioners to Rwanda to treat and train Rwandan genocide survivors in using TFT. At the Izere Center in Byumba, a TFT treatment center office was recently opened. It treats about 30 people a day, two days a week.

There are still hundreds of thousands of yet untreated genocide survivors who suffer from PTSD in Rwanda. The Rwandans need to be trained as TFT trainers so they could train others to use TFT in their homeland.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
In September 2011 four Rwandan TFT practitioners from Byumba and Kigali will come to Hawaii for a month of intense training. They will review TFT skills and learn to train others to use it. As part of their training, the Rwandans will train 8-12 trainees in Hawaii for 2 days and then supervise them in clinical practice.

With the help of the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii, we are establishing free clinics for field training in areas of high need throughout Oahu for the newly trained local TFT practitioners and Rwandan trainers. We would like at least two days at each site. Ideally, each of the 8-12 trainees would treat 3 people in the morning, and 3 people in the afternoon under the supervision of the Rwandan trainers. For example, if there are 8 trainees, 24 people would be treated in the morning, and 24 people treated in the afternoon each day. Supervision of the Rwandan trainers would be provided by TFT practitioners in Hawaii who are also licensed psychotherapists. We will also provide training on recognizing and addressing high-risk situations (e.g., substance abuse, trauma, mood disorders, suicidal risks).

All of the trainings will be provided free of charge. The TFT training will be limited to 8-12 trainees, but the training on high-risk situations is open to other practitioners. We are asking all who would like to sponsor a free clinic to help provide water, lunch for the Rwandans and trainees, and water and light snacks for the clients.

BENEFITS
1) Rwandans moving to self-sufficiency in continuing to train, treat and follow-up on their TFT treatments of wide-scale trauma, and empowered to expand geometrically the benefits of TFT across Rwanda and to neighboring countries.

2) Free treatment for the homeless, veterans, people in recovery and many others who do not have access or the means to obtain treatment.

3) Locally trained TFT practitioners prepared to work with the people with high needs and limited resources in Hawai`i.

Explanatory presentation of the work with wide-scale trauma and the model for community treatment with TFT was given in September 2010, with a follow-up initial planning meeting of those interested in participating in this collaborative effort held in October 2010. Regular planning and subcommittee meetings will be held over the course of the next several months.
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Sakai, C., Paperny, D., Mathews, M., Tanida, G., Boyd, G., Simons, A., Yamamoto, C., Mau, C., & Nitter, L. (2001). Thought field therapy clinical applications: Utilization in an HMO in behavioral medicine and behavioral health services. J Clin Psychol, 57(10), pp. 1215-1227.

Sakai, C., Connolly, S.M., & Oas, P. (Winter 2010). Treatment of PTSD in Rwandan child genocide survivors using thought field therapy. Int J Emergency Mental Health, 12(1), ISSN: 1522-4821, pp 41-49.

IZERE Centre, NYINAWIMANA,  Rwanda – Trauma Relief Mission

We have received a request from Father John Mary Vianney, a priest of Byumba Catholic Diocese in the northern district of Rwanda.  He heard from a seminarian, KATANGA Raphael (salesian of Don Bosco) about our work with traumatized people.

Father Vianney has asked for us to come to his diocese as there are many cases of children and youth who suffer from HIV/AIDS, loss of family, disabilities, genocide survivors and other.  They have requested a team come in July 2009 to train and treat.  Dr. Caroline Sakai is willing to go in late July and stay two weeks.  They want to have us train about 30 people who can then assist others in their community.  The people of Byumba at NYINAWIMANA have built a center that they call the IZERE Center.  The word seems to mean peace and reconciliation.

Those who have been trained will treat others at the IZERE Centers in the other communities.  They  want us to also treat some cases of trauma at the IZERE Center. They have about 300 people that they would like treated but we may have to limit the amount of people treated during depending on how many ATFTF Trauma Relief therapists are deployed.

They propose to make a small ATFT group formed of the 30 newly trained therapists who will treat others at the IZERE  Center.  They want us to supervise the newly trained therapists as much as possible before our departure.
Goal: To improve on the lives of the people affected by genocide, war, poverty and physical handicaps.

Strategies:

1. Begin a program focused on treatment of the effects of trauma caused by genocide and psychological effects of poverty and being physically handicapped.

2. To identify people affected by genocide (trauma cases), poverty (orphans, widows, handicapped people, and traumatized people) and to group them according to their needs.

3. Sensitivity training and education aimed at creating peace, forgiveness, unity, reconciliation and confidence among neighbors, and to cultivate a spirit of collaboration and mutual help.

