Volume VI, Issue 3, Article 5 (October, 2000)

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Helping Survivors Of Destructive Cults:
Applications of Thought Field Therapy

Monica Pignotti, MSW, CSW
Private Practice, New York City 

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Abstract

Overview Of The Presenting Problem

The cult related tragedies of Heaven’s Gate, The Branch Davidians, The Solar Temple and the sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subways have made it clear that cults are as much of a phenomenon of the 1990s as the 1970s.  Cult expert Dr. Margaret Singer (1995) estimates that:  "...depending on how one defines a cult, there are anywhere from three thousand to five thousand cults in the United States alone.  Over the past two decades as many as twenty million people have been involved...not only are cult members affected but millions more family members and loved ones worry and wonder, sometimes for years, about what has happened to their relatives or friends" (p.5).

It is very likely that at some point in their careers mental health professionals, especially those who specialize in dealing with the aftereffects of trauma, will work with cult members, former cult members or their families.
Definition of a Destructive Cult

Cults are best defined in terms of their deeds rather than their creeds.  As former Director of the International Cult Education Program, Marcia Rudin (1994) puts it, "Beliefs are not the issue. Cults spring from all ideologies" (p.65).  Not all cults are destructive in nature.  Some are relatively benign and harmless.  In the context of this chapter, however, it is destructive cults and their aftereffects that are being defined and discussed.

To formulate a precise definition of a destructive cult, Chambers, Langone, Dole, and Grice (1994) determined by factor analysis that the following four factors clustered together with regards to the cult experience: 1) compliance; 2) exploitation; 3) mind control; and 4) anxious dependency.  From these factors they formed the empirical definition that: "Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially by making members comply with leadership's demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of a deep-seated, anxious dependency on the group and its leader" (p. 105-106).

Aftereffects of Cults

From the above definition, one can see that having been a member of a destructive cult can produce severe aftereffects in those who leave them.  Paul Martin, Ph.D., Director of Wellspring, a residential facility for the treatment of ex-cult members in Ohio, points out that, “The ex-cultist has been traumatized, deceived, conned, used, and often emotionally, physically, sexually and mentally abused while serving the group and/or the leader.  Like other trauma victims (for example, of criminal acts, war atrocities, rape and serious illness), former cultists often re-experience the painful memories of their group involvement” (p. 208).

For the purposes of this chapter, I am going to confine my discussion to people who have suffered from cult abuse as an adult.  The effects of children who have been abused in cults, including satanic and ritual abuse, is a whole separate phenomenon and topic that would deserve its own chapter to do it justice.  Such people have, however, been helped with TFT.

Conway & Siegelman (1995) compare the experience of ex-cult members to Vietnam veterans.  In a survey of 400 former cult members from 48 different cults, they found the following most commonly reported symptoms:  depression (75%); loneliness (68%); anger (68%); disorientation (66%);  humiliation/embarrassment (59%);  guilt feelings (59%); nightmares (48%);  suicidal/self destructive tendencies (35%).   In a later study done by Michael Langone (1990) of 308 former cult members, over three quarters of the respondents rated their cult experience as either harmful or very harmful and respondents reported much the same post-cult symptoms as in the earlier study.

Symptoms reported by clinicians who have extensive experience working with ex-cult members include: depression; panic attacks; fears; phobias or anxiety; nightmares and flashbacks; loneliness; guilt, shame or embarrassment; grief and loss; and feelings of anger and/or betrayal (Goldberg & Goldberg, 1982; Hassan, 1988; Hassan, 2000; Goldberg, 1993; Martin, 1993; Tobias & Lalich, 1994; Singer, 1995; 1979).

Physical, sexual, emotional and mental abuse is also common in cults (Martin, 1995).  At one recovery conference for former cult members, 40% of the women in attendance chose to attend a workshop for women sexually abused in cults (Tobias & Lalich, 1994).

Traditional Treatment Approaches

Therapy with former cult members needs to be twofold; it needs to be psycho educational, as well as deal with the emotional aftereffects (Goldberg, 1993).  An educational component is necessary so ex-cult members can learn about cults and mind control and come to an understanding of how they were manipulated into a cult that they would not have otherwise chosen to become involved in (Singer, 1995; Tobias & Lalich, 1994; Hassan, 1988; Hassan, 2000).  It is necessary for individuals who have been in cults to become aware of the beliefs they acquired while in the cult and sort out what they now choose to believe in after having left the cult.  This aspect of the recovery process is adequately addressed in treatment approaches currently being used by professionals who specialize in cults.  Increased awareness and understanding, however, usually do not do anything to relieve the emotional distress experienced by the cult survivor.

According to Margaret Singer, ex-cult members must “Face psychological and emotional stirrings that can cause intense agonies for awhile” (p. 301).  Singer points out to ex-members that these symptoms most often do go away with time and estimates the recovery process to be between 6 and 24 months, although some may take longer.   Treatment, for Singer, consists of ex-cult members learning to label what they are experiencing, so they can better understand what is happening so they are better equipped to cope with the psychological distress they experience, which she believes is inevitable.

Tobias (1994) suggests cognitive behavioral techniques to deal with triggers of the cult.  In this way, the ex-cult member can learn to cope with the symptoms, but this does not eliminate the symptoms themselves.  Hassan (1988) suggests using a technique similar to NLP’s Visual-Kinesthetic Dissociation and Change History, where the cult involvement can be redone in the individual’s mind, with the resources that are currently available to that person.  This process brings about increased feelings of empowerment for the individual that were not present in the original situation where victimization by the cult occurred.  Hassan (2000) also reports success with using an educational, as well as a cognitive-behavioral approach to undo phobias that have been installed by the cult.  Colleagues of mine have reported using EMDR with ex-cult members and while they report some success, EMDR can frequently produce painful abreactions of the traumatic experience during treatment.

William and Lorna Goldberg (1982), who have run a support group for ex-cult members for more than 22 years, have found that support from peers in the group who have gone through similar experiences can be very beneficial to the ex-cult member, as well as helping to provide an education about how cults operate.  People who attend such groups learn that their experience was not unique and find others who have experienced what they have, which helps them to feel less ashamed and alone and to identify patterns that bring about further insight into their experience.

While ex-members report getting a certain amount of relief from the above treatment approaches, there is nothing in the literature of current treatments being used that can give the person full emotional relief from the pain suffered from the trauma of cult involvement.  This author has been a part of several Internet discussion groups where former cult members have reported that they have not found relief from their suffering, in spite of having tried every type of therapy currently available.

The treatment being discussed in this chapter, Thought Field Therapy (TFT), can give people suffering from the aftereffects of trauma relief that, in my own experience, no other treatment method has been able to provide.  No treatment can give the person back the years they lost to the cult or undo the reality of the cult experience.  TFT, however, can bring the person immediate relief from the many symptoms of psychological distress that ex-cult members suffer from, which will help them to get on with living the rest of their lives.

Overview of Thought Field Therapy (TFT)

Brief Description

Thought Field Therapy (TFT), also known as Callahan Techniques, is a treatment developed by psychologist Dr. Roger Callahan that can offer a person rapid relief from a variety of psychological problems, including the aftereffects of trauma and sequelae.  The person being treated is asked to stimulate energy meridian points on the body in a specific sequence, which is determined by a procedure that will be elaborated on in the sections following, that diagnoses the problem at its root cause.  In essence, TFT diagnosis provides a code, which when applied to the psychological problem the person is attuned to, will eliminate the disturbance at its root.

