Positive Health Online

Introduction

Following years of using Curative Hypnotherapy to help those with emotional problems, and then training with Richard Bandler, Paul McKenna and Michael Breen in NLP, I stumbled upon Thought Field Therapy (TFT) at a NLP practice meeting in South London; a woman had an addiction to chocolate completely removed in a few minutes. The woman's mouth actually stopped watering. Within weeks I was on a TFT training course and now use TFT daily, at the advanced diagnostic/trainer level.

Discovered in 1980 by Clinical Psychologist Dr Roger Callahan, TFT is completely different from any other form of Psychotherapy; TFT operates at the deepest level of consciousness, at the micro level, by correcting messages in the autonomic nervous system. Through this unique, some say mechanical method of applying treatment, TFT can achieve the remarkable high success rate of 98%. Application is simple; the patient is asked to think about their problem – the fear, anxiety, phobia, anger, and to rate their discomfort on a sud scale (subjective units of distress) from one to ten; one being no distress and ten the highest possible. While thinking of their problem, they tap points on the meridian system in a specific sequence, and this is the clever part; the tapping has to be in the correct code in order to work. This is followed by a brain balancing technique and a repeat of the treatment sequence. Typically the sud will reduce from a 10 to 7 – 4 – 2 -gone, with the average treatment time being six to 12 minutes.

Just a few weeks after training at the basic Algorithm level, a woman came to see me with a list of six emotional problems. Asked which item upset her the most, she burst into tears. Knowing the thought field was well and truly tuned in, I immediately asked her to tap, to follow me in the correct sequence for complex anxiety. In less than a minute she began to giggle. On completing the treatment, she confirmed the problem had completely gone. When asked which of the remaining items on the list now upset her most, she smiled warmly and said they had all gone. Interestingly, colour had returned to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eyes. Being new to TFT, at that time, I found this difficult to comprehend as no other therapy had ever worked so quick or effectively

Perturbations

TFT works by tuning in the upsetting thought; attached to that thought is a perturbation, a disturbance in the thought field. The perturbation is a unique entity that contains active information, a subtle, isolatable aspect of the thought field responsible for triggering the negative response. A traumatic experience, the loss of a loved one, for instance, can create the perturbation, but it is the perturbation itself that is responsible for influencing the chemicals, hormones, cognitive and brain activity that result in the negative emotional response, such as anxiety, panic, fear or anger.

By tapping in a specific code the perturbation is deactivated, so after treatment the person can have exactly the same thought but no longer experience the negative response. Change is total, as confirmed by those suffering from abuse. After treatment they say, "When I think about it now, it's like it never happened to me, like something I saw on TV or a film, no upsetting emotion attached to it anymore."

Diagnostics

Algorithms are a list of treatment sequences that work for most people, around 80%. For those not responsive to Algorithms a specific treatment sequence is diagnosed. There are 17 possible TFT treatment points and calculates to provide over 87 billion possible treatment combinations. Mathematically, if you tested one possible sequence each minute, without taking a break for food or sleep, it would take around 166,000 years!

To determine the correct sequence, a causal diagnostic procedure is used; a muscle test similar to, but not the same as, that used in Kinesiology, with a success rate of around 95%, and Voice Technology (VT). With VT the patient's voice is diagnosed on a computer over the telephone. There are two VT practitioners in the UK, Dr Colin Barron, who works at the Nuffield Hospital in Glasgow, and Chris Millbank. VT has the highest success rate, 98%, and most TFT practitioners can arrange a treatment session with either of the two.

The causal diagnostic procedure diagnoses the root cause of the problem, the two main advantages being that treatment is very specific and therefore quick, and the patient not having to talk about their problem. This is particularly beneficial to those suffering from abuse, assault or rape, anyone who finds talking about their trauma very distressing.

Toxins

TFT theory is inductive, the process of making generalizations from observations. Dr. Callahan developed TFT theory based on direct observations of first-hand experiments. Through this way of working Dr Callahan discovered that with some patients, after successful treatment, the problem returned. He rationalized that as the problem had been completely cured, all symptoms totally removed, there had to be a reason why the problem returned. The answer was Ingested Energy Toxins (IEG).

An IEG can be anything ingested into the body; i.e. a food, drink, smell, medication, herbs, perfume, absolutely anything. Thankfully, toxins only affect a minority of people; different substances can affect different people, and may only affect one part of a person's problems. Toxins weaken the autonomic nervous system, this in turn amplifies any anxiety, and can undo or block treatment; not only affecting TFT, they can also block or undo other therapies such as Counselling, Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, NLP and Acupuncture.

