Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Part 2: My Second Healing Modality (How I Overcame a Phobia)

During yesterday's post, I spoke about Usui Reiki, a natural form of healing. Today, I am featuring the second healing modality which I experienced. This was powerful for me as I overcame a major fear: my fear of spiders which, believe me, was a HUGE deal, at least it was for me! Would you like to know how I did that?

The first healing modality I actually learned was at a workshop with Dr. Lee Polous, a Vancouver-based psychologist, who was featured as a guest. His teaching was an alternative healing method, Emotional Freedom Technique, (EFT for short).

"EFT draws on various theories of alternative medicine including acupuncture, neuro-linguistic programming, energy medicine, and Thought Field Therapy (TFT)." It involves tapping on meridian points, derived from acupressure, on the body which can release energy blockages that cause negative emotions. "During a typical EFT session, the person will focus on a specific issue while tapping on 'end points of the body's energy meridians'.

According to the EFT manual, the procedure consists of the participant rating the emotional intensity of their reaction on a Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) (a Likert scale for subjective measures of distress, calibrated 0-10) then repeating an orienting affirmation while rubbing or tapping specific points on the body. Some practitioners incorporate eye movements or other tasks. The emotional intensity is then rescored and repeated until no changes are noted in the emotional intensity
."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_Freedom_Techniques)

During the exercise of listening to guided instructions with my eyes closed, I imagined a tarantula while tapping certain energy points on my face, hands, and body. I went from an intense '10' on a scale (of 1 to 10) to about a 1, even a 0. That, to me, was remarkable: how exciting! To this day, I am generally not afraid of spiders, maybe the odd time (like a huge one).

I learned this technique about 15 years ago give or take. The interesting thing is that I seem to forget I have this tool at my disposal until I read or hear about it from someone else. It is a very practical tool for not only dealing with phobias, but also pretty much anything, whether physical, mental, or emotional issues.

Have you experienced (as a recipient) or used any healing modality to overcome any pain (physical/mental/emotional) or any of your fears? How successful was it? Was it a permanent or temporary change? How did you feel before, during, and afterwards?

3 comments:

  1. Oh talking about phobias...I have tons of them! I am highly phobic to lizards. I guess this healing technique should help me deal with that.
    You seem to have explored a lot of healing techniques.

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    1. The process involves certain phrases which is part of their teachings so cannot divulge the information; however, you could learn it if you wanted to or else there are other numerous modalities to choose from. I can tolerate small lizards like I see on the rocks and in the garden at my parents' home, though big(ger) lizards I cannot either! ;) <3

      Oh, and I forgot to mention that I cannot find my (one and only Halloween costume I rented) that was of a spider woman, with a large fake spider hat and spider rings and the like. I loved it once I overcame my fear of spiders that is! ;) <3

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    2. My apologies for my somewhat self-centred, incomplete answer Vinodini. Yes, EFT is great and ideal for overcoming fears/phobias. I highly recommend it for that. I imagine hypnosis/hypnotherapy - is there a difference? - is too, so there are probably others as well. Talk with others, ask questions and/or research, see what feels right for you. All the best on your healing journey in overcoming them. :) <3

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