I will never forget the first Veteran I worked with:
I found him in an unusual place, far away from my hometown in rural New Hampshire, as a spiritual leader and
teacher, and many traveled quite a ways to work with and learned from him. I also found tremendous insights in his
teachings, and the only thing that bothered me was the twitch in his face that seemed to never stop. Even in the
most intense and wonderful moments of practice, he twitched with his eyes, the muscles of his face contracting,
almost rhythmically. It was a strange, interesting sight, and it caused me to take my courage and offer EFT to him. I
was fairly new at it at that time, maybe the second year into my practice, but I felt confident that whatever we would
be doing would be a good thing for him. Nothing prepared me for the horror, trauma, sadness and anger that this
man was suffering from, every day of his life.
I went back to my CDs, restudied the 6 days at the VA video, all there was available at the time for Veterans, and
simply took the work together one step at a time. Each statement he made, I took seriously for what it was, and
asked him when the first time was that he had ever made such experiences. We cleared out massive amounts of
trauma that day and the next, and I will never forget the wonderful practices in the future, where I could truly relax with
a non-twitching teacher.
EFT is the most amazing tool to help Veterans and their families release the horrors of war. The trauma that
soldiers and their families endure goes way beyond the physical exhaustion and possible injury, way beyond the
loneliness, fear and desperation. War involves the whole person on all level of his being, and so do we have to treat
the symptoms always including the whole person and his soul.
A member of the NH National Guard told me that the military could be very interested to see studies which prove
that EFT works with Insomnia, since so many returning Veterans have severe sleep issues.
There are no larger scientific studies available to date, which will change in the very near future as the ACEP
Research committee together with Dawson Church PhD is working full force on a large case study on combat
stress in war Veterans. In addition, I had already knocked on the doors of the VA and other military institutions that
were accessible to me at the time, but received no interest or support.
So I decided it was time to start such a study with the resources that were available.
I refocused my intention away from wanting to introduce EFT to the VA. Instead, I offered free sessions to every
Veteran who was interested and willing to participate in single case studies.
Helping Veterans one by one, and leaving it up to them to share their experiences with their VA Doctor, has shown
to be very effective and successful. I was waiting weeks if not months to get an appointment at the VA, while my
Veterans have them regularly. I was talking about what we could do with EFT, the Veterans talked to their
counselors and doctors about what we had done. Since some of my Veterans have begun to spread the word
about their success with EFT at the VA, several counselors have already expressed interest in what we are doing. I
hope this number will grow quickly.
In the beginning, I had my Vets keep a daily sleep journal which allowed me to monitor changes and improvements
in their sleeping patterns, nightmares and intrusive thoughts. Later, I added the SA-45 and PCL-M, two
standardized forms which now allow me to see more in detail where the Veteran felt that improvements had been
made. A score of 50 or above on the PCL-M is considered PTSD in military people. All of my veterans that I
have worked with so far have greatly improved in their SA-45s and PCL-Ms. As a matter of fact, most fell
way below the 50 on their PCL-M, even after the 30 and even 60 day follow up.
Even more dramatic was their improvement of sleep. I have worked with Veterans who didn’t have a good
night’s sleep in more than forty years. They were haunted by nightmares, waking up sweating and panicked, often
many times each night, laying awake trying to get the mind to stop racing, repeating intrusive thoughts until they
finally at 3am decided it was time to get up and watch TV. I have worked with Veterans with Military sexual trauma,
who had even more reason not to sleep, as sleep had never been safe. There are beautiful testimonials available
on my website www.eft4vets.com, that show how greatly their sleep has improved, not just in length, but also in
quality.
When I started this study, I was immediately clear to me that for Veterans, insomnia cannot be reduced to the
physical-chemical aspect that is being treated with drugs:
Insomnia certainly has a physical aspect, as the body can’t go to sleep.
But it is also emotional, as the person is lying awake, tortured by fears, anger, guilt and other trauma that she has
been dealing with for so long.
Insomnia has a mental component that doesn’t allow the brain to shut off as it desperately tries to come to terms
with what happened in the past by repeating it over and over without success.
And it has a soul component, as the person often feels separated from his true self, his inner being, his center of
love, trust, compassion and life at its core.
All aspects of human life are incorporated in insomnia, and even though drugs can often help to shut down the mind
and body long enough to give the person some rest, they often come with side effects that, at least the soldiers I
have worked with, described as highly undesirable. They also don’t usually cure the cause of the problem, so that
the soldiers have to continue taking them. Nightmares and intrusive thoughts tend to come back until their true
cause is resolved.
With EFT, we can work in a completely different, highly effective way.
With EFT, our goal is not to understand WHY someone is hurting but THAT someone is hurting.
We don’t work on the cognitive-behavioral aspect of healing, which has its place for sure, but we work on the
energetic level of the problem, recreating balance in the human energy field, where trauma has disrupted mayor
energy pathways. We simply take the emotional charge out of what happened in the past and help the person feel
neutral, not numb, but clear about it. It is at first a surprising experience for a veteran when he realizes that he is
supposed to tap on his head and body to release yearlong trauma. But once this concept is accepted, the wonder
and disbelief in his face when he cannot bring up the feelings he used to have for years is truly joyful to see.