Activities in IZERE center.

-To provide physical and emotional treatment to all people
-To continue training; Members of the IZERE Centre will train and supervise others
-Counseling

Expected results

- Reduction in the cases of trauma
- Increased knowledge about trauma and how to
diagnosis it.
- Ease education of traumatized children
- Good relationships among people (peace, forgiveness, reconciliation).

Suzanne Connolly TFT-Adv

*Note: ATFT Foundation is an IRC Section 501(c)(3) public charity to which contributions are deductible for federal (USA) income tax purposes in accordance with the provisions of IRC Section 170.

Apr 07         ATFT Foundation Goes to Rwanda, Africa
By Paul Oas, M.Div., Ph.D., TFT-Dx

Spring 07   ATFT Foundation Goes to New Orleans, USA
By Nora J. Baladarian, Ph.D., TFT-Adv and Ecoee Rooney, R.N., S.A.N.E.

June 07      ATFT Foundation Goes to Tanzania, Africa
By Joanne Callahan, President, ATFT Foundation

Jan 08        ATFT Foundation Goes to Tabasco, Mexico
By Ing. Alvaro Hernendez, TFT-Adv

Feb 09       ATFT Foundation Goes to Uganda, Africa
By Fr. Peter Mubunga Basaliza

Jul 09 ATFT Foundation Goes to the Izere Centre, Rwanda, Africa
By Suzanne Connolly MFT, CISW

Climatic changes are affecting many Countries, and some of these changes are causing a tragedy for many people, especially the poor and needy.

Tabasco is a rich state in natural resources; it has the largest rivers in Mexico, beautiful large forest and rich oil fields. Its population of about 2,200,000 people, is integrated with people from different social and economical levels, but most of them are poor. At the end of this year, an extraordinary rainy season, caused the big dams that hold the water from the mountains to produce electricity, overfilled. It was necessary, to release the dams, in such massive amounts of water, that not only the small communities downstream but also the City of Villahermosa (surrounded by the Greave and the Carrizal rivers) were flooded. The total affected people was about 1,200,000 persons, more than half of the population, both rich and poor people were affected. This time the flooding in Villahermosa was such that down town, the level of the water reached more than 3 meters.

People used to say: “one tragedy, does not come alone”.  Unfortunately this time, that was right, in the neighboring state, the State of Chiapas, the excessive rain, caused a big hill to collapse and fall down in to the Grijalva river that also feeds the Tabasco dams, clogging the flow of the river, and disappearing on the fall.

Small communities were covered with thousands of tons of soil and rocks. A large amount of work has to be done to move millions of cubic meters of rock and soil to allow the water flow again on the way to the sea. This second tragedy caused people to be afraid and many to panic, because once the river will be unclogged  it can overfill the dams again and cause new flooding.

The magnitude of this tragedy has required that National and  International people and institutions bring help to Tabasco and Chiapas.

Some of the affected people are already receiving assistance, however, as the access to small communities is still affected,  help has not been able to reach them.

As the water receded,  and health problems arose, a big campaign against  infections was implemented. Hepatitis, Dengue Fever, Malaria, Tetanus, Flu, stomach sickness and others are a real danger (again the problem is to reach the small populations in areas of difficult access).

In the city of Villahermosa, after people were allowed to leave the shelters, many of them, found all their property, and their schools and working places, destroyed. Many also could not find family members.

A new big and collective issue is showing up now, the people need psychological help to relieve their traumas, fears and panic.

REQUEST FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP

Soon requests for psychological help began arriving at the ATFT Foundation. Jenny Edwards, Maria Eulalia Perez Porrea, Nora Baladerian, Suzanne Connolly, Roger and Joanne Callahan, and many others received these messages.

Shortly thereafter, the ATFT Foundation received a formal invitation from Caritas of Tabasco, to come and help. The original idea was to prepare a team to be able to go to Tabascoearly next year, but the situation there required immediate attention. Suzanne Connolly and Joanne Callahan started working on the possibility to form and finance the cost of a Trauma Relief Team of Spanish speaking TFT therapists able to go there.

A local TFT Dx trained practioner Raquel Lobo contacted by Maria Eulalia Perez Porrua offered to

provide local support and logistics in Villahermosa. The new deployment dates were Dec 10 to Dec 15, 2007.

A TEAM WAS FORMED

A team was formed with two engineers and therapists (TFT Dx trained) from Mexico City: Victor Manuel Eguiluz and myself, Alvaro Hernandez, and a group of local people from Tabasco: Raquel Lobo TFT Dx, Lia Cervantes, Lupita Canto TFT Dx, Lolita Camacho TFT Dx, Cecilia Garcia TFT Dx, Ofelia Hinojosa TFT Dx, Ma Reyna Suarez, Marilin Diaz, Rosita Romellon and 83 more local volunteers willing to be trained and help with TFT.

