Psychotherapy for Traumatic Stress After 9-11

Of the hundreds of recent articles commemorating the tenth anniversary of 9-11, one is particularly sobering for psychotherapists. A New York Times piece reported that following the attacks, well-meaning mental health workers flooded into New York City, setting up makeshift therapy centers and providing free services in fire stations, offices of major employers, and other convenient locations.

Investigations of the outcomes of this counseling showed that in many cases the mental health professionals were much more enthusiastic about its benefits than the recipients. Some people “undoubtedly benefitted, researchers say, but others became annoyed or more upset.” An approach that was widely used, “in which the therapist urges a distressed person to talk through the experience and emotions, backfires for many people. They plunge even deeper into anxiety and depression when forced to relive the mayhem.”

For those of us trying to advocate the use of Energy Psychology for post-disaster mental health care (see “Energy Psychology’s Magical Mystery Tour of the U.S. Congress”), knowledge of these missed opportunities or actual harm done is particularly poignant. The congressional leaders we visited were well aware that the treatment being offered to our more than 300,000 veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with the terrible symptoms of PTSD is woefully inadequate. And we were able to present them with research that demonstrates the effectiveness of Energy Psychology interventions with PTSD. Studies being conducted within the military were initiated from that effort.

Meanwhile, the preliminary data that already exists is impressive. An investigation of 59 combat veterans with PTSD symptoms showed that their scores on the military version of the Postraumatic Stress Checklist, a standardized measure in outcome research of PTSD treatment with veterans, went from high in the PTSD range to well below it after six sessions for 86 percent of the participants. No study of any other therapy in the mental health literature matches these results with PTSD, yet the American Psychological Association still treats Energy Psychology like snake oil, actively preventing psychologists from receiving continuing education credit for studying it.

Is the research on the veterans receiving Energy Psychology treatments described above just a fluke? We’ve summarized nine professional papers suggesting that Energy Psychology is strikingly effective, including six empirical investigations and three reviews. A ten-minute video clip showing four combat veterans before, during, and after treatment (below) is also quite stunning. We hope you will review the evidence and spread the word within your local community that more effective treatments for the PTSD epidemic (which inflicts more than 5 million Americans) are available.