Thought Field Therapy   Talk therapy has been the traditional path for achieving mental & emotional well-being for more than a century.  This is what most therapists were trained in and it has helped many people.  But we also realize that it can be lengthy, expensive, and can involve re-living painful problems, adding even more suffering on the path toward health.  It can be emotionally demanding for us and our clients.  People can gradually get better, but we have also seen them return again to struggle with different forms of the same issues.  Often clients need to supplement therapy with medication.   Is there a better way?  We think so.  It is Thought Field Therapy TM.  We find it truly amazing and it has changed the way we do therapy.  TFT offers rapid, dramatic, and lasting improvements in our client's well-being without the drawbacks and pitfalls of talk therapy by itself. Thought Field Therapy was developed by Dr. Roger Callahan, a Clinical Psychologist of over 30 years, who was also dissatisfied with the results of traditional therapy and was searching for a faster, more painless, more effective way for his clients to be relieved of their symptoms.  He found it, and has been developing it over the last 17 years.  Now it is available to all.   Let us explain what TFT is.  Thought Field Therapy uses the same Energy Meridian System used in the medical treatments of Acupuncture and Acupressure.  Instead of treating physical illness, TFT uses the energy meridians to rapidly reduce or eliminate many kinds of emotional and psychological distress, often in a matter of minutes.  TFT treats trauma, fears and phobias, anxiety, panic, anger, depression, grief, obsessive thoughts, performance blocks, addictive cravings, and more.  TFT is non-invasive and does not involve prolonged re-living of the problem or medication.  It can be a specific treatment or part of an ongoing therapy process.   How does Thought Field Therapy work?  We all experience the effects of "thought fields" in our everyday life.  By definition, a field is an "invisible sphere of influence", like a magnetic field, or the gravitational field.  Think of it:  when we focus on a problem we can tangibly feel the "invisible influence" of that thought in our bodies, its "field", especially if that thought is particularly distressing.  Thinking about the problem may make us uncomfortable, angry, fearful, sad, upset, or stimulate us to act, or avoid acting in some unwanted way.  Thought Field Therapy treats the emotional distress by clearing the disturbance in the thought field.  During treatment, the client focuses on the distressing thought and introduces energy into specific Energy Meridians by firmly tapping on precisely the correct points on the upper body in precisely the correct order.  The immediate result is that disturbances in the energy system are eliminated, the thought is no longer distressing and the client no longer experiences the upsetting feelings associated with it.  This opens the way for more choices, options, personal freedom and personal power.   To use a simple example, when a person with a phobia of snakes thinks about snakes, they suffer intense fear.  This fear is evidence of the disturbance in the thought field.  When the phobia is treated with TFT, the disturbance in the thought field is eliminated and the person can think of snakes, and be in the presence of snakes, with little or no distress.  In the vast majority of cases this relief is immediate, complete and lasting.  This technique is used, of course, with many more complicated problems.   We can even successfully treat the unconscious thoughts and emotions that are causing unhappy patterns and limiting our freedom and power.   Dr. Callahan has observed, through working with thousands of clients, that TFT is effective 80 to 90% of the time, unheard of in studies of traditional therapy approaches, and definitely beyond any "placebo" effect.   Charles Figley, Ph.D., Head of the Psycho-Social Research Program at Florida State University says fo TFT, "it is extraordinarily powerful in that clients receive nearly immediate relief from their suffering and the treatment appears to be permanent."  Dr. Lee Pulos, President fo the Canadian Society of Clinical Hypnosis says, "The rapidity of this treatment is astonishing..... with little or no relapse.  I have never experienced anything like it in my 30 years as a Clinical Psychologist."   To use a simple example, when a person with a phobia of snakes thinks about snakes, they suffer intense fear.  This fear is evidence of the disturbance in the thought field.  When the phobia is treated with TFT, the disturbance in the thought field is eliminated and the person can think of snakes, and be in the presence of snakes, with little or no distress.  In the vast majority of cases this relief is immediate, complete and lasting.  This technique is used, of course, with many more complicated problems.   We can even successfully treat the unconscious thoughts and emotions that are causing unhappy patterns and limiting our freedom and power.   Dr. Callahan has observed, through working with thousands of clients, that TFT is effective 80 to 90% of the time, unheard of in studies of traditional therapy approaches, and definitely beyond any "placebo" effect.   Charles Figley, Ph.D., Head of the Psycho-Social Research Program at Florida State University says fo TFT, "it is extraordinarily powerful in that clients receive nearly immediate relief from their suffering and the treatment appears to be permanent."  Dr. Lee Pulos, President fo the Canadian Society of Clinical Hypnosis says, "The rapidity of this treatment is astonishing..... with little or no relapse.  I have never experienced anything like it in my 30 years as a Clinical Psychologist."   What problems can be helped with TFT?  In our practices, we have seen TFT make real and lasting changes in our client's lives.   We have seen TFT dissolve the present effects of past traumas such as abuses, crime, accidents, and negative personal events large and small.   TFT has accelerated the recovery process from depression, anxiety, and panic disorders, addiction (including smoking), phobias, anger, obsessions.   We have watched TFT eliminate blocks to success and personal performance.  It can be effective for public speakers, actors, singers, teachers, salespeople, etc... or anyone wishing to enhance their success.  It can even eliminate job interview anxiety!   TFT has dramatically reduced destructive patterns in personal relationships, parenting, and families so they can be enjoyable as they were meant to be.   We have seen TFT reduce emotional issues that interfere with satisfaction and productivity on the job.   TFT has helped people in recovery successfully manage addictive cravings and the ups and downs of life without returning to their addictive substances or behaviors.   Who practices TFT?  Therapists can be trained at Levels 1 & 2, and at the more advanced Diagnostic Level.  At Levels 1 and 2, therapists use "algorithims", or standard "recipes", for treating common problems, often very effectively.  At the Diagnostic Level, therapists can determine individualized treatments, work with more complex problems, and overcome difficulties that could interfere with the results fo the treatment.  Therapists who have been trained in Diagnostice procedures carry the designations TFT DX.   Needless to say, we were extremely skeptical when we were first introduced to Thought Field Thereapy:  it is a huge paradigm shift and looks so different from our usual approaches to therapy.  But the more we use it, the more we are amazed at the dramatically positive results.  When our clients are open to using this technique, they are amazed too.   It is so exciting to see the rapid healing and enjoyment of life emerging in our clients.  This is what we became therapists for! Copyright  Marti MacEwan and Stephanie Eldringhoff