TFT is fast, painless, and produces immediate results.  Unlike many of the traditional treatments for trauma, which require exposure and abreaction, there is no painful reliving of the traumatic event with TFT.  The person only needs to think about the trauma and then stimulate the energy meridian points on his or her body, as directed by a therapist trained in TFT procedures.

History

Roger Callahan is a Ph.D. psychologist who has been working with clients since 1950.  He was a pioneer in cognitive-behavioral approaches and hypnosis when these treatments were new and controversial.  Throughout his long career, he was continuously looking for better ways to help people with the psychological problems they came to him with.

In the late 1970s, a psychiatrist colleague of his showed him a muscle testing technique that he had learned from chiropractors, known as applied kinesiology (Walther, 1988).  Dr. Callahan was fascinated with the phenomenon that his arm, while initially strong when pushed on, could go weak if he was thinking about something emotionally distressing.  At the time, he was not sure how this applied to his field, but he took a 100-hour course in applied kinesiology.  He also began learning about the energy meridian points on the body that are used in acupuncture.

In 1980, he was working with a woman in her 40s, Mary, who had a severe life-long phobia of water (Callahan, 1997a).  Her fear was so bad that she was able to only take sponge baths, was terrified every time it rained, and regularly had terrible nightmares of water coming to get her.  He had tried every treatment he knew, in his large repertoire of treatment approaches, to try to help her with this phobia.  After a year and a half, there was only a very small amount of progress.  Mary was able to sit at the edge of his swimming pool, but was still so terrified that she was unable to look at the water.

Mary had commented that whenever she thought about water, she got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.  Using his knowledge of energy meridian points and applied kinesiology, he tested the energy meridian point connected with her stomach and found that it was off-balance.  Not expecting much to happen, he asked her to tap under her eye, which is the end point to the stomach meridian.  Immediately after doing so, Mary said, “It’s gone.”  When Dr. Callahan asked her what was gone, she said, “That terrible feeling I get in the pit of my stomach every time I think of water is gone.”   She then went running out of his office toward his swimming pool.  Fearing that Mary might jump in the pool, not knowing how to swim, he called after her, “Mary, look out!”, to which she responded, “Don’t worry, Dr. Callahan.  I know I can’t swim.”  This showed that even though this treatment had completely eliminated her phobia of water, it didn’t eliminate her common sense.

Later that night, there was a big storm and Mary put her phobia to the ultimate test by going to the beach, which had previously terrified her, even on a nice day.  She was completely free of her fear of water and remains so to this day, which has been confirmed by a videotaped interview (Callahan, 1997b).

After curing Mary of her phobia, Dr. Callahan began trying this form of diagnosis and treatment on all of his clients.  Much to his surprise, he found that the treatment not only worked on phobias; it worked equally well on traumatic experience, where the person had good reason to be upset.  The first person he treated for trauma was a young woman who, 10 years earlier had been held in her apartment for five days by a gang of men and repeatedly gang-raped, while they threatened to kill her young child.  Needless to say, this experience was so traumatic for her that 10 years later, she was still having nightmares about it and unable to date men.  After a very brief treatment, where she was asked to tap at the beginning of her eyebrow near the bridge of her nose, her trauma was completely eliminated.  She was able to date men and her nightmares completely vanished.

Over the years, through his causal diagnostic procedure, Dr. Callahan made additions and refinements to his procedures.  Through working with hundreds of clients with the same conditions, he found, through causal diagnosis, sequences that worked 70-90% of the time in the average client population, which became known as the TFT algorithms.  Those who don’t respond to the algorithms can usually be successfully treated with sequences determined by individualized TFT diagnosis by a therapist trained in such procedures, as can psychological problems that don’t fall into any of the algorithm categories.

In the 1990s, Dr. Callahan began doing training certification programs in TFT Diagnosis for therapists and other health professionals. As of the year 2000, there are more than 500 therapists from all over the world trained in TFT Diagnosis, thousands trained in the TFT algorithms, and 20 therapists trained in the Voice Technology.  Roger Callahan has trained therapists from England, Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Greece, Germany Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Switzerland, Bolivia, Mexico, and Japan.  The treatments now have official recognition as an approved medical treatment in Alberta (College of Physicians and Surgeons), and are officially recognized in Nevada as an approved medical homeopathic treatment.
Basic Assumptions and Major Theoretic Principles of TFT

What is a Thought Field?

A “field”, is a term that comes from physics, defined as “an invisible non-material structure in space which has an effect upon matter” (Callahan and Callahan, 1996, p. 117).  We cannot see the field itself, but we can see the effects that it has.  For instance, we cannot see a magnetic field, but we can see the effect it has upon iron filings when they are drawn up by a magnet.  We cannot see a gravitational field, but we can observe the effects of dropping a solid object and watching it fall to the ground.

The biologist Rupert Sheldrake (1981, 1988) introduced the concept of morphic resonance, which is a theory that explains how information not contained in DNA can be passed down through successive generations via morphogenetic fields.  According to TFT theory, information in thought fields can also be passed down through the generations.  For instance, all land-based chordates are born with a fear of heights.  For our ancestors, a fear of heights was necessary for survival and in modern times, we have inherited this fear, not through our genes but through the transmission of information contained within such fields.  This is somewhat analogous to Jung’s notion of the collective unconscious.  Thus, the person who has a fear of heights, for instance, is not necessarily experiencing his own trauma of falling, but could be experiencing the collective trauma of his ancestors who have fallen in the past (Callahan and Callahan, 1996, p. 121).

Perturbations

According to TFT theory, the perturbation is the root cause of all emotional distress.  Callahan (1996) defines a perturbation (p) in the following manner:  “A p is a subtle but clearly isolable aspect of a thought field which is responsible for triggering all negative emotions.  No p, no negative emotion.  The p is the generating structure which determines the chemical, hormonal, nervous system, cognitive and brain activity commonly associated with, and an intrinsic and necessary part (but not the fundamental cause) of the negative emotions.”

From this definition, there are a several important principles relevant to perturbations.

       Perturbations as active information. The perturbation contains active information, a term coined by physicist David Bohm.  In The Undivided Universe, Bohm & Hiley (1993) elaborate on what he means when he uses the word “information”:  “What is crucial here is that we are calling attention to the literal meaning of the word, i.e., to in-form, which is actively to put form into something or to imbue something with form...The basic idea of active information is that a form having very little energy enters into and directs a much greater energy.  The activity of the latter in this way is given a form similar to that of the smaller energy.” (p. 35)

        Perturbations as the root cause.  TFT theory is revolutionary, as it overturns all of the commonly held and currently accepted theories held by psychologists.  According to TFT theory, brain chemistry is not the primary cause of emotional distress.  Negative emotions start with the perturbation, which in turn affects the body’s bioenergy system, which then affects brain chemistry.  According to Callahan, theories that attribute psychological problems to brain chemistry are completely in the wrong ballpark (Callahan & Callahan, 2000).  The basis for this claim is that with TFT, emotional distress can be completely eliminated by addressing energy meridian points on the body in specified sequences.  The treatment does not directly do anything to the brain, but nevertheless it eliminates the problem.

Perturbations are isolable in relation to the thought field that contains them.  This means that when perturbations are eliminated, the rest of the information relevant to the problem remains intact, as in the case of Mary, where her phobia of water was eliminated, yet she still remembered that she could not swim.  The pain of a trauma can be eliminated, while the memory of the experience remains intact.  Contrary to what is believed in conventional psychotherapy, it is not the memory that is the problem, but rather the perturbation, that is the source of the emotional charge.

