“I just want to feel better, but words get in my way.” There are no words to express the depth and intensity of my feeling. I can’t find a word to describe what is happening in me. Finding words seems impossible when there is nothing but pain and fear.”
Stop and Tap. Thought Field Therapy does not require words to help immediately.
As someone who’s life work is healing pain and transforming fear, I hear statements like the one above a lot. And I see the endless struggles to find words in hopes of feeling better, or at least making sense out of what is happening. The expression on ones face, the tension in the body, the difficulty of breathing, the body’s movements, and the sense in ourselves all make it clear the other is caught in a torrent of sensation and unable to think, much less, to find the word to frame the experience acutely.
Thought Field Therapy is so simple. Feel the feeling and start tapping. Statements of the problem and/or affirmations -fake or real- are not needed to relax the body and calm the mind. The Crisis Tapping pattern is almost always the best place to start. You know how bad you feel just tap the points in the order given.
As the pain or fear, or whatever you end up calling it, dissipates your ability to think, find words, and act will return. Your problem with words is not about being inadequate. You use word all the time. Please don’t ever think you are too stupid. The problem is you are overwhelmed by the part of your brain that controls your energy to keep you alive. Our sensations commit us to fight or flight, freeze or faint, and often to responding without thinking. We are creatures of habits and the triggers in and around us, set off learned responses that guide us. Sometimes in my life the best or safest thing to do is to not think or act. We learn and keep habits that serve us. We learn new habits when the old ones stop working. You don’t have to understand the words in this paragraph to be better. Notice what you feel and tap.
Thought Field Therapy is the original meridian point stimulation therapy discovered by Dr. Roger Callahan over thirty years ago. Today the Crisis Tapping Pattern as with well as our other standard tapping patterns do not require words. Enough words- go tap. Link to video.
When you are ready for more attend a workshop and learn more specific techniques to help yourself and others. As you go along you will recognize one of Dr. Callahan principles- the more specific – the more powerful. The Basic workshop will give you tapping patterns and other energy techniques, practice, theory, research, and confidence. The Intermediate Workshop will give you the skills to communicate directly with the control mechanisms of the person without words using Muscle Testing. At this level you will be an even more specific and powerful healer.
A note for those who are familiar with EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and using the words; Dr. Callahan stopped using affirmations shortly after the author of EFT left his study. Getting people to use words often complicates the treatment and does not improve the effectiveness of TFT treatment.
And finally, I want it to be known that I use a lot of words. As a life-long social worker committed to ending useless suffering I know that part of the recovery process from traumatic stress is making sense of your experience by sharing your story with those you trust. More about this approach in my book. Words are powerful means of connecting and growing. And, shaping and changing the world. I love to hear my client’s word but only after the overwhelming upset has been tapped away. Start with tapping. Stop Suffering. Think and Act. End you pains from the past and transform your fears in plans of joy.
Please watch our latest video as I go into more depth about the way TFT can bring about a more joyous life, free from mental health struggles, without needing to find the right words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvyVvCXs7T8