The first step after our arrival was to train the volunteers and actualize the trained ones.

With the help of Victor Manuel Eguiluz and the local TFT trained people I gave an official TFT Algorithm Level course to the 83 volunteers. Unfortunately Raquel Lobo had return to Monterrey because her father went to the hospital. Before leaving, she had to move all the furniture and accessories from the first floor to the second floor of her house to be prepared in case a new flooding happens (The red alarm is on ). The local support to our team was then supplied by Lia Cervantes.

THE ALGORITHM LEVEL TRAINING IN TABASCO

The course was given in a local church auditorium (Parroquia Del Espiritu Santo) kindly provided by Fr. Denis Ochoa.

The manuals, certificates and material in Spanish, financed by the ATFT Foundation, were prepared and the training started as usual, the group was enthusiastic.

At the end of the first day, something unusual happened, one of the trainees, a lady on her way back home was assaulted and robbed.

The next day when she arrived to the training she was crying and asking for help. This tragedy gave me the opportunity to treat her with TFT in front of the group and bring her SUD from 10 to 1, but a new aspect from this trauma arrived, the fear that her daughters would be affected because her pictures and address were in her stolen hand bag.

The problem this time required more than algorithms, I treated her in private using Diagnostic Level TFT, after correcting reversals, treating her for toxins and using collarbone breathing her SUD went from 10 to 1.

The training was a success, and the people were very happy, for the opportunity to learn TFT, the comments and evaluation were excellent and they were ready to start helping friends, families, neighbors and the affected people in Tabasco.

At the end of the training, Lia Cervantes organized small groups of people living near by in order to start providing help to the affected ones. One of the trainees, a physician, Dr Raymundo Cadena, was affected by the flooding and he lost all his medical tools and equipment. At the training he asked a lot of questions, he also had the opportunity to treat and be treated and by the end of the training he was totally convinced of TFT.

He has a radio program and invited us, Victor Manuel and myself, to his program to give help by radio in the local station XEVT. He explained to his audience that TFT is the most incredible therapy that he has ever known. Victor Manuel filmed and recorded the one hour radio program. After the program we had dinner together with him. It was a
nice experience to see how TFT is accepted by professional physicians and to give therapy to a radio audience of traumatized people.

HELPING TRAUMATIZED PEOPLE

The next activity was to help the traumatized people in the poor communities; the help was provided in local churches. This activity was planned and coordinated by Raquel Lobo and Lia Cervantes and in each community a responsible contact person was named.

Lia Cervantes and Sister Martina, were in charge of the first one “Comunidad Bosques de Saloya”. We gave group help to more than 60 people and then individual help to the special cases or to the ones that required it because their SUD did not come down.

After the help was provided, a sandwich was offered to everybody. Maria Reyna Suarez was in charge of the second community, but in the church another activity was help that arrived (food and water) we could not work at that time.  In the same place where the training was given, help was offered to affected people, and a small group came and were successfully helped.

Finally Marilin Diaz and Rosita Rosellon were in charge of one of the more affected areas, MANGA III in the Santa Teresita church and MANGA II in the Corpus Christy church in both cases we had many people that with the help of the new TFT algorithm trainees we were able to provide relief.  Special attention was given to the children. (See photos) In the Santa Teresita Church the priest suspended his mass to allow us to keep working, the people were so happy with the TFT that they give us a big applause before leaving 2 hours later than the time projected.

This was one of the most rewarding experiences.

A lot more work still needs to be done. We have not been to the shelters, where thousands of people are. New teams need to be sent to coordinate the help of the new trained volunteers and to be able to reach more traumatized people.

It was a pleasure for me to be part of the organization and the first team of the ATFT Foundation Trauma Relief Committee sent to Tabasco.

If you wish to help with this relief effort contact:
Joanne Callahan, joanne@TFTRX.com or Suzanne Connolly, zanne@earthlink.net

2004 TFT Algorithm course in Tanzania, Africa, led by Ing. Alvaro Hernandez, TFT-Dx

Africa and malaria have been in the media forefront lately.   From the Christmas Tree raising in Vatican City to the Bill Gates Foundation, and scientific groups worldwide, there is a great effort and focus on the need to reduce the spread of malaria and help the victims of this disease.  In light of the recent earthquake and tsunami tragedy, the control and treatment of malaria will continue to be an important and urgent need.