        Isomorphism.  An isomorphism is a one-to-one relationship between two distinctly different sets of objects.  In TFT, a one-to-one relationship exists between specific energy meridian points on the body and perturbations.  For every perturbation, there is a correct corresponding energy meridian point on the body that needs to be addressed (Callahan & Callahan, 1996).

        Tuning the Thought Field.  In order for a TFT treatment to be effective, the individual being treated must be attuned to the thought field, which means that the person needs to be directed to think about the problem being treated.  This differs from other forms of treatment, such as that given by a doctor or dentist, where the patient does not need to be thinking of anything in particular for the treatment to work.  In the case of infants, young children or developmentally disabled adults who are unable to direct their attention to the problem, they can be successfully treated if they are in the situation pertaining to the problem being treated.

Causal Diagnosis

Now that we know that perturbations contained in thought fields are the root cause of emotional distress and that they correspond to energy meridian points on the body, the next question that needs to be addressed is, how do we know what points need to be treated and in which sequence?  There are 14 potential treatment points in TFT that, mathematically,  have the potential for 87 billion possible combinations of treatment points.  If we just guessed at which points needed to be treated through random trial and error, it would take over 100,000 years to hit on a correct combination and sequence of treatment points if we worked continuously with no breaks.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this; we are able to determine which points need to be treated and in what sequence by a method called causal diagnosis.  Because TFT’s method of diagnosis reveals perturbations, which are the root cause of the psychological disturbance, it is called causal diagnosis, which is radically different from the nosological diagnosis done from sets of symptoms listed in the DSM.  According to Roger Callahan: “Causal diagnosis means our diagnostic procedure reveals the fundamental constituents of psychological problems.  We call these constituents, perturbations.  TFT diagnosis is a process of revealing the specific perturbations in the precise order in which they occur.  It is the revelation of this order, or encoding of perturbations, which reveals the exact treatments to do leading to our unusually high success.” (Callahan & Callahan, 1996, Acknowledgments).

The TFT causal diagnostic procedure was developed by Roger Callahan over a period of years, culminating in the development of the state-of-the-art causal diagnosis of the Voice Technology.  The causal diagnostic procedure consists of: having the client tune the thought field by thinking about the problem, testing for psychological reversal, and diagnosing which treatment points are needed and in what sequence, either through the Voice Technology or through a muscle testing procedure.  The muscle testing procedure comes from the field of Applied Kinesiology,  developed by chiropractor George Goodheart, D.C.  Dr. Callahan does not, however, recall ever seeing anyone in Applied Kinesiology use a muscle testing procedure to diagnose sequences of acupuncture points in a correct order to diagnose and treat psychological problems.   Furthermore, he states that he never saw anyone cured of a psychological problem before discovering TFT (Callahan, 1998d).  Callahan has stated that without the discoveries of George Goodheart, he (Callahan) could not have made the further discoveries that lead to his system of TFT Causal Diagnosis.  However, he also points out that without his own subsequent discoveries unique to TFT (i.e., perturbations as the root cause of psychological problems, tuning the thought field, psychological reversal, the 9 gamut sequence, explained in more detail below), we would not have the current system of causal diagnosis of psychological problems that makes the very high rate of success regularly obtained with TFT possible (Callahan, 1998d).

The diagnosed sequence of treatment points, in TFT, is crucial to the success of the treatment.  The causal diagnostic procedure provides the TFT practitioner with a code that, much like a combination lock, must be followed in the exact sequence revealed by diagnosis in order to produce the desired result of eliminating the perturbation(s) and thus, the emotional distress.  Just as one cannot expect to open a combination lock using the correct numbers and the wrong sequence, the energy meridian points of TFT need to be stimulated in their proper sequence.  Like combination locks, some treatment sequences are very simple, requiring only one or two points, whereas others require a series of intricate combinations to get results (Callahan, 1995-1998).

Definition of TFT

The following formal definition of TFT has been derived from the above principles:  “TFT is a treatment for psychological disturbances which provides a code, that when applied to a psychological problem an individual is attuned to, will eliminate perturbations in the thought field, the fundamental cause of all negative emotions.  This code is elicited through TFT’s causal diagnostic procedure through which the TFT algorithms were developed” (The Thought Field, Vol. 4, issue 1, 1998)

Levels of TFT

There are three levels of TFT treatments: Algorithms, Diagnosis and the Voice Technology.
        1. Algorithms represent the simplest TFT procedures.  The algorithms are recipes of treatment sequences that have been pre-determined by Roger Callahan through the use of causal diagnosis.  By working with hundreds of people who had the same problem (for instance, a trauma), it was discovered that there were sequences that worked on approximately 70-90% of the people treated in the average client population.  There are algorithms for phobias, trauma, anxiety/panic attacks, addictive urges, trauma, grief/loss, love pain, compulsions, OCD, pain, depression, jet lag, anger, guilt, shame, and embarrassment.  Because the treatment sequence is already known through previous causal diagnosis, the therapist does not need to learn the skills of diagnosis.  The TFT algorithms can be easily learned by both therapists in a two-day training program and used as a self-help method by lay people.  Children can even learn to do algorithms on one another.

        2. TFT Diagnosis is the next level of training, where the person learns to do causal diagnosis and the therapy localization procedure.  Diagnosis will provide individualized treatments by giving precise sequences of meridian points to be stimulated.  People who do not respond to algorithms will usually respond to the TFT diagnostic procedure, which has about a 95% success rate.  Diagnosis can also be used for psychological problems that do not fall into any of the categories of the algorithms.  Those trained in diagnosis readily see the importance of sequence, when a person who did not respond to the sequence of an algorithm responds to an individually diagnosed sequence.

The current training program for diagnosis is in three parts (Callahan, J., 1998):  Step A is a home study course consisting of a manual, videotapes and audiotapes that explain the procedure.  After 30 days of practice with the Step A materials, the trainee is then eligible to take Step B, which is an in-person three-day seminar given through Callahan Techniques, Ltd. where more advanced aspects of TFT theory and testing for energy toxins and sensitivities is learned.  After completion of Step B, the next step is Step C, which consists of six months of supervision with Roger Callahan, where he uses the Voice Technology to help the trainee’s clients who did not respond to diagnosis.  After completion of Step C, the person is then eligible to take an examination that qualifies them to teach Callahan-approved Algorithm seminars and to use the title TFTdx.

        3.  TFT Voice Technology™ (VT) has the highest rate of success of all forms of TFT and is the most rapid form of treatment.  The VT can help people who do not respond to algorithms or diagnosis.  This is the treatment that Dr. Callahan uses to treat the most difficult cases.  The VT, which is done over the telephone, reveals perturbations that are contained in a person’s voice and those trained in the VT can diagnose a precise sequence of treatment points.  VT represents the gold standard of TFT and a therapist trained in this technology can treat clients from all over the world.

Psychological Reversal

The phenomenon of psychological reversal (PR) was discovered by Dr. Callahan in 1979.  At the time he was treating people who were finding it impossible to lose weight.  He found that when he muscle tested them on the statement “I want to lose weight,” their arm went weak and when he tested them on the statement “I want to gain weight,” their arm became strong.  Later, after making his discovery of TFT treatment, he found that PR was a literal reversal of the body’s energy flow and found that this could be treated and quickly corrected by tapping on the side of the hand, which is the end point to the small intestine meridian.  After doing this, he found that a treatment that was previously ineffective would now work.  Making this discovery doubled his success rate for TFT procedures.  The effects of PR and its treatment can be readily seen by anyone who knows algorithms by doing an algorithm that didn’t work on a person, doing the PR treatment, and observing that the treatment that was once ineffective is suddenly effective after correcting for PR.