In addition, we can balance the energy field in relation to positive statements and affirmations, so that the true self
of the soldier can come back into harmony.
I almost always see that sleep improves immediately when a core issue has been resolved, often even after just
one session. The content of the sessions varies greatly, as I follow my client’s needs and we begin wherever she
feels she wants to start. This can be anything from physical issues, which is often highly recommended as the
results are measurable and the issue is not emotional, to childhood memories, to specific war trauma. We may be
working on beliefs, feelings of safety, trust or not being good enough. Sometimes, we simply start with a general
feeling of having no energy, feeling wired or having thoughts bouncing around in her head like bumper cars. The
purpose of the beginning rounds with EFT is always to establish comfort with this unusual technique and bring
results that are measurable and highly desirable so that the person feels comfortable and positively surprised and
encouraged. Then we continue to tap in a way that works for him.
When a soldier reports nightmares, I ask what they remind him of. By tapping on the specific event that they
represent, or by seeing and working with them more symbolically, we establish balance in his energy field that
usually releases the nightmare for good. When we work with intrusive thoughts, we try to find out when they started,
what they remind the person of, and why, from some aspect of his being, the thought might even be a good or
desirable thing.
A soldier, who had been considering suicide since he came back from Vietnam, told me that he just wanted to
finally be done with this gruesome life and he was hoping to be without all this pain and trouble when he is dead. So
we reframed: “Even though I want Peace so much that I am willing to give my own life for it, I allow myself to find
Peace in each moment of my day, in a surprising way that truly works for me”. At first he didn’t believe that it could
be this simple, but then, over the course of the next few days, the “P” word started to spread out in him. More and
more did he realize that he had never experienced Peace in his life, and suicide was the only solution he could
come up with to get it.
After he had released more of his war trauma with EFT, he is now in a place, where he is in awe about how good
he feels and how much his life has changed. He calls on occasion, just to share all the wonderful things that he is
now able to do, and it is always a joy to hear his voice.
The more profound the work with EFT has become for me, the more I am aware that - quoting Gary Craig:
“Healing happens through us, not by us!”
And the more we learn and understand our techniques, and get as much experience with ourselves and others, the
more it becomes clear that the final step is getting ourselves out of the way and letting healing happen soul to soul.
It is an honor to be allowed to do this work and I am endlessly grateful for each of my clients who gave me their trust
and permission to share it with them.
Ingrid Dinter
EFT-ADV
I found him in an unusual place, far away from my hometown in rural New Hampshire, as a spiritual leader and
teacher, and many traveled quite a ways to work with and learned from him. I also found tremendous insights in his
teachings, and the only thing that bothered me was the twitch in his face that seemed to never stop. Even in the
most intense and wonderful moments of practice, he twitched with his eyes, the muscles of his face contracting,
almost rhythmically. It was a strange, interesting sight, and it caused me to take my courage and offer EFT to him. I
was fairly new at it at that time, maybe the second year into my practice, but I felt confident that whatever we would
be doing would be a good thing for him. Nothing prepared me for the horror, trauma, sadness and anger that this
man was suffering from, every day of his life.
I went back to my CDs, restudied the 6 days at the VA video, all there was available at the time for Veterans, and
simply took the work together one step at a time. Each statement he made, I took seriously for what it was, and
asked him when the first time was that he had ever made such experiences. We cleared out massive amounts of
trauma that day and the next, and I will never forget the wonderful practices in the future, where I could truly relax with
a non-twitching teacher.
EFT is the most amazing tool to help Veterans and their families release the horrors of war. The trauma that
soldiers and their families endure goes way beyond the physical exhaustion and possible injury, way beyond the
loneliness, fear and desperation. War involves the whole person on all level of his being, and so do we have to treat
the symptoms always including the whole person and his soul.
A member of the NH National Guard told me that the military could be very interested to see studies which prove
that EFT works with Insomnia, since so many returning Veterans have severe sleep issues.
There are no larger scientific studies available to date, which will change in the very near future as the ACEP
Research committee together with Dawson Church PhD is working full force on a large case study on combat
stress in war Veterans. In addition, I had already knocked on the doors of the VA and other military institutions that
were accessible to me at the time, but received no interest or support.
So I decided it was time to start such a study with the resources that were available.
I refocused my intention away from wanting to introduce EFT to the VA. Instead, I offered free sessions to every
Veteran who was interested and willing to participate in single case studies.
Helping Veterans one by one, and leaving it up to them to share their experiences with their VA Doctor, has shown
to be very effective and successful. I was waiting weeks if not months to get an appointment at the VA, while my
Veterans have them regularly. I was talking about what we could do with EFT, the Veterans talked to their
counselors and doctors about what we had done. Since some of my Veterans have begun to spread the word
about their success with EFT at the VA, several counselors have already expressed interest in what we are doing. I
hope this number will grow quickly.
