EFT Success Stories: Tapping With Veterans

So I’m going to tell the stories of when this was allowed, when I.Could do it, when I was doing it in my group.

So I had a group of veterans, probably about like eight or ten, in a small room, and they were in the substance abuse program, but the majority of them have they drink because they have PTSD. And so I would show video little education video, battle Tap, which kind of talks about, like, PTSD and tapping and the effectiveness.

And then after that was done, I asked them if they have any questions. I talk about the tapping points. I made a little card. It’s got the tapping points on it, and then on the back, it has, like, the basic recipe kind of. So I had the hospital print these out for me. So I hand these out so they can come in their pocket. Very nice.

So a couple of key times, this one time, I had two veterans that were very intense, very, like, constantly in fight or flight, being triggered.

And so I decided to do a tapping round on anxiety, stress, and anxiety. So I created, like, these little hash sheets of paper, and I said, okay, well, so everybody’s already thinking about what’s stressing them out.

I already know it because I can see it in all of you. And what I want you to do is to write down the movie title.

I said, I want you to call this stress or anxiety something. I said, nobody’s going to take your papers. I said this is just for your information.

And I said, I want you to write down a movie title. And then I said, now I want you to pick an experience that’s not a ten, somewhere between five and eight. And so then I asked them where they felt it in their body, and then I asked them if they could give it a color. And then I said, okay, everybody has their number? Yes.

And I said, I’m going to take you through a generic tapping round. And when I say all of this stress, all of this anxiety, I want you in your mind to think about what’s stressing you out.

And so I just went through a tapping round and I said, all this stress and anxiety.

And then I said, you know, sometimes when we have stress and anxiety, we think of swear words, if that’s what you’re thinking, all of this BS or whatever.

And then after it was done, I had to take a deep breath and relax, and I brought them back to the room and I said, okay, well, who wants to share?

And it was amazing. The one guy in the back, he was like because he was sitting away from everybody, he’s totally triggered. He’s like, this is freaking tripping me out. He’s like.. it’s zero.

And I’m like, well, great.

I’m like, do you want to share what it was? He’s like, no, I don’t. I said, okay, well, thank you very much. He’s like, I’m freaked out.

And then another guy next to him said, Me too.

And I said, well, do you want to share your experience? And he said, yeah, I’m totally stressed because I’m homeless and I’m getting discharged, and I’m completely freaked out that it’s not bothering me anymore.

And I said, oh, wow. And he’s like, you know what it feels like. And the one guy said, he’s like, it feels like I just took a drag off of a doobie, man. He’s like, I feel so relaxed.

And then the other guy said, oh, my God. Me too.

And then it was just like, this whole classroom.  There was another guy that it stayed the same or didn’t change that much. And he’s looking at me like, I convinced these people to do it. I could tell on his face. He was so pissed. His jaw was, like, clenched like this. And I was like and then the other one, that’s just so heartwarming to me.

I just have a special place in my heart for him.

I said, well, what’s your number? And, you know, the after number? And he said, it’s a two. And I said, okay, well, what was it? Do you want to share with the group?

And he’s like, yeah, it was when I walked in on my mother. She was dead. And then he said, I can’t believe I just said that without breaking down and crying. He’s like, oh, my God. I’m talking about it out loud.

And he was completely freaked out that he was able to kind of, like, verbalize it.

And after that, that was one of the, I guess, classes in my mind that it’s just so memorable.

And, you know, I was talking about, like, PTSD and how it’s encoded in your brain and kind of explaining things like that, but they were just like, Steph.

And then he also said, it feels like I took a drag off of marijuana. And I said, well, that’s because you’re secreting the hormones of relaxation. I said, it’s counteracting all the hormones of stress, and you feel relaxed, and they’re like, oh, my gosh, we can’t believe.

How come work? And then they start getting mad? How come more people aren’t doing this?

I said, you know what? I said, you got to put a comment card in. I said, things don’t happen when employees say stuff, especially a nurse with only two letters behind her name. I said, if you want this to happen, I said, it’s got to come from the veterans.

So they put in all these comment cards, and I ended up being “Nurse of the year” at the hospital out of 400 people, and I got nominated.

Well, it was just it was lovely. And I ended up making my nursery because of the tapping and other things that I was doing at the hospital because it was a hospital-wide impact. And I saved the comment cards and the quotes and stuff.

But the beautiful thing about it is this one particular veteran from his mom dying, his sister– it’s just like the ripple effect. His sister works at an ER, and he’s like, the next day, when he saw me or, like the next week, he’s like, Steph, I told my sister about it. She didn’t know about tapping. And I told her that it worked for me, and they’re going to try to get it into their emergency room.

And then it’s just fabulous, you know?

And then another guy that just told me today, I said, can I share your story with people? PTSD veteran. And he’s like, sure, Steph, why not?