Mini-PR is a block to the treatment that occurs when the person’s distress level has gone down from the starting point, but has not gone down all the way and thus, part of the problem still remains.  When Mini-PR is successfully corrected, and the treatment is repeated, this will lead to complete elimination of the psychological distress being treated.

The SUD Scale

Roger Callahan has stated that “there is no substitute for the client’s report” (Callahan & Callahan, 1996).  Traditional behavior theory does not acknowledge the existence of consciousness and thus measures success in therapy only through changes in behavior, dismissing the client’s “subjective” report as invalid.  Thus, such therapy is considered a success if clients shows a change in behavior, even if they still report feeling emotional distress.  Although changes in objective measures have been reported with TFT, according to Roger Callahan:  “...as much as I like objective measures, there is not and cannot ever be a substitute for the subjective report of how an individual feels.” (Callahan, 1998a, p.4).

The Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUD), originally developed by Wolpe (1969), provides a precise way to measure change in the client’s self-reported emotional state.  An important part of the TFT protocol is to have the client think about the problem and then report how upset he or she feels on a scale of 1 to 10, where a 10 represents the most upset possible and a 1 represents no trace of emotional upset.  The therapist writes down the beginning SUD and after proceeding with the treatment, asks the client to rate his or her upset again on the SUD scale.  The goal of TFT treatment is complete elimination of all subjective units of distress, which is a SUD of 1.

The Apex Problem

The term “Apex” comes from Arthur Koestler (1967), who describes those moments when a human being is able to function at his or her peak, or apex.  Thus, the apex problem represents a problem in optimum functioning.  In TFT we use this term to describe a phenomenon we see quite often, where the client recognizes that his emotional distress is completely eliminated, but attributes this to something other than the treatment.  The person, unable to recognize that TFT eliminated his problem, makes up an irrational reason for the change.  Some common statements clients make that indicate the presence of the apex problem include:
 

· “This treatment distracted me.”
· “This must be a placebo effect.” (often said by clients who are very skeptical and have no belief whatsoever in the procedure)
· “I’m finding it hard to come up with a SUD.” (when the client previously had no trouble giving a very high SUD)
· “The treatment must have repressed my feelings.”
· “I’m not able to think about the problem.”

Some people have asked me why it is important for the client to recognize the apex problem.  After all, the client got better, and isn’t that all that counts?  My response to this is that it is, indeed, important for a client who has been helped by a procedure to recognize the source of the help.  After all, very few clients suffer from only one problem.  If the client doesn’t recognize that TFT was responsible for the alleviation of his problem, he will not use it to treat other problems, and if the problem recurs, will not return and thus will be deprived of further help.

Methods of Addressing Energy Meridian Points

Commonly, people who have not grasped the basics of TFT have referred to it as “tapping therapy”.  According to Roger Callahan, the method of addressing the energy meridian points is trivial and “tapping is not the essence of  TFT” (Callahan, 1998b).  There are a variety of ways in which meridian and other points on the body can be addressed, including:  needles, electrical stimulation, finger pressure or massage, tapping, non?piercing needles, moxibustion (burning herbs on a point), and acu?aids (small steel balls placed on a point) (Walther, 1988), lasers, and electroacupuncture (Callahan, 1998d).  Callahan experimented stimulating points with acu-aids and while he did get results, they were not superior to any other method of stimulation used (Callahan, 1998b).  Callahan states that he “...settled on tapping because it made theoretical sense to me since I felt we were directly putting energy into a meridian, however, I would like to emphasize that all of the various procedures mentioned work.

The key to successful treatment, I also emphasize, is not the manner of stimulation but rather the order and specific meridians which through causal diagnosis are found to be pertinent for an individual with a particular problem.” (Callahan, 1998b)

Recurrences and the Role of Toxins

One of the most common questions I and others who teach TFT have been asked by skeptical new therapists being trained in TFT, following a successful treatment that has eliminated all traces of the client’s upset is, “How long will this last?”.  In “Cure and Time”, Callahan & Callahan (1996) point out that “Although I treated patients for over three decades prior to my discoveries, I never once heard the question ‘How long will it last?’  Since the discovery of TFT, I have heard this question thousands of times.  Whether intended or not, it is a supreme compliment to ask this question.  It implicitly acknowledges that something of significance has happened and wonders about the duration.” (p.30)

Recognizing that we now have a treatment that will, in the case of many clients for the first time, eliminate all subjective units of distress, the next issue becomes tracking the results.  In order to accomplish this, the client is instructed that if the problem does return, to call immediately.  In recent years, Callahan (in press-b) has discovered the important role that energy toxins play in the return of problems.  An energy toxin is any substance the client comes into contact with that undoes the effects of the treatment. Callahan stated that “From experience we now know that an energy toxin is, by far, the most likely reason for the return of a successfully treated problem.” (Callahan, 1996b).  More recently after experience with even more people he has amended this statement to say that the reason for the return of a successfully treated problem is “almost always a toxin” (Callahan, 1998c).

Although the discovery of the role of toxins in the return of a problem is Callahan’s unique discovery, the role of toxins in psychological problems has been recognized by others, including in a book from the APA (Travis, McLean & Ribar, 1990).  Doris Rapp, MD, a pediatric allergist (1978, 1991), has clearly shown the role that ingested toxins play in hyperactive children.  One of the leading clinical ecologists, Theron Randolph, MD (1989), has pointed out that sensitivities to various commonly eaten foods and other substances can affect a person physically and/or mentally.  Some mental symptoms he attributes to such sensitivities are: impaired thinking ability, mental exhaustion, depression, mania, anxiety, and hyperactivity.

Callahan first discovered the role of toxins when he noticed that clients had a return of their problem after smoking cigarettes (Callahan & Callahan, 1996).  Later he discovered that normally healthy foods such as wheat, corn, eggs, milk, and others can also act as energy toxins and are actually more common culprits in anxiety disorders than caffeine (Callahan, 1995d; Callahan).  More recently, experiments using Heart Rate Variability tests after exposure to a toxin have shown the harmful impact of toxins upon the autonomic nervous system (Callahan, in press-b).

Energy toxins can be tested for by a therapist trained in TFT Diagnosis or Voice Technology.  Once a toxin is identified, the client is asked to stay completely away from the substance until he or she has been symptom free for at least two months, to stabilize the results of the treatment.  However, clients should not be tested for toxins unless there is a problem with a treatment holding, since most treatments do hold and thus it is not necessary in these cases to ask the client to make such changes in their diet (Callahan, 1995d).  However, because of the adverse effect such toxins have been shown to have on Heart Rate Variability (Callahan, in press-b), which has been linked to all-cause mortality, a person who has a toxin identified might wish to consider staying away from the substance for reasons other than the return of a psychological problem.

