6 YEARS OF PTSD GONE IN ONE SESSION
The session went as follows:
I’ll call the Sergeant George. He said he had been on two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.
I asked what symptoms were bothering him. He said he couldn’t sleep and “everything bothers me’. He rated that as a 5. (I questioned that to myself but let it go because I knew that that wasn’t what I would be working with.)
Pat: “What happens when you can’t sleep?”
George: “I am just upset about everything and fearful about a lot of things.”
P “Is there a particular memory from your tours that is most invasive?”
G “Absolutely. There was this one route that was taboo. If you took it you were gonna get hit. It was the main supply route of the insurgents. One day we took that route. There were 15 of us in 3 tanks. When we approached that dangerous place, one of the tanks got hit. We could hear our peers screaming. One man was able to get out. The other tank went to see if they could help and they got hit. We went to help the soldier who had gotten out. Each time we tried to lift him, a body part would fall off so we left him alone and just guarded him. As the med-evac approached, we left to go back to base. 9 men in all were lost and one was very badly wounded.
He was very emotional during the entire story but then he started really weeping and said. ”The worst part is that I can’t remember what they look like.”
P Did you feel guilty that you had survived?
G (very emotional) Yes.
He told me that it was a 10.
We tapped on the Karate Chop point.
“Even though I lost 9 of my buddies, I still accept myself.
Even though I feel guilty that they died and I didn’t, I still accept myself.
Even though I feel guilty that we tried to help but couldn’t, I’m still a good guy.
I feel guilty that they died.
I feel guilty that I survived.
I lost 9 of my buddies.
I feel guilty that I couldn’t do anything.
I continued with these phrases through the sequence and did the nine gamut to make sure that the right and left brain were engaged.
I asked him what physiological sensations he experienced in his body. George told me that the tension in his shoulders was gone and his back felt more relaxed. I asked if any other emotions came up. He said no. Then I asked if any other thoughts flashed through his mind and he responded no. The “survivor’s guilt” was down to a 4.
I the asked if he thought that this process was pretty weird. He said yes. So we did a round of tapping on “this is weird.”
Even though this is weird, I still accept myself.
Even though it seems silly that tapping could reduce my guilt, I still accept myself
Even though I feel a little silly, I still accept myself.
(At this point I avoided, “I deeply and completely love and accept myself” because I was working with military who had been in combat and thought that might alienate him.)
After a round if tapping, “This seems silly. I feel weird, how could this possibly work? Etc.” I went on with tapping on the guilt.
We repeated a similar setup from the first round and the same tapping statements. He came down from a 4 to a 3. Then he said, “We should have protested more.” I asked him to tell me more about that. He said when the commander told them to take that route, they should have protested more. The guilt that they hadn’t protested more was a 10. I got an insight to switch to this guilt and it would lower the other.
Even though we knew the route was taboo and we didn’t protest I am still a good guy.
(George had trouble saying “I am still a good guy”. I filed it away for later.)
Even though I feel guilty that we didn’t protest taking that route, I still accept myself.
Even though I feel guilty that we didn’t protest taking that route, I still accept myself.
We should have protested.
We lost nine soldiers because we didn’t protest.
I feel guilty that we didn’t protest.
If I had protested, they might still be alive.
I feel so guilty; it’s my entire fault they died.
We didn’t protest hard enough.
I continued these phrases around all the points. After this round on guilt that they hadn’t protested hard enough he was now a 2. We did one more round on this and his guilt that they hadn’t protested was down to a 0. I asked him about the guilt that he had survived and that was now also a 0. He had such a beautiful smile.
I told him that I noticed his difficulty in saying, “I’m a good guy” and we did a round on that.
Even though it’s hard for me to say I’m a good guy, I accept myself.
Even though it’s hard for me to think I’m a good guy when I lost my buddies, I deeply and completely love and accept myself., exactly as I am, and exactly as I’m not.
We did a whole round on I’m a good guy.
I did what I could.
I’m a good guy. He became very emotional again (actually through most of the session)
I didn’t test a number because I could see the relief on his face.
I inquired if he had felt fearful as they had continued down the road back to the base. It was a 10.
Even though I was afraid that we were going to get it too, I accept myself.
Even though I was afraid that they were going to hit us too, I accept myself.
