Eft For Parkinson's (with Comments From Gary Craig)

Of the many clients Ive worked with in Switzerland, I have particularly enjoyed the challenge presented by Rene, a gentle and initially inexpressive 64-year-old gentleman with Parkinsons Disease. He has been quietly transformed, I believe, by the magic of EFT, and Id like to share his story (with his permission; at his request, Ive changed his name).

Rene came to me seeking to reverse, or at least contain, the symptoms of Parkinsons, with which he was diagnosed eight years ago. These included limited mobility in one arm, inhibited movements (i.e., difficulty reaching into a pocket), stiffness standing up, discomfort in his legs and back when sitting, and periodic difficulty controlling his fingers when typing.

At our initial session, I asked him (based on his demeanor) if he felt that he was slightly depressed, and he said yes. I then asked him for some background. Very unemotionally, indeed with a poker face and speaking almost inaudibly, in a low monotone (both known Parkinsons symptoms), Rene gave me the following facts:

Childhood:He was born the youngest of five children, to an authoritarian father who was abusive, both physically and verbally, and to a mother who suffered from severe depression; she died when Rene was 18. Rene himself had become depressed at the age of 15; the depression lasted some 20 years. Soon after his mother died, the brother he was closest to died in mysterious circumstances, while piloting a plane.

Middle age:Another brother died, prematurely, of a heart attack. Rene suffered a serious accident while in the army: he split his head open and required three hours of surgery, since when he has suffered from tinnitus. His wife died of cancer, leaving him to raise their two young sons on his own. His father died.

The last decade:His remaining brother died of ALS. Rene remarried, but the marriage disintegrated within a couple of years, soon after which he was diagnosed with Parkinsons. His new companion had just been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Meanwhile, divorce proceedings from his second wife were underway.

Rene concluded this litany by stating that he was a very lucky man. For a moment, I thought he was joking. When I raised an eyebrow, questioningly, he noted that he could have died, for example, in the army accident, but hadnt - he reiterated that he was a very lucky man.

After a short pause (me privately reeling from this list of misfortunes, and wondering where on earth to start), I inquired which of the events hed mentioned produced the strongest emotion in him now. He said none of them. I looked at his face, which was inscrutable, entirely devoid of visible emotion, and wondered how we would ever find our way: he seemed very remote.

I asked if hed rather tap on himself or be tapped on by me, and he opted for the latter. So, I took his hand, took a deep breath, and plunged in:

Even though Im a very lucky man, and its important for me to see things that way maybe I have actually had quite a lot of bad luck in my life

We got no further than that. It was like a massive dam bursting - tears flowed and flowed, for several minutes. I tapped on him, mostly silently, until he composed himself. And so began our journey.

We did a lot of tapping, in subsequent sessions, on presumed emotions, as Rene continued not to be aware of feeling anything directly. My notes include entries like did theoretical exorcism of theoretical anger at his father. I developed a fine line in what I think of as surrogate swearing: and Im f***ing angry about it! Id say, as emphatically as possible, as Rene politely echoed me, with just the faintest glint of emotion in his eyes.

Sometimes we tapped in French (though his English is near-perfect); slowly, little by little, he warmed to the theme. His voice and facial expressions became more animated. In tandem with the defusing of his (presumed) anger (and other emotions), his symptoms started to improve. He said he felt lighter. At the end of one session, he stood up and said, Did you see that? I just stood up in one go! At the end of another session, I asked him (jokingly) if he thought he could now skip; he said why not? and when my back was half-turned I saw him do a little skip.