Empirical Evidence of TFT’s Effectiveness

Due to the strange appearance of these techniques, professionals sometimes mistakenly assume that this approach is “unscientific” or “mystical,” when nothing could be further from the truth.  TFT is said to be “on line with reality” (Callahan and Callahan, 1996) because its laws can be easily tested by any individual that uses TFT and thus, each person can conduct first-hand experiments and immediately see the predicted results.
 It is a common assumption in our profession that the only valid evidence for efficacy of a particular therapy is experimental designed studies with control groups, which have been held forth as the gold standard for scientific proof.  The readily observable and obvious results of the efficacy of TFT strongly challenge this assumption.  Traditional therapies, if they produce any improvement at all, only produce small improvements over long periods of time.  For this reason, sophisticated statistical tests must be performed to determine if the difference between the treatment and an untreated control group is significant.  However, many people forget the fact that there is a major difference between statistical significance and what is clinically meaningful.  If you get a large enough sample, even the slightest difference can be statistically significant, although in clinical terms the results are virtually meaningless.  For instance, if a study on treatment for phobias is done and a client’s SUD level drops from a 10 to a 9.75, this might with a large enough sample produce a statistically significant result.  To the person who suffers from a psychological problem, however, this means very little in terms of the degree of suffering that is alleviated.  Thus, the study, although statistically significant is meaningless clinically.

Helmut Kiene (1998), founder of the Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology in Freiburg, Germany, challenges the current assumptions that the experimental placebo, double-blind, control group study is the ultimate proof for the efficacy of a therapy. Kiene examines, discusses, and challenges the basic epistemological elements of the conventionally-accepted randomized trials and states that  “Along with this technology, however, a dogma was born.  This dogma states that there is no valid causality assessment other than randomized trials. . . Causality assessment in single cases is deemed impossible.  However, as will be argued below, this dogma is incorrect” (p.43).

Kiene then goes on to describe an alternative model of causality assessment that he calls “figural correspondence” or the “figural experiment. Kiene proposes a new model for experimentation called “figural correspondence” or the “figural experiment” where one can observe the entire gestalt of a process within one treatment application.  Kiene writes that photography is an excellent example of this:  “Taking a Polaroid picture for the first time and comparing it with the original, one can be certain right away--because of the figural correspondence--that photography is a causal process.” (p44)

The same can be said for the laws of TFT.  When we do TFT we can observe the gestalt of the process and thus assess causality from single observations.  We establish and observe that a person has a particular psychological problem.  We can readily observe that a particular person gets upset whenever they think about a particular psychological problem, which he or she typically gives a high SUD rating to.  We do diagnosis and apply a specific TFT sequence (or do a previously diagnosed algorithm) and observe that the person is no longer upset when thinking about the problem.  In the case of a phobia of heights, for instance, we observe just prior to treatment that the person exhibited tremendous upset when faced with the prospect of climbing a simple step ladder.  After the treatment the person is then easily able to climb the ladder without a trace of upset.  We perceive the entire gestalt and thus can say with certainty that the treatment was the cause of the result.

By these standards, evidence for TFT is abundant in the many case studies and publicly demonstrated results.  Numerous case reports in The Thought Field (1995-1998) show that the results of TFT can be easily replicated by therapists trained in the method who follow the procedures.  For instance, psychologist Jenny Edwards, PhD (1998), who treated traumatized victims of the recent bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, reports that she eliminated all traces of their intense trauma and their physical pain, with the use of the appropriate algorithms.

Another therapist (Sakai, 1998) reports in this same issue on her successful treatment of 20 cases in a psychiatric setting using TFT diagnosis.  These patients had a variety of symptoms including, depression, Bipolar II, PTSD, addictive urges, anxiety, phobias and headaches, all of which responded favorably to TFT diagnostic procedures.

In addition to the case histories, there are a growing number of studies that are showing the efficacy of TFT.   In a recent study done in at a major HMO, (Sakai, et al., in press) reported 1,578 applications of TFT.  Statistically significant changes in the SUD at the .001 level were reported for a wide variety of conditions including anxiety, adjustment disorder, depression, alcohol abuse, anger,  bereavement, chronic pain, fatigue, maladaptive health behavior, obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder,  panic disorder without agoraphobia,  parent-child stress, partner relational stress,  post-traumatic stress disorder, relationship stress, social phobia, specific phobia, trichotillomania, and work stress.

A study using the TFT Voice Technology on individuals with phobias and anxiety being treated on call-in radio shows, initially done by Callahan in 1985-6 (Callahan, 1987) was replicated ten years later by Glen Leonoff  (1995).  Each therapist treated 68 individuals with a 97% success rate in both cases.  Although this study had no control group, it is important to remember that the purpose of a control group is to determine if the response was due to a placebo effect and there are no studies where a placebo was reported to have a 97% success rate.

A preliminary report of ongoing clinical research being conducted by VT-trained therapist Stephen Daniel, PhD (1998), had similar results with a larger sample.  Dr. Daniel treated 214 therapists with the VT by telephone, who attended algorithm trainings and had problems that did not respond to the usually effective algorithms.  The average pre-treatment SUD was 7.74 and the average post-treatment SUD was 1.11, with 1 meaning complete elimination of all distress.  Based on follow-up phone calls, Daniel reports that “the response was overwhelmingly positive.  Most reported maintaining the gains; a small number noticed the role of toxins in reactivating the symptoms (as predicted in CTTFT).” (p. 3).   Daniel’s study is further replication of the 97% success rate in the Callahan and Leonoff studies.

Ian Graham (1998), a therapist trained at the Diagnostic level from The United Kingdom, has done a clinical study where he reports a success rate of 94% in treating 177 individuals over a six-month period.  Eleven individuals did not respond to the treatments in this study.  The pre?treatment average SUD was 8.29 and the post treatment average SUD 2.17.

In the four clinical studies done by Callahan (1987), Leonoff (1995), Daniel (1998) and Graham (1998), a total of 527 individuals were included in the collective sample and the success rate was, as predicted, well above 90% and in the case of VT, 97% or greater.

A controlled study on acrophobia, which was presented at the 1998 American Psychological Association conference, was conducted by Carbonell (1995).  The study was done with 49 college students who had a fear of heights.  Prior to treatment, subjects were asked to give a Subjective Units of Distress (SUD) rating on how anxious they felt just thinking about a situation in which they felt anxious about heights, where 0 represented no fear at all and 10 represented the most fear possible.  Subjects were then randomly assigned to receive a real TFT algorithm treatment, or a “placebo” TFT treatment where they were asked to tap on places that were not treatment points.  The subjects did not know which group they were assigned to.  All subjects were treated for psychological reversal and then treated either with a real TFT algorithm or a placebo algorithm.  The subjects were then all post-tested by an experimenter who did not know who had received the real algorithms.  The post test consisted of asking the subjects to climb the ladder and to give a post-treatment SUD.  Both groups showed some improvement, probably due to the fact that both groups had been treated for psychological reversal, which could have provided some benefit even for the placebo control group.  Nevertheless, there was a statistically significant difference between the group treated with the real algorithm and the group given the placebo algorithm.

In 1990, Joel Wade did his doctoral dissertation on the effects that the TFT treatment for phobias had on a person’s self-concept (Wade, 1997).  Wade’s study had 28 subjects in the group that received TFT and 25 in the control group that received no treatment.  Subjects in both groups were given two questionnaires measuring self?concept: the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS), and the Self Concept Evaluation of Location Form (SELF); they were also asked to rate the intensity of their phobia on a 10-point SUD scale.  Subjects in the experimental group were then treated with the phobia algorithm.  Sixteen subjects from the experimental group reported a drop in SUDS of 4 or more points, while by contrast, only four subjects in the control group reported a drop in SUDS of 2 or more points.  Three months after the treatment, all subjects were post-tested with the same self-concept scales.  The results were that there was significant change on the self?acceptance scale of the TSCS, and on the self-esteem and self-incongruence (how I see myself vs. how I would like to be) scales of the SELF.