In the beginning, I had my Vets keep a daily sleep journal which allowed me to monitor changes and improvements
in their sleeping patterns, nightmares and intrusive thoughts. Later, I added the SA-45 and PCL-M, two
standardized forms which now allow me to see more in detail where the Veteran felt that improvements had been
made. A score of 50 or above on the PCL-M is considered PTSD in military people. All of my veterans that I
have worked with so far have greatly improved in their SA-45s and PCL-Ms. As a matter of fact, most fell
way below the 50 on their PCL-M, even after the 30 and even 60 day follow up.
Even more dramatic was their improvement of sleep. I have worked with Veterans who didn’t have a good
night’s sleep in more than forty years. They were haunted by nightmares, waking up sweating and panicked, often
many times each night, laying awake trying to get the mind to stop racing, repeating intrusive thoughts until they
finally at 3am decided it was time to get up and watch TV. I have worked with Veterans with Military sexual trauma,
who had even more reason not to sleep, as sleep had never been safe. There are beautiful testimonials available
on my website www.eft4vets.com, that show how greatly their sleep has improved, not just in length, but also in
quality.
When I started this study, I was immediately clear to me that for Veterans, insomnia cannot be reduced to the
physical-chemical aspect that is being treated with drugs:
Insomnia certainly has a physical aspect, as the body can’t go to sleep.
But it is also emotional, as the person is lying awake, tortured by fears, anger, guilt and other trauma that she has
been dealing with for so long.
Insomnia has a mental component that doesn’t allow the brain to shut off as it desperately tries to come to terms
with what happened in the past by repeating it over and over without success.
And it has a soul component, as the person often feels separated from his true self, his inner being, his center of
love, trust, compassion and life at its core.
All aspects of human life are incorporated in insomnia, and even though drugs can often help to shut down the mind
and body long enough to give the person some rest, they often come with side effects that, at least the soldiers I
have worked with, described as highly undesirable. They also don’t usually cure the cause of the problem, so that
the soldiers have to continue taking them. Nightmares and intrusive thoughts tend to come back until their true
cause is resolved.
With EFT, we can work in a completely different, highly effective way.
With EFT, our goal is not to understand WHY someone is hurting but THAT someone is hurting.
We don’t work on the cognitive-behavioral aspect of healing, which has its place for sure, but we work on the
energetic level of the problem, recreating balance in the human energy field, where trauma has disrupted mayor
energy pathways. We simply take the emotional charge out of what happened in the past and help the person feel
neutral, not numb, but clear about it. It is at first a surprising experience for a veteran when he realizes that he is
supposed to tap on his head and body to release yearlong trauma. But once this concept is accepted, the wonder
and disbelief in his face when he cannot bring up the feelings he used to have for years is truly joyful to see.
In addition, we can balance the energy field in relation to positive statements and affirmations, so that the true self
of the soldier can come back into harmony.
I almost always see that sleep improves immediately when a core issue has been resolved, often even after just
one session. The content of the sessions varies greatly, as I follow my client’s needs and we begin wherever she
feels she wants to start. This can be anything from physical issues, which is often highly recommended as the
results are measurable and the issue is not emotional, to childhood memories, to specific war trauma. We may be
working on beliefs, feelings of safety, trust or not being good enough. Sometimes, we simply start with a general
feeling of having no energy, feeling wired or having thoughts bouncing around in her head like bumper cars. The
purpose of the beginning rounds with EFT is always to establish comfort with this unusual technique and bring
results that are measurable and highly desirable so that the person feels comfortable and positively surprised and
encouraged. Then we continue to tap in a way that works for him.
When a soldier reports nightmares, I ask what they remind him of. By tapping on the specific event that they
represent, or by seeing and working with them more symbolically, we establish balance in his energy field that
usually releases the nightmare for good. When we work with intrusive thoughts, we try to find out when they started,
what they remind the person of, and why, from some aspect of his being, the thought might even be a good or
desirable thing.
A soldier, who had been considering suicide since he came back from Vietnam, told me that he just wanted to
finally be done with this gruesome life and he was hoping to be without all this pain and trouble when he is dead. So
we reframed: “Even though I want Peace so much that I am willing to give my own life for it, I allow myself to find
Peace in each moment of my day, in a surprising way that truly works for me”. At first he didn’t believe that it could
be this simple, but then, over the course of the next few days, the “P” word started to spread out in him. More and
more did he realize that he had never experienced Peace in his life, and suicide was the only solution he could
come up with to get it.
After he had released more of his war trauma with EFT, he is now in a place, where he is in awe about how good
he feels and how much his life has changed. He calls on occasion, just to share all the wonderful things that he is
now able to do, and it is always a joy to hear his voice.
The more profound the work with EFT has become for me, the more I am aware that - quoting Gary Craig:
“Healing happens through us, not by us!”
And the more we learn and understand our techniques, and get as much experience with ourselves and others, the
more it becomes clear that the final step is getting ourselves out of the way and letting healing happen soul to soul.
It is an honor to be allowed to do this work and I am endlessly grateful for each of my clients who gave me their trust
and permission to share it with them.
Ingrid Dinter
EFT-ADV
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| Ingrid's Story: How it all began |
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EFT4VETS.COM
Helping Veterans And Their Families Heal
Helping Veterans And Their Families Heal
