Treatment of PTSD Following 9-11
Reported by Mary Sise, M.S.W.
Noreen, at the time a 39-year-old single woman living in upstate New York, was on a business trip working in an office building two blocks from the World Trade Center when the first plane struck. She and her co-workers fled from their building and, like thousands of New Yorkers, began to run from the scene when the second plane struck. Noreen witnessed people jumping out of the buildings, experienced the fear and sounds in the streets, and felt the absolute terror of not knowing if the entire country was under attack.
After returning home in upstate New York, she tried to resume her work. However, the horrible images from 9-11 were regularly intruding into her awareness. She was also having nightmares and panic reactions to loud sounds. She reported having “faceless dreams” and waking in terror. One of her co-workers, whom I had treated using Thought Field Therapy, referred her to me.
My first visit with Noreen was three days after the attack (September 14). I did an initial intake and, based on that assessment, felt that Noreen was an appropriate candidate for TFT. We videotaped her sessions. The video vividly shows her tension as she begins to access the images, body sensations, and other aspects of the trapped trauma. As the TFT treatment is applied, you can visibly see her body calm. She relates how the images are losing their vividness and their power over her. She leaves the office reporting that she feels as if September 11 is over.
The following April, I received another call from Noreen. She told me that although she had been faring much better following our session, she was still having trouble with planes flying overhead and with the sound of fire engines. Our second meeting, April 8, 2002, was also videotaped. In this session, she addresses the terror of believing the country was under attack, and her fear of planes appears to be completely eliminated during the session, which also focuses on her survivor guilt as she begins to explore in new ways the personal meaning of having been so closely involved in the devastation.
Noreen’s final session with me was on June 25, 2002. We scheduled this session as a follow-up for the purpose of videotaping her report of the complete elimination of all the sequela of the trauma, including nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety about planes and other noises, anxiety in crowds, anger, and survivor guilt. She expresses her gratitude for the technique and, in giving permission for the videotape to be produced and distributed, says she wants to “share it with all the world.”
When she learned shortly thereafter that the international trauma expert, Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., was speaking in Albany, she asked if she could share her experience, and she was ultimately invited to address the entire audience. She described her PTSD and its treatment to several hundred professionals, answered questions, and strongly advocated for increased public awareness that people suffering from PTSD and other effects of trauma can be treated and healed.
Mary Sise, LCSW, is a social worker and TFT practitioner in Albany, New York. She is President of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology. She can be contacted at [email protected].