The ATFT Foundation’s first humanitarian project was in response to the extreme suffering caused by malaria.  This disease affects half the world’s population and kills a million children a year.   The ATFT Foundation’s focus will first be in Africa.

2004 TFT Algorithm course in Tanzania, Africa, led by Ing. Alvaro Hernandez, TFT-Dx

Father Luis Jorge Gonzalez, Dr. Jenny Edwards, Dr. Miguel Vera and Mr. Alvaro Hernandez, Engineer, all TFT practitioners and teachers, have been traveling to Tanzania, Africa over the last few years to teach TFT to a local Carmelite Order of the Catholic Church and other local caregivers to help them relieve the suffering of these people.

Recently, the missionaries in Tanzania invited the ATFT Foundation to send a team of TFT teachers and researchers to explore the uses of TFT to reduce physical and emotional suffering associated with the deadly disease of malaria, and to set up a study to determine the effects of TFT on that population. Local personnel will continue the study once the team has left. It is anticipated that two to three follow-up visits by Foundation members will be required for supervision, further training, and monitoring purposes.

2004 TFT Algorithm course in Tanzania, Africa, led by Ing. Alvaro Hernandez, TFT-Dx

If the study supports our previous anecdotal evidence that TFT is beneficial in relieving symptoms and effects of malaria, the ATFT Foundation will need to proceed with the second stage of the project, which is to determine the most effective methods for disseminating and teaching the appropriate TFT techniques and protocols to vulnerable populations. The third stage of the project will be to carry out what is developed in stage two.

The first team of four TFT practitioners and teachers went to Morogoro, Tanzania  June 9 thru June 30, 2005. This team of volunteers consisted of:  Dr. Mary Cowley and Dr. Cecily Resnick from San Diego, California and Mr. Chris Milbank from London, UK.  Mr. Alvaro Hernandez, Engineer, from Mexico City
returned with this group.  They worked with the local people to directly help the victims of malaria and their families as well as teach a large group of local missionaries and health care personnel.

2004 TFT Algorithm course in Tanzania, Africa, led by Ing. Alvaro Hernandez, TFT-Dx

We are asking for help from all of our readers.  We can accept funds for travel, assessment tools, teaching aids and much more.  The mission is in need of laptop and/or notebook computers.  Donations of airline mileage would assist our teams with travel costs.  Please join us in this vital humanitarian effort!

Just think, if we could only help the related trauma and stress on these families and thereby strengthen their resistance to the spread of this disease, how many lives could we save and how much suffering can we relieve?  We won’t know until we try.

We can accept donations in the form of credit cards, Mastercard or Visa, or checks made payable to the ATFT Foundation, PO Box 1220, La Quinta, CA 92247.  If you have any questions about how to donate for this project, please e-mail me, Joanne@tftrx.com, or call me, 760 564-1925

This is an opportunity for all of us to participate in a project of worldwide importance.

2004 TFT Algorithm course in Tanzania, Africa, led by Ing. Alvaro Hernandez, TFT-Dx

*Note: ATFT Foundation is an IRC Section 501(c)(3) public charity to which contributions are deductible for federal (USA) income tax purposes in accordance with the provisions of IRC Section 170.

THE DAY OUR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER
By Ecoee Rooney, R.N., S.A.N.E.

Nora J. Baladerian, Ph.D.

Prepared for the APA Annual Convention August 2006, New Orleans, LA

August 29, 2005. In Los Angeles, California, I watched the news along with millions of others, as the hurricane warnings were aired.  It was ominous.  Less than a year prior, in December 2004, the terrible tsunami had hit Indonesia and  Sri Lanka, with tremendous impact upon those present, and those far away. This hurricane, however, was within the USA, so I was confident a proper, prompt help to survivors would be readily available.

But  then, the levees broke, flooding New Orleans!  In the beginning hours, I was not too surprised to see the need for emergency rescues.  But then, it continued through the night, the next day, the next night, and then for days on end.  What happened?  Why could we not get enough helicopters to those on rooftops?  Why were hospital patients not evacuated or supplies brought in?  Why were there delays?  Seven days, some waited, on their rooftops, for help.  Months later a landslide happened in the Philippines, and we were there within 18 hours. But we could not get help in to New Orleans.  Stunned would be a good word to describe my feelings, along with aghast, disbelief and disgust.

