Techniques For Rapid Relief
From Emotional Trauma & Phobias

By Greg Harper

When you make the decision to go to therapy, there are actually 100's of types from which to choose. For example, there is Gestalt Therapy, the Active Listening approach, Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, Behavior Therapy, Humanistic Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy, Human Relations Counseling, Hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), or one of the new "Energy Psychologies" like Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), just to name a few. With all these options, how do you know which is best for you? Furthermore, how long should therapy take? In my opinion, we should use methods that give the best results in the shortest time.

For emotional trauma, the most impressive results I've observed are recorded on videos of EFT (which involves tapping on acupuncture points) being used for Vietnam vets with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These vets had been in therapy for over 20 years, yet still had nightmares and experienced difficulty leading a normal life. Several cases are presented where PTSD is resolved in less than an hour. I too have witnessed similar dramatic results for trauma (including rape) using EFT with my own clients, not just occasionally but routinely. The memory of a war trauma or a rape appears to change to a "normal" memory that no longer triggers intense emotions. Similarly, phobias are effectively treated with EFT, usually within one session for a particular phobia.

Another highly effective method used in Europe that utilizes guided imagery, which I also use in my practice, is called the rewind technique (also known as the fast phobia cure). In a study of PTSD sufferers by British researchers Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell, 40% reported this technique as extremely successful, 53% as successful, and 7% as acceptable. No one rated it as poor or as a failure. Only one to three sessions were required.

How can these methods give such rapid results? According to Griffin and Tyrell, this is possible because these techniques employ the neocortex ("higher brain") to actually reprogram the limbic system ("lower brain") where the patterns of trauma are stored. This is possible when a person is relaxed, because when the fight-or-flight response is activated, use of the upper brain is restricted and we actually become less intelligent (as anyone who's had severe test anxiety can attest to). In effect, under the right conditions we can use the intelligence of the neocortex to change the conditioning from past events.

In spite of the efficacy of these techniques, they have not reached the mainstream in this country. In Europe, however, an entire new approach to therapy, called "Human Givens" incorporates such techniques along with focusing on helping the client fulfill basic human needs (the "givens.") In fact, Human Givens Therapy can lift depression in only one to three sessions without medication.