This is another awesome story. Okay, so this veteran, we do nursing education groups on the weekend, and he couldn’t stay.

There were probably about 20 people in the group room. People that have substance abuse and like, PTSD. They don’t like being in groups. They are constantly monitoring, they’re hyper-vigilant, and they just can’t relax.

And so he sat by the door, by the exit, and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He just got up and left.

And then after the class, I kind of approached hi,, and I said, you know, I’m not upset. I said, I understand why you left, because you’re anxious and you just don’t feel safe.

And he’s like, wow, she’s getting me. And I said, you know, I have a technique that might help. Do you want to try it? And he’s like, okay.

So then we sat in that big room, and I did a tapping round. This was right when I was learning, and I did a tapping round about being anxious in groups with people, and he was able to come to my group and stay in it the next time.

And then the awesome thing about it is, after he left the program, a friend of his that was also in the program, I was talking about tapping and he said, Steph, you know, Spectrum said that he used tapping. And then I ran into him.

He’s like, Stephanie, you helped, you helped me so much. You don’t even know. He’s like, I had to tap every time I would go to court. I would have angry outbursts, and this judge knew him, and it was like a custody battle.

I don’t even remember what it was about, but the judge knew him. He was in and out of the court system. Good guy, but just angry outbursts and he was constantly dysregulating. And he’s like, Steph, I was about ready to lose it, and I wanted to beat the crap out of these people and just lose my cool.

He said, I went into the bathroom, and I tapped, and I tapped, and I tapped. And then after he’s like, all of that anxiety went away.

And I went into the court and I was able to hold it together so much so that the judge after said, you’re different, what did you do? He’s like, I did tapping. That’s what I did. And the judge is like, what’s that? So he told the judge about it, that people need to learn it. And so I was just like, oh, so happy.

And then another friend of mine, her son has mental health problems and I did tapping rounds with him.

He’s one of the ones that I did the write-up on. He ended up going to inpatient psych in another state nearby where I live. And he brought guess what–my tapping cards to the hospital and told the psych nurses about it.

And they’re like, oh my God, this is amazing. And so he went back to them, like, he got out of the hospital and then he went back to booster visits and they’re like, how’s it going? And he’s like, well, actually, the only thing that’s helping me is tapping. All this other stuff doesn’t work.

And I was like, he’s the one that I was completely shocked. I was really nervous because I was tapping with him and his SUD level was like seven. And I did like a whole huge tapping round and it was still seven. I’m like, oh man, it’s not working!

And then I’m like, it’s all right, just keep on going. And it was going down so slowly, I thought, I’m no good, it’s not working. And then eventually, after almost 2 hours, he said it was zero. And I was like, not believing it. I’m like, Are you sure? He’s like, yes.

I said, alright, well, I want you to think about it in your mind again and tell me if it’s still zero. He’s like, it’s still zero. And I said, wow, the amazing becomes common.

Like these kind of results with people become common. Yeah, I’ve had a lot of and now it’s like, I’m almost expecting it, especially because the people that I see are so intense, like that fight or flight is like the spicket is turned on and they can’t turn it off. Like if they have PTSD or something like that.

I mean, I have a whole bunch of other examples of like, people that, you know, one veteran, he was getting triggered at home with his toddler. He would go home and then get triggered. And so then one night he came home or he came back to the hospital. This was when I was allowed to do the tapping. And it ended up being because he killed accidentally a family. Like they were charging their Fob or whatever.

Well, the night before there was a car coming that charged and it was like the enemy. Well, then the next night there was a car, like, coming rapidly, but it was a father with his kids. Like, one of his kids, like, needed medical attention, and they thought it was the enemy, and they just opened fire, and the mom and the dad was killed. The grandmother was in the car.

One of the babies was killed, and there was, like, brain matter everywhere. And he just went to the car and found him, and it was just so sad.

Anyways, I took them through tapping rounds, and the number didn’t go down all the way, but it went down significantly because he was shaking.

And I wasn’t that familiar with all of the tearless trauma and the movie technique. This was, like, right when I was starting to do it, and it kind of scared me because at one point, you feel like you’re not in control and you want to help them.

It’s very kind of it’s only happened a couple of times with me when people have gotten really so, like, in a panic attack.

One time on the floor, this one guy, he was so triggered. I said, can I tap on you?

Because we’re not supposed to, you know, until the therapist came up and kind of did some breathing exercises with them or whatever. But I asked him if I could tap right here because he was so activated that he was basically having a panic attack right in front of our eyes.

He was sweating. His heart rate was like, I don’t know, 120. His blood pressure was super high, and it was just like he was making me feel out of control.

And that is a very scary feeling when you have somebody that’s that triggered in front of you and they feel like they’re going to die. It’s scary.