Slowly, ever so slowly, it seemed, help began to be made available. Various nonprofit and governmental relief agencies gained access to disaster victims.  One of my friends helped with the collection and attempted distribution of donated food, supplies, clothing, first aid, animal supplies, baby supplies, which in the end amounted to about 5 truckloads.  We were so excited at the response of folks to make the donations, and the truckers willing to drive to New Orleans to deliver the donations. But they never made it into the city because the government agents made them turn around.  No matter how they tried to get into New Orleans, they were kept away.  Later, I heard similar tales of donations made but government officials did not let the donations into the area.

Personally, I did not do anything. At that point, I didn’t know how to help.  I went on with my life. I felt conflicted. I really wanted to DO SOMETHING, but I wanted that something to make the intended difference, not have money never provide the help I wanted to send, or provisions never arrive or to get used by those not in need.  How could I do something and be sure that my help was help that was needed?

Ecoee Rooney of New Orleans had attended my June, 2005 presentation. She asked me for more information on forensic interviewing skills to use with crime victims who have cognitive or communication disabilities. I noticed her New Orleans return address, so I briefly answered her question and further asked how she was doing.  She responded politely with “thanks for the information” and said they were doing fine. This I couldn’t believe , so I wrote back asking, “how are you REALLY?”

This resulted in 2 pages of information on the fact that her employer, a large public Hospital, the oldest continuously operating hospital in the nation, had been destroyed.  Ecoee, a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) who had attended the June International SART Conference (Sexual Assault Response Team), said that their operations had been decimated.

All future planning was tentative at best. She and her family had been evacuated from their home in late August.  They did not know if they would have a home when they returned.

I was shocked!  I immediately felt I could do something to help personally.  First, I put a request out on my listserv (www.cando@disability-abuse.com) to send any educational or supportive materials to Ecoee to give to her patients who had survived sexual assault.  Then, I asked if Ecoee would allow me to come to New Orleans, at an appropriate time, to do some trauma work with the hospital staff (wherever they might be).  She was ecstatic, amazed, appreciative, grateful, welcoming.  She asked exactly what type of trauma treatment I was suggesting. So I explained Thought Field Therapy to her as basically the application of acupuncture/acupressure therapy to psychological matters such as trauma, grief, bereavement, anxiety, among others, using tapping on the points rather than piercing or painful rubbing.

She forwarded my explanation to the “higher-ups” in  the medical administration who then requested additional information I answered them and they responded with an enthusiastic “Yes”.  I then let some of my TFT trained colleagues know  I planned a one week aid visit to New Orleans. I was hoping to provide as much TFT trauma therapy as possible to Ecoee’s hospital staff and the staff at Ecoee’s partner’s place of work, the Volunteers of America supported living program for individuals with disabilities. Her partner, Melody, helped evacuate the VOA clients and was now returning them to the community and they all needed trauma work.

I also received an email from a colleague in Louisiana tentatively asking if “while in New Orleans”, I could provide a free training to his APS (Adult Protective Services) staff on Forensic Interviewing and Assessment of Consent to Sex for forensic cases involving individuals with developmental disabilities.  “Sure, I’ll be there anyhow, and why not also add to the program trauma treatment for them?” I responded.

With the help of the ATFT Trauma Relief Committee chairperson, Norma Gairdner, DO, TFT Dx, in Toronto, Canada, twelve trauma therapists from 7 states (Hawaii, Washington, California (3), Arizona (2), Colorado, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana(3) were recruited to form our team.  We ended up calling ourselves a  “Dream Team” because we worked so well together.  We worked and lived together as if we had all known each other for years, without any conflict, or negatives whatsoever.  Each had her/his own gifts, approaches, styles, to be sure.  And each practitioner respected the other, learned from each other, and supported one another.  It was truly magical.

The January ATFT Trauma Relief deployment to New Orleans. We are standing in front of the New Orleans Convention Center where Charity Hospital was set up inside in MASH tents. A tent had been set aside for us to use to treat staff members. We gave 5 minute presentations on the hour followed by Thought Field Therapy® treatments.

Minnie O’Banner, MSSW (a local assistant volunteer), Nora Balderian, PhD., TFT-Dx  (our team leader on the ground in New Orleans and bilingual consultant), Herb Ayers, MA, LMHC, TFT-Dx (our TFT media man), John Detillier, Jr., TFT-Dx (local resident and volunteer), Suzanne Connolly, LCSW, LMFT, TFT-Dx (team trainer), Oneyda Maestas, TFT-Dx  (our second bilingual representative), Lois Sugarman, RN, PhD, TFT-Dx (our team nurse 24/7), Paul Oas, PhD, TFT-Dx (team Chaplin), Caroline Sakai, PhD, TFT-Dx (assistant trainer and lead therapist), Melody Pritchard (our hostess and our liaison with Volunteers of America and Adult Protective Services), Ecoee Rooney, RN, MSN (our other hostess and In-service Instructor at Charity Hospital), Dottie Webster, TFT-Dx (assistant trainer).   Also with our group Nikki Edwards, Nora Balderian’s and Bette Dee Mule who is John Detillier’s assistant.

