In one of my many professional capacities, I act as a volunteer mediator. This work is both interesting and rewarding to me. The program for which I mediate involves first- and second-time juvenile offenders—ages 7 to 17. Mediation brings the victim and offender together in a non-court setting. The process gives the victim the opportunity to confront the offender with the financial, emotional, physical, and other effects that resulted from his or her offense.
The result of the process, when successful, is that the victim receives some form of restitution which the victim and offender agree to. The benefits are that the offender can reframe their priorities and choose a different life path. My work as the mediator is to guide the parties toward a mutual agreement—and to structure the process so that all parties are respected, honest, and focused on the issues at hand.
In 2006 and 2007 when the ATFT Foundation first began its missions to help heal the genocide survivors in Rwanda, we had no idea how great an impact TFT could have on this beautiful country. Our first team treated nearly 400 orphans at the El Shaddai orphanage, with wonderful results (PTSD study published 2010 International Journal of Emergency Mental Health).
The Foundation team went back in 2008 and 2009 to train the local community leaders to be able to use TFT to help their own country men and women. Much healing occurred and many were trained in TFT. The PTSD studies that were done had excellent results (2008 study accepted for publication and 2009 study soon to be submitted).
Entire communities were changing from sad, hopeless people, to productive and hopeful communities. The Foundation model for large scale trauma relief had succeeded both in the studies and follow-ups–and particularly in the real life experience of the Rwandan people.
Our desire to expand the reach of this healing even more led to the ATFT Foundation bringing four Rwandan TFT trainees to Hawaii to be trained to become TFT trainers back home in Rwanda. Our hope was that their ability to conduct trainings themselves would enable TFT healing to spread to surrounding communities–and even surrounding African countries.
The ATFT Foundation flew four of the Rwandan leaders, two from Byumba, Rwanda, and two from Kigali, Rwanda, to Hawaii where they spent the month of September, 2011, teaching TFT and supervising staff at pro-bono Hawaiian clinics, treating underprivileged local people and perfecting their skills. Both the Hawaiian people and the Rwandans benefitted tremendously.
And now we see the dream of sharing TFT coming full circle. The Rwandan trainees from Byumba have already been asked to train a team in the Congo.
They have met with and provided support for 60 of the TFT trained therapists in their region and shared their Hawaiian experience with them. With the help of the ATFT Foundation, their sister Rwandan charitable organization, the IZERE Center, is treating up to 35 people per day and has already helped nearly 2000 people this year.
One of the Rwandan leaders and trainers from Kigali is the Director of the Rwandan Orphan Project (new name for El Shaddai Orphanage), and he is also expanding the reach of TFT. We just heard from him that he is training eight Counselors and Social Workers to help the disabled and retired military. He will then supervise and assist them as they treat nearly 80 wheelchair bound ex-military.
It is truly a blessing to see and hear about these hard working young leaders sharing and expanding the healing of TFT in Africa. The ATFT Foundation, the IZERE Center and the Rwandan Orphan Project need your help to continue this wonderful healing and teaching process.
Please go to www.ATFTFoundation.org to donate to the furthering of this model of trauma relief, to www.IZEREByumba.com to help the IZERE support their TFT treatment programs, and to www.RwandanOrphansProject.org to help with their work in the community in TFT training and treatment.
Another volley of gunfire drifted up from the valley as I stared at the battered map and mentally logged the tracks and wadis that were still passable in our four-wheel drive vehicles. I was hoping for an easy answer as to which route might offer a rapid and safe evacuation corridor if the fighting got out of hand.
I gazed at the sun tracing its final descent through troubled skies, momentarily transfixed. And once again I found myself considering how much violence the 30-odd people in my care could or even should endure before I would call ‘time’ and override their desire to stay and help the fifty thousand people that had made it to the refugee camp to the east of us. Continue reading “TFT in a Hostile Environment”
Excerpted from “The Thought Field”, Volume 18, Issue 5:
Dear Dr. Callahan and Joanne,
I wanted to take the time to thank both of you for giving myself and my family tapping sequences that helped us cope with the trauma and grief of surviving a horrific car accident.