Even though I was afraid that we were going to die too, I accept myself.
I was afraid we were going to die, too.
Afraid we were going to die.
I was afraid.
This fear has been living in my body for 6 years.
I may not recognize who I am without this fear.
Continued the round around all the points.
His fear was down to a 3. Then he said. I don’t feel ashamed anymore. I asked what number he thought his shame was and he said it was a 2. I asked him what he thought it was before we started and he said a 10.
We did another round on the fear and brought it down to a 0. Along with the fear that they might die, I also included things like:
I am afraid for my finances.
I am afraid for my wife and kids.
It’s safe for me to feel safe.
I don’t need this fear any more.
It’s safe for me to feel safe.
He had mentioned in our initial conversation that they were some of the things keeping him awake. Even though I knew that it was the trauma of battle, I included these in the last round.
Then we did a round on the shame.
Even though I was ashamed that all those men died, I still accept myself.
Even though I am ashamed that I lived, I still accept myself.
Even though I am ashamed that we didn’t protest more, I still accept myself.
I still have some of this shame.
This remaining shame.
Remaining shame.
I choose to release this shame.
I don’t need it any more.
The shame was down to a 0. George was visibly relieved and he thanked me profusely for the work that we did. I asked the captain how long we had been working on the session and he told me 45 minutes. 6 years of PTSD gone in 45 minutes! The world needs to know about this, especially for our soldiers.
Today, I called the captain to get George’s number and he was with him. He put him on the phone. I asked George how he felt and he instantly replied, “Terrific. Last night while I was sleeping, my wife had to put her hand on my chest. She said she hadn’t seen me sleep so peacefully in years.”
BTW, when someone has had such a cathartic session, I always check with them the next day to make sure that they are feeling well and nothing else came up to deal with.
It was an honor and privilege to work with a “wounded warrior”. Hopefully we’ll have a breakthrough with the VA and the services in the very near future so we can properly serve those who have so valiantly served us.
Pat Farrell
760-961-4027
Below is a link to testimony of The Iraq Vets Stress Project Testimony before Congress on Veterans and PTSD The House Veterans Affairs Committee
http://www.stressproject.org/congressional_testimony.html
I’ll call the Sergeant George. He said he had been on two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.
I asked what symptoms were bothering him. He said he couldn’t sleep and “everything bothers me’. He rated that as a 5. (I questioned that to myself but let it go because I knew that that wasn’t what I would be working with.)
Pat: “What happens when you can’t sleep?”
George: “I am just upset about everything and fearful about a lot of things.”
P “Is there a particular memory from your tours that is most invasive?”
G “Absolutely. There was this one route that was taboo. If you took it you were gonna get hit. It was the main supply route of the insurgents. One day we took that route. There were 15 of us in 3 tanks. When we approached that dangerous place, one of the tanks got hit. We could hear our peers screaming. One man was able to get out. The other tank went to see if they could help and they got hit. We went to help the soldier who had gotten out. Each time we tried to lift him, a body part would fall off so we left him alone and just guarded him. As the med-evac approached, we left to go back to base. 9 men in all were lost and one was very badly wounded.
He was very emotional during the entire story but then he started really weeping and said. ”The worst part is that I can’t remember what they look like.”
P Did you feel guilty that you had survived?
G (very emotional) Yes.
He told me that it was a 10.
We tapped on the Karate Chop point.
“Even though I lost 9 of my buddies, I still accept myself.
Even though I feel guilty that they died and I didn’t, I still accept myself.
Even though I feel guilty that we tried to help but couldn’t, I’m still a good guy.
I feel guilty that they died.
I feel guilty that I survived.
I lost 9 of my buddies.
I feel guilty that I couldn’t do anything.
I continued with these phrases through the sequence and did the nine gamut to make sure that the right and left brain were engaged.
I asked him what physiological sensations he experienced in his body. George told me that the tension in his shoulders was gone and his back felt more relaxed. I asked if any other emotions came up. He said no. Then I asked if any other thoughts flashed through his mind and he responded no. The “survivor’s guilt” was down to a 4.
I the asked if he thought that this process was pretty weird. He said yes. So we did a round of tapping on “this is weird.”
Even though this is weird, I still accept myself.