We stayed in Ecoee and Melody’s house. They had only returned home one week prior to our arrival!  They moved out to the FEMA trailer that had been placed in their backyard for Melody’s Mom, and let 9 of us stay in the house (the other 3 were living locally in New Orleans).

In these circumstances, flexibility is a must. The team members arrived ahead of me because my luggage got lost and my flights got delayed so I chose to rent a car and drive from Atlanta, Georgia to New Orleans the next day. Tuesday had been planned for a “tour” of the city.  We all  brought our cameras.  We traveled in Ecoee’s SUV and a van loaned to Melody for the week by Volunteers of America, to support the trauma team.  What generosity.  We went on the tour.  We saw not blocks but miles of uninhabited and uninhabitable neighborhoods…houses that had slid off their foundations, floating away, but stopped by another house or a tree.  Lots of cars on top of houses.  Furniture halfway out of windows which the locals called “vomiting”.

Miles and miles and miles of complete destruction.  Sad. Desolate. Unbelievable.  Although we were seeing it, I noticed I was having trouble believing my eyes.  Each house had an X with information in each quadrant, the top noting the date that someone was there to inspect …dates like 9-10, 9-22…nearly a full month after the storm was the FIRST visit for emergency assistance.  The destruction of the homes was complete…this is now four full months after the storm, and it appeared that nothing had been done at each home. Nothing.  What could anyone do?  Little help was available.  No one could live in the area. Trash pick-up was just beginning.  It was hard to drive in the area.  We saw where the levee broke.  We saw tent-city, where folks had set up tents.  We even saw near the airport several hundred trailers not yet distributed.  Waiting. We then went to dinner together, and came home to plan our trauma intervention work at the hospital the next day.

Charity Hospital was housed in military tents at the Convention Center.  There was a dentistry tent, triage tent, SART tent, among others.  It was eerie.  It was strange.  We worked in the training tent, with a generator going for the air conditioning.  Hospital staff could only take one hour for participation, so we had planned 5 hours, 10,11,12,1 and 2pm.  The process was to provide a twenty minute informational talk on trauma and Thought Field Therapy, followed by forty minutes for participants to experience trauma treatment with a TFT practitioner.  The first hour included the hospital administrators as participants. They had approved our presence there in the first place. Highly meaningful was Dwayne Thomas, MD, Chief Executive Officer’s participation in both the training and the trauma relief session.  They were astounded, and pleasantly surprised at the fact that TFT made an actual difference in how they themselves felt.  Each of the individuals was asked to complete a post-treatment evaluation and they were given a copy of Stop The Nightmares Of Trauma, a book written and donated by Roger J. Callahan, Ph.D., TFT’s founder. We noticed that each hour, more and more people came.  At 3p.m., people kept wandering in.  Some curious; some hesitant, all wanting to feel better, or just wondering how this TFT works.  More came.  We did not leave until around 5:30 P.M..

Ecoee then took us all to a restaurant for dinner, where she read the evaluations and she received a phone call from one of the doctors, asking if we could possibly return on Saturday, since the residents he supervised missed the training and now were asking for an opportunity to try this trauma treatment!  We were ecstatic, principally because of the fabulous results we had already experienced, but also because there are times when our work is not recognized for the fantastic results it can produce, and here we had a request to return!  The evaluations were all we could have hoped for.  Many comments were essentially, “ I have been feeling hopeless, depressed, and now I am feeling that I’ve had a huge burden lifted…THANK YOU for this.  I am amazed that this simple procedure has such a profound effect.  And it has changed my friend as well, and this is so important to me”.  At the conclusion of dinner, Ecoee announced that the folks at the hospital had given her money to pay for our dinner.  Wow.

Because during the treatment, the clinician demonstrates to the client where to tap, we had been tapping upon ourselves all day, and we noticed that we were all feeling fine, unaffected by the traumas we had witnessed both directly and indirectly.

The following day we all went to the Volunteers of America program and worked with their staff, who all had a similar reaction.  So grateful to have relief from the traumatic symptoms they had been living with now for months.  So amazed that this simple procedure is so powerful.

Friday we worked with the APS folks, and Saturday we returned to the hospital.  We were all so excited to be able to DO SOMETHING OF VALUE in our own country, and those in New Orleans were SO GRATEFUL to have 12 people taking their own time and at their own expense to come to their city to help.  They were amazingly appreciative, and said that many feel forgotten, as there are no more headlines or even news articles about New Orleans.