Through diagnostic testing (muscle test or VT) a TFT practitioner can identify an offending toxic substance and apply the 'Seven Second Treatment', developed by Dr Callahan, to temporarily overcome the effect of the toxin in order for treatment to hold. The patient is asked to abstain from ingesting the substance for eight to 12 weeks in order to allow the nervous system to become strong.

TFT, Aids and Cancer

The standard medical treatment of both Aids and Cancer often produce severe side effects, and the TFT diagnostic testing and treatment for toxins can help enormously. The side effects of the cocktail of drugs taken by Aids patients can be cramping, diarrhoea, and vomiting. They also suffer with weight loss or gain, and a low T-cell count. In a healthy person the average T-cell count should be around 850.

At a TFT training seminar a man suffering with Aids had a Heart Rate Variability (HRV) test; his Standard Deviation from Normal to Normal (SDNN) was an alarming six. So concerned was Dr Callahan, by the low result, he took the man outside and treated him in the hall. After TFT treatment the SDNN improved to 110.The man also said he suffered terrible side effects from the drugs and his T-cell count was around 450. Dr Callahan treated him for this too.

Later the man phoned Dr Callahan to say his T-cell count had doubled to 903, the 'Seven Second Treatment' for toxins had stopped his vomiting, his cramps and diarrhoea had gone completely and he was losing the weight he'd gained. Most startling is the fact that his drugs were reduced (by his doctor) by 66%. TFT vastly improved this man's quality of life by reducing the side effects of drugs, and appears to have improved the efficiency of the drugs, so less was needed.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

HRV provides information of the functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) that controls processes beyond conscious control; heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, temperature, blood chemistry, tissue repair, immune function and metabolism. The more balanced the ANS, the healthier you are.

Dr Fuller Royal, Medical Director of the Nevada Clinic, USA, reports that HRV is the only test known that will not respond to a placebo effect; the Autonomic Nervous System cannot be fooled, so any change in HRV is real!

The graph below (copyright Roger J Callahan PhD) is the result of a study of HRV before and after treatment using various forms of therapy. The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is not statistically significant, though it is a worse score than the pre-therapy one.

Studies completed throughout the world, by Dr Royal and others, have shown that TFT is the only known therapy to have an immediate effect on HRV. An example from Dr Callahan's website shows the treatment for depression; SDNN increased from 32.2 to 144.4; total power of 53.7 increased a hundredfold to 6,595.8, bringing the ANS almost in balance.

% Increase in HRV with Different Therapies

Time Scale: Exercise and smoking cessation are after one year. Biofeedback is after two months of training. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for depression is carried out for up to 16 sessions. Sertraline administered for 22 weeks for depression. Common side effects with Sertaline include nausea, diarrhea, tremor, insomnia, somnolence and dry mouth. TRT for depression is done in one session within minutes (Callaham, 2001d) typically with immediate elimination of depression and immediate increase in HRV averaging 80% with TFT

Atrial Fibrillation of the Heart

Charles called Dr Callahan from a hospital bed. He'd been admitted with Atrial Fibrillation; the electrical signals of the heart become completely uncoordinated. For over 24 hours he'd been treated with drugs but none stabilized his condition. Doctors intended to stop his heart the following morning, and then restart it using paddles. With VT, over the phone, Dr Callahan used TFT to reduce the anxiety in Charles, and then treated the condition. Within 40 minutes the fibrillation had completely gone. Since then, there have been at least seven similar cases.

Summary

TFT can help with all emotional problems, often in minutes and with no side effects, and can help in other areas in order to improve quality of life. For a free report on TFT e-mail charles@tft4u.co.uk.

References

Callahan RJ PhD and Trubo R. Tapping the Healer Within. Judy Piatkus (Publishing) Ltd. 2001.
and Callahan J MBA (Health Care). Stop the Nightmares of Trauma. Professional Press. 2000.
Durlacher JV Dr. Freedom From Fear Forever. Van Ness Publishing Co. 1995.
Callahan RJ PhD. Stress, Health and your Heart CD.
Callahan Techniques. Website www.tftrx.com
UK TFT. Website www.thoughtfieldtherapy.co.uk

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Dr Roger Callahan for the wealth of information on TFT available, and for his kind permission to use copyright material. Thanks also to Dr Colin Barron for his cooperation.