Even though it seems silly that tapping could reduce my guilt, I still accept myself
Even though I feel a little silly, I still accept myself.
(At this point I avoided, “I deeply and completely love and accept myself” because I was working with military who had been in combat and thought that might alienate him.)
After a round if tapping, “This seems silly. I feel weird, how could this possibly work? Etc.” I went on with tapping on the guilt.
We repeated a similar setup from the first round and the same tapping statements. He came down from a 4 to a 3. Then he said, “We should have protested more.” I asked him to tell me more about that. He said when the commander told them to take that route, they should have protested more. The guilt that they hadn’t protested more was a 10. I got an insight to switch to this guilt and it would lower the other.
Even though we knew the route was taboo and we didn’t protest I am still a good guy.
(George had trouble saying “I am still a good guy”. I filed it away for later.)
Even though I feel guilty that we didn’t protest taking that route, I still accept myself.
Even though I feel guilty that we didn’t protest taking that route, I still accept myself.
We should have protested.
We lost nine soldiers because we didn’t protest.
I feel guilty that we didn’t protest.
If I had protested, they might still be alive.
I feel so guilty; it’s my entire fault they died.
We didn’t protest hard enough.
I continued these phrases around all the points. After this round on guilt that they hadn’t protested hard enough he was now a 2. We did one more round on this and his guilt that they hadn’t protested was down to a 0. I asked him about the guilt that he had survived and that was now also a 0. He had such a beautiful smile.
I told him that I noticed his difficulty in saying, “I’m a good guy” and we did a round on that.
Even though it’s hard for me to say I’m a good guy, I accept myself.
Even though it’s hard for me to think I’m a good guy when I lost my buddies, I deeply and completely love and accept myself., exactly as I am, and exactly as I’m not.
We did a whole round on I’m a good guy.
I did what I could.
I’m a good guy. He became very emotional again (actually through most of the session)
I didn’t test a number because I could see the relief on his face.
I inquired if he had felt fearful as they had continued down the road back to the base. It was a 10.
Even though I was afraid that we were going to get it too, I accept myself.
Even though I was afraid that they were going to hit us too, I accept myself.
Even though I was afraid that we were going to die too, I accept myself.
I was afraid we were going to die, too.
Afraid we were going to die.
I was afraid.
This fear has been living in my body for 6 years.
I may not recognize who I am without this fear.
Continued the round around all the points.
His fear was down to a 3. Then he said. I don’t feel ashamed anymore. I asked what number he thought his shame was and he said it was a 2. I asked him what he thought it was before we started and he said a 10.
We did another round on the fear and brought it down to a 0. Along with the fear that they might die, I also included things like:
I am afraid for my finances.
I am afraid for my wife and kids.
It’s safe for me to feel safe.
I don’t need this fear any more.
It’s safe for me to feel safe.
He had mentioned in our initial conversation that they were some of the things keeping him awake. Even though I knew that it was the trauma of battle, I included these in the last round.
Then we did a round on the shame.
Even though I was ashamed that all those men died, I still accept myself.
Even though I am ashamed that I lived, I still accept myself.
Even though I am ashamed that we didn’t protest more, I still accept myself.
I still have some of this shame.
This remaining shame.
Remaining shame.
I choose to release this shame.
I don’t need it any more.
The shame was down to a 0. George was visibly relieved and he thanked me profusely for the work that we did. I asked the captain how long we had been working on the session and he told me 45 minutes. 6 years of PTSD gone in 45 minutes! The world needs to know about this, especially for our soldiers.
Today, I called the captain to get George’s number and he was with him. He put him on the phone. I asked George how he felt and he instantly replied, “Terrific. Last night while I was sleeping, my wife had to put her hand on my chest. She said she hadn’t seen me sleep so peacefully in years.”
BTW, when someone has had such a cathartic session, I always check with them the next day to make sure that they are feeling well and nothing else came up to deal with.
It was an honor and privilege to work with a “wounded warrior”. Hopefully we’ll have a breakthrough with the VA and the services in the very near future so we can properly serve those who have so valiantly served us.
Pat Farrell
760-961-4027
Below is a link to testimony of The Iraq Vets Stress Project Testimony before Congress on Veterans and PTSD The House Veterans Affairs Committee
http://www.stressproject.org/congressional_testimony.html