By the end of the trip, our hosts, Ecoee and Melody had done quite a bit of TFT tapping for themselves, and were now avid endorsers of this trauma therapy.  The beauty of TFT had convinced them.  The following factors are the ones that tip the balance:

1.  It works

2.  The results last

3.  It works fast

4.  There is no emotional (or physical) pain induced during the treatment

5.  There are no side-effects

6.  Anyone can learn how to use TFT

7.  It has many applications

8.  It is voluntarily given!

These are all really excellent factors, and ones in which any healing practitioner would be interested.

Of the 187 evaluations,we had asked people to rate their level of distress pre- and post treatment.  The average pre-treatment rating (on a scale of 0-10, ten being the worst, 0 no distress), was 8.03, and the average post-treatment rating was 0.57.

Overall, this was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  My TFT colleagues, the folks in New Orleans, our hosts Ecoee and Melody who are now members of my chosen family, all made this a wonderful experience.  I returned again in February, doing some TFT work in Baton Rouge and in New Orleans on my own, and returned with another team of 12 in March 2006, with another week of healing, and this time, teaching an enthusiastic class of individuals how to administer TFT themselves.  This is really a wonderful outcome, to empower folks to be able to learn TFT themselves, so they can continue the healing work as needed.

Because of the invitation to participate on a panel of speakers at the American Psychological Association’s Annual Conference in New Orleans on “Responding to Katrina: Personal Perspectives”, I brought another team in to New Orleans for the week.  The weekend before the APA conference, we held a TFT training at Ochsner Hospital, teaching 60 professionals from a variety of agencies from Louisiana and Mississippi.  Then, during the week, we again provided trauma treatment to many individuals at a variety of agencies and organizations throughout the city.  At this time, we are only selecting licensed mental health professionals to join our team who are Certified in Thought Field Therapy.  For those wanting to join us on a future trip, these are the criteria along with others that will be clarified for those who apply to join our team.

I would return to New Orleans and conduct Trauma Therapy again in a heartbeat.  And, all those who joined me there are of the same mind, and commitment, to return as needed. Thanks to those of you for sharing with me the excitement of being able to bring true healing to hundreds of individuals in trauma.

There are 2 sides to every story.  Here’s the other side:

THE DAY OUR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER

Ecoee Rooney, R.N., S.A.N.E.

New Orleans, LA

Coming home to New Orleans was not easy, but no one thought it would be.  What we had thought would be a long weekend visiting friends during a perfunctory evacuation to North Louisiana, we slowly realized, was the beginning of a long, and scary road home.  Nothing could have prepared me for the turns and twists, disappointments in who didn’t help and amazement at who did, and the level of commitment of so many life-long friends and family members who came forward with money, supplies, and all we needed to survive those first months after leaving all we knew as our lives behind.

No amount of sensationalized media coverage could have prepared me for what I saw as we drove into the city for the first time, even though the mayor still banned entrance to our part of the city. The vastness of the devastation began to truly sink in as we quietly drove down the interstate past a gray, abandoned landscape.  Occasionally, houses that appeared to have been blown apart by some violent force, their guts dangling out, damaged, sat waiting to be discovered by their owners.

I’m not sure if I even breathed as we drove into our neighborhood.  Neither of us spoke as tears streamed down my face.  This was truly ugly; ugly beyond what I had even imagined.  The desolation was shocking, the gray, cracked patina on everything, and the inescapable black or brown line clearly marking the levels to which the water had risen.  Flooded cars and abandoned boats were scattered about the caked mud and debris.   The orange lifejackets swinging in the breeze from my next door neighbor’s front railing sent a shudder through me as I imagined the terror of the rising waters.

Days later, after settling in at a friend’s house uptown, I started the work of moving in to my new office in a building across from my flood-ravaged workplace.  Where to start?  There was so much to do.  I reviewed my pre-Katrina “to do list” for any relevance to life now.  Strange how so many projects lost meaning after a disaster of this magnitude.  OK, here was something. I noticed I had wanted to request a free video from Dr. Nora Baladerian, a clinical forensic psychologist from Los Angeles, regarding forensic interviewing of people with disabilities.  I had seen her speak at several conferences, so I sent her an email, asking her about the video and when it would be ready.