Recently, in addition to the client’s self-reported SUD, we have attained results with an objective outcome measure for TFT, known as Heart Rate Variability (HRV) (Malik & Camm, 1995).  The results of TFT using HRV were first measured by Fuller Royal, MD.  HRV provides information about the operation of a person’s autonomic nervous system, has been shown to have stability over time, and is known not to respond to placebo (Kleiger, et al., 1991).  Having learned only the TFT phobia algorithm, Dr. Royal pretested his patients with HRV, did the algorithm and then did a post-test with the HRV immediately after.  Where the pretest showed abnormalities in the autonomic nervous systems of the patients, after the algorithm, the post tests showed that the measurements of the autonomic system became normal.  Graphs of these results are featured on a videotape, available through Callahan Techniques (1997).

Since Dr. Royal’s experimentation, a number of TFT practitioners have been using HRV as an outcome measure in their clinical practice.  Pre and post TFT treatment HRVs have shown changes after a brief TFT treatment that usually took only minutes to do, that, as far as we have been able to determine, are unprecedented (Callahan, in press-a; Callahan, in press-b, Pignotti & Steinberg, in press).

Another impressive change in a patient was reported by Roopa Chari, MD (1998) on a 26-year old female diagnosed with a pituitary tumor, who Dr. Chari treated using TFT diagnosis for anxiety and depression, as well as testing for and eliminating toxins.  The patient, because of the tumor, had elevated levels of the hormone, prolactin.  After the TFT treatments, the patient requested a second test for prolactin levels 6 weeks after her previous test because she reported feeling very well.  The neurosurgeon who had conducted the tests had told her it was too soon to retest and that he expected it to take 8 months for her prolactin levels to go down even 8-10 points.  However, at the patient’s insistence, the test was redone and showed that her prolactin level had dropped 36 points.  Such reports of robust changes in physical problems indicates that further clinical reports and research in this area would be of great value and interest.

Specific Assessment and Treatment Procedures

        Algorithms.  TFT algorithms are therapeutic recipes that contain specific sequences of treatment points, which have been previously determined through TFT’s causal diagnostic procedure to work on 70-90% of people in the average client population who have a particular problem.  Assessment would consist of determining what algorithm to use.  It is not necessary for the client to talk about the problem; all that is necessary is knowing the category the problem falls into (i.e., trauma, phobia, addictive urge, depression, etc.).

        Introducing the Client to TFT. In introducing TFT to clients, it is helpful to show them a videotape such as Introduction to TFT (Callahan Techniques, 1997), which explains some of the basic principles and shows people with a variety of psychological problems who have been helped by TFT.  Unless the client is interested, a lengthy explanation of the theory is not necessary.  It is interesting to notice that the client will respond in the predicted way to the laws of TFT, even when they have no expectations about what occurs.  For instance, when a client who does not initially respond to a treatment is given the treatment for psychological reversal and the treatment repeated, the client will now respond, even though he/she knew nothing about the phenomenon.

        How to Do the Tapping.  It is recommended that the client do the tapping, unless he/she has a disability that prevents it, in which case, with the client’s permission, it can be done by the therapist or a caregiver.  Having the client do the tapping eliminates the necessity of the therapist touching the client, which can be problematic, especially for clients who have histories of severe abuse.  Furthermore, having the client do the treatment is more empowering, although it will work equally well if someone else needs to do it for a particular client who is unable to tap.  The client should be instructed to tap hard enough to put energy into the system, but not nearly hard enough to hurt.

The Architecture of TFT

 Each treatment has a specific structure which consists of:
        1.  The Majors, which is the initial sequence of treatment points.  For instance, for the trauma algorithm, the majors consist of the following treatment points: Eyebrow, Under the Eye, Under the Arm, Collar bone (see diagram and description below for specific location of points).
        2.  The 9 Gamut Sequence. This treatment was discovered by Roger Callahan to further lower the SUD, after the initial sequence of majors is done.  The 9-gamut consists of 9 treatments, presented in detail in the instructions.  While tapping the gamut spot (see diagram for location), the client is asked to perform a series of 6 eye movements and then hum, count and hum again, which is believed to activate the left and right brain (Callahan and Callahan, 1996).  While some people will experience a complete elimination of the problem in just doing the majors, most people need the 9-gamut sequence to further lower the SUD.
        3.  The Majors.  After the 9-gamut sequence, the initial majors sequence is repeated.  For instance if the sequence was eyebrow, under eye, under arm, collar bone, this would be repeated at this time.
 This therapy sequence of Majors - 9 Gamut Treatments - Majors is known as a holon (Callahan and Callahan, 1996).  While many people will respond to one holon, others might require individualized diagnosis of treatment sequences, which can consist of more than one holon.

Treatment Affirmations

In earlier versions of TFT, affirmations were done with some of the treatments.  For instance, while doing the PR treatment, the client was asked to say the words “I accept myself, even though I have this problem.”  Since 1996, however, Roger Callahan has eliminated these affirmations (Callahan, 1997d) because he found that they were not necessary in order for the treatments to be effective and they sometimes created an apex problem of the client falsely attributing the efficacy of the treatments to the affirmations.

IMPORTANT: What to do if a Treatment Does Not Work

If at any time in these procedures you get stuck, do not continue to repeat a treatment that is not working, as this will only serve to frustrate both you and your client.  Furthermore, having a severely-traumatized client continue to focus on a trauma while doing an ineffective treatment, can produce adverse reactions for the client.

Remember that TFT has no adverse reactions when done properly, and part of the proper procedure means not continuing to repeat a treatment that is not working.  The treatment given in this chapter is an algorithm for trauma.  If it does not work, there are further corrections a person trained in an approved Algorithm training has learned.  If that fails, TFT causal diagnosis is available by therapists who have been trained at the Diagnostic and/or the Voice Technology level, who can easily remedy the situation in a high percentage of cases.  Referrals can be obtained by calling Callahan Techniques at 760-564-1008 or going to the website at http://www.tftrx.com.

Treatment Steps for the Trauma Algorithm

Here are the steps for the TFT algorithm for trauma, as this would be the most common algorithm to use for the presenting problem being discussed in this chapter:
        1.  Tuning the Thought Field and Getting the SUD.  Ask the client to think about the upsetting event and rate the degree of upset he or she feels right at this moment (not how they think they might feel in the future or have felt in the past) while thinking about it on a scale of one to ten, where one means that the person is free of all traces of the upset, and ten is the most upset they could possibly be.  A scale of 0-10 may also be used, as long as you clarify with the client whether a 1 or a 0 represents complete elimination of the upset.  Remember that it is not necessary to make the client any more upset than he or she already is, since this treatment does not require a person to painfully relive the traumatic experience.
 It is helpful to write down the SUD the client gives you, so if there is an apex problem later and the client denies previous upset, you can refer back to this.
        2.  Ask the client, using two fingers, to tap five times on the beginning of the eyebrow above the bridge of the nose.
        3.  Tap five times under the eye about an inch below the bottom of the eyeball, at the bottom center of the bony orbit, high on the cheek.
        4.  Tap under the arm five times.  This point is about 4 inches directly below the arm pit, even with the nipple on a male or the center of the bra on a female.
        5.  Have the client find the next point, called the collar bone point, in the following manner.  Take two fingers of either hand and run them down the center of the throat to the top of the center collar bone notch, which is about even with where a man would tie his tie.  From this point, go straight down one inch and then go to the right one inch.  Tap this point five times.
        6.  You have now completed the initial majors sequence.  At this point, ask the client to rate the degree of upset he/she feels right at this moment on a scale of 1-10.  If the initial SUD was 7 or higher and there is a drop of at least two points, proceed to Step 7.  If the initial SUD was less than 7 and there is a drop of at least one point, proceed to Step 7.  If there was a drop of 1 point (in an initial SUD of 7 or higher) or less, do the correction for psychological reversal, by asking the client to tap the outside edge of the hand about mid-way between the wrist and the base of the little finger.  This spot is at the point of impact if one were to do a karate chop.    After the PR treatment, always remember to repeat the majors sequence and recheck the SUD.  If the SUD is now lower, proceed to Step 7. If there is still no change, STOP.  You will need to consult with a therapist who has more training in these procedures.  The Level 1 and 2 algorithm trainings have further corrections that can be done and if these fail, a therapist trained in TFT Diagnosis or Voice Technology can diagnose a different treatment sequence for the client.
        7.  Now do the 9-gamut treatments.  To locate the gamut spot on the back of the hand, make a fist with one hand.  This causes the large knuckles to stand out on the back of the hand.  Place the index finger of your other hand in the valley between the little finger and ring finger knuckles.  Move index finger about one inch back towards the wrist.  This point is called the gamut point.  Tap this point continuously while going through each of the nine procedures described below:
 