And so nothing bad happened, but yeah, so it’s pretty scary. The good news is you had the tapping to help him through it.

Yes. You had a tool that they’re just calling for someone or letting him have that experience without any help whatsoever, except maybe okay, but you had something to actually help them through it, and that’s great.

Yeah, I’ve got a lot of different stories of just, like, instant results. It’s like, oh, my God. And then here I am thinking maybe I don’t know how to do it. Am I going to pass my exam? Is everything going to be okay?

Because everyone goes through that worry, whether it’s in the exam or whether it’s out in the real world. Everyone has that fear that they may or may not know enough to get through it, but you will. And with every client that you see, every situation that you have, you’ll get a little bit better at this.

Yeah, I think that’s the thing that I’m learning. It’s like, you know, what if the tapping is helping? I know it’s helping. I’ve seen the results, and it’s like, I shouldn’t be so hard on myself if I don’t say the right word.

And so now what I’ve learned to do is there is no right word. Yeah, but in my mind, I’m thinking that there is, but in reality there isn’t.

So sometimes what I say is because some of the stuff is very delicate, abuse and trauma and stuff. And I don’t ever ask them about it, right?

But if they come in and I see them activated, I can just tell. Now, once you start doing it, you can just tell body language and the way they’re sitting and eye contact and their voice and, you know, there’s just a lot of different nonverbal cues.

And so I just take them through an educational tapping round, and I just said, you know what? Just tap for a moment on whatever you’re thinking about. I’m not going to ask you about it, but we’re just going to tap on these points. And whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can think about it right now, but I’m just going to guide you through and tap on these points as you’re thinking about whatever it is you’re thinking about.

And then I can tell that it goes down, and then I can talk to them. So it’s pretty cool. It’s really cool.

Yeah. And then, of course, my family thinks I’m a little bit odd, but that’s ok.

One of the sessions that I was having with a friend, my husband was in the room and she was okay with it, but I was going through and my husband was, like, listening to what she’s telling me that it’s working. And I’m like and then after it was done, I said, you see, I think I am doing good. You’re doing good. You are wonderful Right?

Yeah. I love that you’re right there on the front line with it. I am helping people that are really traumatized and really hurt people that aren’t getting this kind of help in this environment most of the time. And you’re right there.

I’m so excited about it. And I’ve been invited, like, in the hospital, I’ve already been invited to give, like, a little presentation to all the social workers.

I’ve been invited to give a presentation to the new nurses, like, new graduates that come work at the hospital. I’ve been invited to where else? Somewhere else. I did, like, a little tapping education to talk about it.

Well, let me tell you, I’ve had two situations now. One is an abuse shelter in Canada where somebody came to the class and got the training and went back and they got such amazing results. Nobody wanted to see the other counselors anymore, right?

So they paid to have a bunch of their counselors trained. And now this domestic abuse shelter is really an EFT haven. So a lot of the counselors are trained.

And then this has happened at actually a state facility in Connecticut. I had two people take the training that were friends that are counselors. They went back, and now they’re the directors of this facility, and they trained a huge percentage of their counselors there as well.

So in both of those situations, they’ve taken their whole thing to another level. So if you have people who are interested in getting trained, you send them my way.

Well, I can’t wait till well after this is all done and I get my printed certification.

You know what? You have your great ideas not when you’re thinking. Your great ideas come when you’re just like, cruising around in the car not thinking. So, you know, part of me daydreams about not working at the VA, but still doing this kind of stuff and opening up my own practice.

But the other thing, a nurse practitioner friend of mine that does Healing Touch and is totally into this energy work, I taught him the tapping.

And the other nurse practitioner, she invited me to this women’s association where it’s a bunch of college alumni that try to further education and help women further their education.

What just so happened that the principal of the school wanted to come because they heard that there was going to be a tapping presentation and she couldn’t make it. But she is after I get done with this, she’s wanting me to go and kind of provide some education or talk about tapping to the school and hopefully get it implemented in the school.

And I thought to myself, that could be a full-time job, going to the schools and implementing tapping for the teachers and then do like, a demo for the whole school. It’s like that I could do that for I could just do that.

Yes, you can do tapping at schools.

And if anybody watches this, you know, it’s like I’ve already planted the seed in the consciousness vibe, and so I know it’s out there and I know other tapping. I don’t want to say companies, but they are trying to get that implemented into the schools and stuff because it’s so important that invisible backpack that all the kids are dealing with. God, great way to put it. Yeah.

I want to stop recording now,

Thank you for this. It’s wonderful. Yeah, it’s amazing. It works. I’m telling you. I’ve seen instant results, so much so that they think they’re smoking pot.

I’m like, oh, my God.It doesn’t get any better than that. Doesn’t get any better than that. Yeah.