Promptly, she emailed back, telling me the video was not yet out, but asking about how people were making out in New Orleans.  Too overwhelmed to give more than a “we’re plugging along” type of response, I quickly sent off a cursory reply.  Soon, I was surprised by her open-ended response, “How are you REALLY?”  I hesitated, but then decided to give this stranger across the continent an honest reply.  I sat and typed for 15 minutes, describing to her my sadness at the loss of our hospital, our community, our lives, so many people who were left jobless, homeless, grieving.  It was very cathartic to spill my guts to someone who was not going through the exact same situation and who was so far away.

What came next really surprised me.  She emailed back an offer to come with a team of volunteers that she would put a call out for to bring a trauma relief therapy to our organization.  At that time, my organization was still operating out of military tents in part of a large convention hall, but I asked our administrators and they approved her bringing a group to share this therapy with our staff.

Nora and I corresponded back and forth, with increasing familiarity through each email as we worked out housing and other such details.  We moved back into the upstairs of our house that last week of December, and the 12 volunteers arrived the first week of January, staying upstairs on cots, blowup mattresses and couches while we took residence with my senior citizen mother-in-law in her F.E.M.A. trailer for the week.

As they arrived, all with incredibly impressive credentials in psychology, some authors, some counselors, arrived by plane (and Nora, who arrived by car the following day from Atlanta due to air travel problems), their commitment and love was like a breath of fresh air in the stale, dankness of post-Katrina New Orleans.

All strangers to each other, several of our friends and these volunteer therapists visited together in our home that first night, enjoying red beans and rice, crawfish pasta, and conversation.   After a while, one therapist asked me, “Would you like to try the therapy?”  “Sure,” I answered.  She motioned me to sit in front of her and bring to mind something troubling or distressful, and then rate my level of distress about this issue on a scale of 0 to 10. Quick to tears in those days, I immediately thought of one sad situation that always brought me to tears.  “OK, I’ve got it,” I said, a bit embarrassed for the tears in front of all these strangers and friends.  “Now,” the therapist said, “I’d like you to tap here,” and began to lead me through a series of tapping on different places on my face and hands and chest.

I became awash in skepticism and concern for my credibility at work, feeling foolish as I followed her strange directions yet, gradually, I began to notice a much stronger sensation than the skepticism.  I was overcome by a tremendous sense of relaxation and peace.  It was very physical, as my neck loosened, and a smile welled up from inside and appeared on my lips.  The tears were gone, and the sad feelings I had before were replaced with a tremendous sense of peace.  As all of the therapists around the room smiled and nodded, in knowing recognition of my response, I sat stunned, smiling and shaking my head.  “Amazing.  Oh my god.  This is amazing!  Why doesn’t everyone know about this?”

I was so hopeful bringing the therapists to the hospital to work with the traumatized staff.  Little by little, staff members joined the thought field therapy sessions and out of close to 100 people seen and treated only 1 person responded that they felt no response from the therapy – all but one.  Our CEO came, our administrators, doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, clerical workers, human resource workers, family members of staff, all came and had very positive reactions.

I began to doubt my reaction to this therapy, questioning it, wondering what the trick was.  However, no matter how hard I tried to conjure up the same sadness I had about the distressful issue I had worked on, I could not, and have not been able to since!

Nora and the therapists all explained that Thought Field Therapy (TFT), a treatment discovered by Roger Callahan has been used world-wide to treat traumatized populations – genocide survivors in Rwanda, people after the bombings in the London underground, after the shootings at Columbine, and in Kosovo.  The treatment is based in Eastern medicine and energy meridians, and the linking of the traumatic thought to an energy field, that can be modified and smoothed over through this treatment.

Nora has been back six times, has organized 2 other teams, supported two TFT trainings by Dr. Caroline Sakai of Hawaii and Suzanne Connolly of Arizona, so that people in the region would be able to use and share this therapy (70 + people were trained), and 2 other times she has come independently, visiting many different organizations around the city and state to share this trauma relief treatment. No one is paying her to do this.  She is absolutely driven to continue bringing help.   There is no way she will ever know the relief, healing and peace she has brought to so many people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.  Many people in my organization, and around the region continue to use TFT to help with stress, anxiety, grief and trauma.  I never knew help would come through our email exchanges.  I thought I was asking for her video – I got so much more – help for myself, my family and my community, and a life-long friend.

How can one ever adequately thank someone for a kindness like this? Thank you, Nora, for taking the time out of your life to commit yourself to us.  We didn’t know we needed you – thank you for coming to our rescue.

Please send your Donations to: 
ATFT Foundation, PO Box 1220, La Quinta, CA 92247

*Note: ATFT Foundation is an IRC Section 501(c)(3) public charity to which contributions are deductible for federal (USA) income tax purposes in accordance with the provisions of IRC Section 170.