1. Eyes open.
2. Eyes closed.
3. Open eyes and point them down and to the left.
4. Point eyes down and to the right.
5. Whirl eyes in a circle in one direction.
6. Whirl eyes in a circle in the opposite direction.
7. Hum a few bars of any tune (more than one note)
8. Count aloud from one to five.
9. Hum the tune again.

        8.  You are now going to have the client repeat steps 2-5: Tap the eyebrow point (step 2); then tap under the eye (step 3); tap under the arm (step 4) and tap the collar bone point (step 5).
        9.  Now ask the client to once again rate the degree of upset again on a scale of one to ten.  Remember that when rating the upset, the client should rate it according to how he/she is feeling right at this moment, not how s/he thinks s/he might feel in the future.  At this point you will notice one of three things:
            a.  The upset will be at a one (completely eliminated) or a two (just a slight trace of it left).  In this case, end the treatment by doing the floor to ceiling eyeroll.  To do this, ask the client to tap the gamut spot (the same spot described in the 9-gamut sequence) and while holding the head rather level, place the eyes down so they are looking at the floor and then slowly and steadily (taking about 6-7 seconds) roll them up towards the ceiling.  This treatment will typically bring a two to a one, or stabilize the one, leaving the person completely free of upset.
            b.  If the number with which the client rates their upset has dropped at least two points, but is not down to a two or lower, repeat the treatment (steps 1-9).
            c.  If there is a change of only one point (if rated upset at a 7 or higher) or no change, do the treatment for mini-psychological reversal (mPR).  Tap the outside edge of the hand about mid-way between the wrist and the base of the little finger.  This treatment point is the same one that was used for PR.  The only difference is that the client has reported some drop in the SUD, so the PR is said to be a Mini-PR.  After you have done this treatment, repeat steps 1-9.
        10.  As long as the degree of upset continues to drop two points from a rating of 7 or above or one point from a rating of below 7, continue to repeat the treatment.  If at any point, the number the client gives you is unchanged (for instance, you dropped on the first round from a 7 to a 4, but when you repeated the treatment, you stayed at a 4), do the treatment of the karate chop spot, described in step 9 for mini-psychological reversal and then repeat the treatment (steps 1-9).

Trauma with Anger

If the upset contains anger add on the following two treatment points to the treatment sequence outlined above.
        1.  Tap the inside lower corner (the side facing your thumb) at the bed of the nail on your little finger.
        2.  Tap the collar bone point (see step 5 for description).

Putting this together with the original treatment, your treatment sequence for trauma with anger will be the original sequence: eyebrow, under the eye, under the arm, collar bone, little finger, collar bone, 9-gamut sequence, eyebrow, under the eye, under the arm, collar bone, plus the added points:  little finger, collar bone.

Trauma with Guilt

If the upset contains guilt, add on these two treatment points:
        1.  Tap the inside lower corner (the side facing your thumb) at the bed of the nail on your index finger.
        2.  Tap the collar bone point (see step 5 for description).

Putting this together with the original treatment, your treatment sequence for trauma with guilt will be the original sequence: eyebrow, under the eye, under the arm, collar bone, index finger, collar bone, 9-gamut sequence, eyebrow, under the eye, under the arm, collar bone, plus the added points:  index finger, collar bone.

Trauma with Anger and Guilt

If the upset contains both anger and guilt, add on both of these treatments.  In this case, your treatment would consist of the following points:  the original sequence:  eyebrow, under the eye, under the arm, collar bone, little finger, collar bone, index finger, collar bone, 9-gamut sequence, eyebrow, under the eye, under the arm, collar bone, plus the added points:  little finger, collar bone, index finger, collar bone..

Complex Trauma

Sometimes you will find that you have eliminated the upset that you were working on, but another related upset will come to mind. This is because when we treat one layer of an upsetting experience, especially if it is complex, another layer might come up.  If another upset comes to mind, you can easily take care of it by repeating this treatment while thinking about that upset.  At times, earlier upsetting experiences similar to the one you were treating might come to mind that you can then treat.  Sometimes different emotions will come up.  For instance, the first time you do the treatment, the person might feel upset and sad; after the sadness is eliminated, they might feel anger and need to repeat the treatment for the anger, remembering to add on the extra treatment points designed to treat anger.  If this happens, keep doing the treatment on each layer of the upsetting experience, until you have dealt with them all and the person reports being completely free of all upset.

Inertial Delay

In rare cases, there can be a delayed response to the treatment.  This delayed response can occur anywhere from a few minutes after doing the treatment to, in very rare cases, a few days later.  Keep in mind, however, that this type of delay is unusual and what we usually see are immediate, dramatic changes.

Application of the Treatment Approach to People Suffering from the Aftereffects of Cult Involvement

The negative cult experience is essentially a trauma and the typical survivor of a destructive cult presents with the symptoms associated with such trauma.  As mentioned in the earlier literature review, these symptoms can include:  depression, panic attacks, fears, phobias or anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks, guilt, shame or embarrassment, grief and loss, and feelings of anger and/or betrayal.  I have personally seen all of the above symptoms and more in my practice working with people who have been in cults.

TFT has algorithms for all the above symptoms (Callahan & Trubo, in press), the most common of which is the trauma algorithm.  Since there is an identifiable trauma, if algorithms are being used, I would usually recommend doing the trauma algorithm first, unless there is an overriding symptom, such as depression, that would indicate a different algorithm.  If symptoms such as anger and/or guilt are present, then it is best to do the complex trauma algorithm with anger and guilt.  Remember that the trauma algorithm will give the person help, not only for the trauma itself but also sequelae such as nightmares and flashbacks also disappear when the treatment is successful.

Often, former cult members will have triggers that they encounter that bring back the cult experience and can induce a dissociative state cult experts call floating (Hassan, 1988; Singer, 1995) or trigger intense anxiety.  For example, one former cult member I worked with experienced anxiety every time she saw certain numbers and colors that held special significance for her in the cult, making it very difficult for her to function in life.  These triggers can be dealt with by either doing the anxiety or trauma algorithm or if that fails, using TFT diagnosis or VT to identify an individualized treatment sequence.

It is also important to realize that in many cases, a person who has been in a cult has often suffered from years of prolonged abuse and trauma, so there is almost certainly going to be more than one issue to treat.  Therefore, it might be necessary to treat each traumatic event that is bothering the client separately, as well as treating current symptoms the person is experiencing, such as anger, anxiety, and guilt.

