Reported by Herb Ayers, M.A.
Four months following Hurricane Katrina and the levee flooding of New Orleans, a team of twelve Thought Field Therapy practitioners from eight states converged in New Orleans to provide treatment and training for storm victims. Under the auspices of the Trauma Relief Committee of the Association for Thought Field Therapy and the leadership of Nora L. Baladerian, Ph.D., the team had been invited to work with the staff of Charity Hospital, The Volunteers of America (VOA), The Louisiana State Department of Adult Protective Services (APS), and various other members of the New Orleans community.
A total of 161 people received treatment and training, including 96 hospital staff, 31 VOA volunteers, and 10 APS employees. The program was conducted at six different sites, with the largest number of participants working in an army tent at the Charity Hospital’s “MASH unit” in the New Orleans Convention Center. An additional 30 state personnel were assisted with TFT through video conferencing of the APS training.
In a situation such as Katrina, local medical and social service personnel are inevitably victims of the disaster as well as helpers, and the strategy taken was to make their treatment part of their training. They had all been personally affected by the storm, suffering differing kinds of losses, including loss of home, possessions, neighborhood, job, security, and connection with family and neighbors. Their symptoms included moderate to severe depression (notably a sense of powerlessness and sense of hopelessness, aggravated by inability to sleep); high levels of anxiety, anger, rage, trauma, disappointment, and a sense of guilt (mostly survivor guilt).
Everyone participating in the training and treatment did so voluntarily. Participants were not required to disclose the problem they wished to work on, and many did not. All that was needed was disclosure of the negative emotions that they were experiencing at the time they thought of their problem. Confidentiality was diligently observed. Prior to individual treatment, the participants were given half-hour group introductions to TFT. They were also taught the “Trauma Relief algorithm,” which they could use after their individual treatments as needed.
Of the twelve Trauma Relief Team practitioners who traveled to New Orleans, four held PhDs, four held MAs, two held BAs, and two did not hold academic degrees. In most cases, they used TFT “algorithms” (protocols designed for treating specific emotions), though in several instances, it was necessary to use the more advanced “diagnosis level treatment,” where the interventions are formulated based on an assessment of specific energy blockages.
Written evaluations were obtained from 87 of the participants. Of these, 86 stated that they experienced positive changes and/or elimination of the problems they were experiencing at the time. Data compiled by one of the practitioners, Caroline Sakai, Ph.D., on the 22 clients she treated, showed that the presenting complaints included anger, anxiety, depression, eating in order not to feel, frustration, guilt and survivor guilt, hurt, loss, loss of control, need for improved performance, overwhelm, panic, physical pain, resentment, sadness, shame, stress, traumatization, and worry. Each problem area was rated by the client on the 1 to 10 Subjective Unites of Distress scale. Before treatment, the average (mean) score for the 51 problem areas described by the 22 clients was 8.14. After treatment, in most cases consisting of a single session of under 15 minutes, it was down to 0.76. Most clients reported wanting to learn more about how to use TFT to help themselves, their patients, and their own families. All three sponsoring organizations invited the Trauma Relief Team to return to provide additional training.
Herb Ayers, MA, is a licensed mental health counselor in private practice at Tri-Cities in Washington State. He is certified at the diagnostic level of TFT and is on the Board of Directors of the Association for Thought Field Therapy. He may be reached at: [email protected].