Last summer we were hit “head on” by a drunk driver, the speed at impact was estimated at over 110 miles per hour. The drunk driver died on impact and although we all survived our injuries were extensive. My husband sustained a broken neck, broken lower spine, broken sternum and two broken feet. My 14 year old son fractured his leg and burst the main artery in the stomach lining. I sustained severe whiplash, broken sternum, “dented” stomach from seat belt, broken toes and foot.
Upon leaving the hospital and having necessary surgeries it was very difficult and anxiety provoking to get into a car. Because of the extent of our injuries we had to be taken to San Diego to be cared for by family.
I consulted with Dr. Callahan on October 12, 2010. He took turns asking each one of us different questions and then gave detailed instructions on tapping sequences. Each one of us were given a sequence to use for trauma/anxiety. In addition to this my son was given a sequence to ease the stress of the surgery he had undergone. My husband was given a sequence to clear side effects associated with the medicine he was taking. And I was given a sequence to gain confidence to drive again.
Just after performing the first tapping session we all noticed a more peaceful and calming state of mind. Within in 1 day I had enough confidence to get behind the wheel and run an errand. I was so happy I started to cry. Slowly but surely we all started to get our lives back on track and start the recovery process. We still go back to these sequences any time we have to make a stressful phone call or receive bad news.
I am happy to say that one year later we all doing well and thriving. My husband was able to go back to work in January, my son was able to start a fresh new school year and I am able to make long drives from the desert to San Diego by myself without experiencing severe anxiety.
We are grateful to the Callahan’s for their expertise and sincere concern for our health and healing process.
With sincere gratitude,
Mark, Mary and Tice Ledbetter La Quinta, California
A Strange Tale and My Smallest Patient
by Terri Perry, TFT-Dx
We moved to Abruzzo, Italy in 2009, to an old house which we are still renovating. Recently we had to demolish part of the house and make new foundations.
For this, two huge cement lorries with pumping equipment had to get to our house, but our driveway was too small. So the only other way was to cross a railway track and over rough terrain, but one thing stood in their way, a large overhanging branch of a big oak tree. It was necessary to cut it off before the lorries arrived and we only had about an hour in which to do it.
Normally we have wonderful sunny weather in Abruzzo but suddenly the sky darkened and the wind became stronger. On this day of all days it was threatening a storm!
My husband put our long ladder against the tree and I stood at the bottom holding the ladder for his safety. He started sawing with the bow saw and it looked as if the branch should drop straight down. The wind was now strong and starting to rain. I only looked away for a split second and I was catapulted to the ground with the full force of the large branch hitting me in the back.
On March 11, 2011, a terrible earthquake and tsunami struck northern Japan. In it’s wake it left 15,019 people dead, 5,282 people injured, and 9,506 people missing as of the time of this report. Approximately 500 kilometers or 311 miles of coastline were affected some of which was totally destroyed. We felt the earthquake in Tokyo as well.
As soon as we were able, our Japan Association For Thought Field Therapy CRT (JATFT), sent two psychiatrists, 2 psychologists (including myself), and 1 nurse to Miyagi National Hospital. The hospital was established in 1939 and has 14 departments but they do not have a psychiatry department. Therefore, our team served as their psychiatry department. The hospital is located in the very south part of Miyagi Prefecture at the border of Fukushima Prefecture. It is located 60 kilometers or roughly 37 miles from the atomic power plant.
The town, Yamamoto-Cho, had approximately 17,000 inhabitants and they lost 900 lives. This town is famous for its strawberry and apple farms. The apple farms are in the mountainous area and they stayed safe, but only 5 strawberry farms were left out of a total of 400 strawberry farms. Most of them were located along the coastline.
Arranging Trauma Care
One of our aims is to support nurses who are working there and those who have lost their families and houses. One of our members, Dr. Nakahara, D.D.S., who works at the hospital is trained at the Diagnostic TFT level. She arranged our schedule and found that a nursing care facility, and a nursing school, around the hospital had lost many old people, workers, and some small children. Continue reading “TFT for Survivors of Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami”
