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EFT tapping

Thanks for the feedback. It does seem to help, so I am going to stick with it. I have not seen videos of actual people using it, just instructional videos. Could you share links or search terms? Thanks!
 
All the so-called "Power Therapies" seem to work with TMS pain: EFT with tapping and/or acupressure, EMDR, and programmed dreams. They all directly access the unconscious where adverse emotions can be separated from the people and things that originally produced them through a process known as memory reconsolidation. I suspect ISTDP does something similar but in a different way.
 
I think the reason tapping works is quite a bit simpler than this long drawn out bio-neuro-chemical explanation about how it works, Walt! But since EFT tapping is getting close to a peer-reviewed psychological treatment of choice in cases of trauma, PTSD and chronic pain, I thought that this article puts it on a firm scientific footing for "those of little faith" that require rigorous scientific materialist proofs.
 
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To learn the tapping points, check out this video by Jessica Ortner:


Dr James Alexander gives a very thorough overview of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping in Chapter 12 - 'The Promise of Energy Psychology' on pages 236-261 of his recent TMS book The Hidden Psychology of Pain (2011). On pages 409-10 he also summarizes the basic EFT tapping procedure as a recipe in Appendix 8. As Lori says above, the 2014 Tapping Summit is currently in session and provides more detailed instruction and videos. They'll send you a book on tapping and EFT if you elect to give them you email address.

I found Dr Alexander's summary quite useful because he locates all the material on tapping in a short space along with an explanation of the neuro-science involved.
 
Thanks for the link Bruce, and mentioning James Alexander's book. I have not read it yet, but I watched a video he put together on the rapid eye movement desensitization technique. I have been interested in this strategy as well and wondered if you had thoughts on it. It appears to be an evidence based treatment for PTSD and is currently being studied for other conditions. A clinical trial is currently underway for EMDR and nonspecific low-back pain. Wish the results were out yet! Just wondered if you had thoughts on this or how it compares to EFT. Thanks!
 
Chapter 16 of Dr Alexander's The Hidden Psychology of Pain (2011) entitled "Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing" provides a nice short summary of EMDR (pp. 317-332).

Forest has given a link to Dr Alexander's latest article on EMDR on the Forum, where the concept of "memory reconsolidation" is introduced:

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/inside-emdr-a-neurological-perspective.3834/

Well, I don't know about comparing EMDR to EFT tapping, but in my very non-professional opinion, it seems like both of these Power Therapies work by breaking up the obsessive scanning for trouble in the lower brain stem that drives the anxiety that causes the tension behind TMS pain. A jazz musician might say, they "loosen you up!" Some experts question the physical effectiveness of both therapies and suggest they work by distracting you from the pain. But that seems rather academic to me. The fact is that both of them work on traumatized patients with PTSD and have higher cure rates than purely cognitive behavioral methods seem to achieve. EMDR seems to require a therapist to do the hand passes in front of your eyes, but EFT "tapping" can be practiced on your lonesome.

You might also run a search on EMDR on the TMS Forum. Quite a bit comes up, including an account of how you can do it alone too.
 
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