Sometimes a person will present with one issue and after that is treated, will become aware of another issue that the person had not been previously aware of, because of the overwhelming presence of the first issue (Callahan & Callahan, 1996).  For instance, a common example of someone in a cult is that they might initially present with feelings of guilt, confusion, or loss of the group.  When these feelings have been resolved and the person is feeling stronger, it is common for the person to then begin to get very angry at the group and its leaders (Goldberg &  Goldberg, 1983).  As the person moves through various stages of recovery, symptoms can be treated with the appropriate algorithm.  A person trained in TFT Diagnosis or Voice Technology can just get the person to think about the issue, give it a SUD rating and diagnose a treatment sequence and doesn’t have to be concerned about which algorithm to use, since the treatment sequences are individualized according to what is diagnosed.

One of the greatest challenges I have encountered in working with this population is that some former cult members tend to equate anything that is new, unusual, and different with the cult they were in, since cults also fit that description and often purport to have “innovative” treatments for problems that no one else can solve.  Consequently, former cult members can tend to be very distrustful of a truly innovative treatment, such as TFT saying that it reminds them of the cult they were in.  Ironically, due to the nature of their trauma, they are resisting the very treatment that can help them to eliminate the aftereffects of their trauma and thus learn to trust.   When I introduce such a person to TFT and they react with distrust and resist doing it, I have found that a very low-key approach is best, rather than in any way pushing or even attempting to subtly persuade them to do it.  I let them know what is available, the results that people have had and that although I respect their wishes and will not bring the subject up with them again, if they ever change their minds, to let me know.  Because of the replicable success of TFT, I am confident that this method will eventually become more accepted by mainstream psychology and thus in the future, this issue will not be a problem.

Case Illustration

Although I am currently trained in the Voice Technology, for the purposes of this presentation, I have chosen to focus on one of the first clients I worked with using algorithms, since this is the level of TFT the reader is most likely to know and be able to utilize.  However, it is important to recognize the levels of TFT that have been described earlier and realize that if the algorithms do not work or hold up over time, that further help is available with a practitioner trained in these higher levels and not to give up.

Jane is a 30-year-old woman who had been a member of an Eastern guru cult for 10 years, from the ages of 18-28.  The cult, while very abusive to its members, discouraged its members from the expression of any emotions and critical thoughts, which members learned to suppress through the misuse of chanting and meditation, as well as sleep and nutritional deprivation.

I spent approximately the first 20 minutes of the session taking a history, getting some basic information about her experience and what some of her issues were.  After 10 years of involvement, Jane left the group on her own after learning of abuse that went on in the group that was so shocking to her, that it over-rode her previous programming enough for her to leave the group.  Because she had not received counseling initially, she spent the first year away from the group in a state of confusion that is typical of people who leave cults.  After about a year, she was fortunate enough to make contact with a support group of former cult members and through that, was able to attend a conference on cults, where she began to learn about the techniques that cults use to control people.

While she found this education to be very helpful in identifying what she had experienced, after two years away from the group, she was still experiencing feelings of intense anger and subsequent guilt about feeling angry.  After years of repressing her feelings that the cult had told her were bad, her anger was coming out uncontrollably in situations that were greatly interfering with her life.  She had, in the past year, been fired from three different jobs because of this loss of control and would afterwards feel great regret and remorse about losing control.  It was also interfering with her relationship with her new boyfriend.  She had tried several forms of traditional talk therapy, as well as relaxation techniques and hypnosis for this problem but had not been helped.

To help her understand what we were going to do, I had her view the Introduction to TFT videotape prior to the session.  Since she had previously been interested in and tried various forms of alternative treatments, she was open to TFT, although she was skeptical about whether or not it could help her with her problem, since other treatments had failed.

Since anger was obviously Jane’s major presenting issue at this time, we treated that first.  We knew that she had trauma connected with this anger, so the algorithm I chose was the trauma algorithm with anger.  To get her to tune the thought field, I asked her to think about a situation that would make her angry and to tell me how angry she feels right at this moment thinking about the situation.  She immediately told me she was at a 9.  I then instructed her to tap 5 times on each treatment point of the trauma with anger algorithm: eyebrow, under the eye, under the arm, collar bone, little finger, collar bone, index finger, collar bone, and asked her for a SUD, which was down 3 points to a 6.  At the time, we were still using affirmations with the anger treatment and at this she commented that this was like hypnosis.  This was an indication to me that she was developing an apex problem, so I asked her if the hypnosis she previously had, had given her any relief for her anger and she acknowledged that it had not and saw my point.

Because the initial majors sequence had dropped her SUD 3 points, we proceeded to the 9 gamut treatments and a repetition of the major’s sequence, which dropped her SUD to a 3.  Because her SUD was continuing to drop, I repeated the entire treatment.  However, after repetition of the treatment,  her SUD was still at a 3, so I did the correction for mini-psychological reversal, by asking her to tap on the side of her hand.  Remember that mini-psychological reversal occurs when the SUD has dropped to a certain level, but remains there, rather than going completely down to a 1.  The main principle to keep in mind here is that whenever there is no change in the SUD, a reversal correction needs to be done and treatment repeated.  If that fails, a more highly trained practitioner of TFT needs to be consulted.   After the mini-psychological reversal treatment, we repeated the entire algorithm, at the end of which, she reported her SUD to be at a 1 and said she felt a great release of a feeling that had been with her for several years.  I asked her if she had ever been able to think of this situation without getting angry and she stated she had not, prior to the treatment.  Making the client aware of this is often helpful in preventing an apex problem for the client who thinks the treatment was just a temporary distraction.  We then did the floor-to-ceiling eye roll to stabilize the treatment.

Although completely free of the anger, Jane was still aware of some guilt around this issue.  She had been taught in her cult that getting angry or displaying any negative emotion was wrong and felt guilty anytime this occurred.  On an intellectual level, she knew that emotions were not good or bad, but she nevertheless still felt guilty.  We then went through the treatment for trauma with guilt, in a manner similar to the above description and got her down to a 1, where she reported she was free of all traces of this guilt.

At the end of our session, I told her that it was very likely that this would take care of the issues we had worked on, but if even a trace of the feelings were to recur, for her to call me immediately and that we could take care of it.  The length of the entire session was 40 minutes, although the actual time for each treatment was approximately 5 minutes.  The rest of the time was spent by her initially telling me about her experience, taking a history, finding out what issues she wished to address, and my giving her information about CT-TFT™ to explain the procedures.

About two weeks later, Jane called me to tell me that she felt great.  She had been in a situation at her new job involving her boss that would have previously provoked an angry outburst, and she was able to remain calm in the face of it and be appropriately assertive in  the situation.  I reminded me that if she has any problem in the future or any other issues she would like to work on, she is always welcome to call.

Now that I do the Voice Technology, my clients can call me anytime they are experiencing a problem rather than having to wait for a weekly session.   I can give them an individualized treatment sequence over the telephone, that will offer them immediate help.  Through VT, I have been able to help people who have not been responsive to the usually effective algorithms or diagnosis.  If the successfully treated problem returns, this is also easy to deal with, by testing with the VT for toxins.  A person trained at the level of Diagnosis can also test for toxins, but must see the client in person in order to do so.  Once identified, having the person stay away from that substance for at least two months will stabilize the results of the treatment if the person has problems with recurrences..
Summary and Conclusion

I hope that the reader can now see why TFT has been called a revolutionary treatment in the field of psychotherapy.  This chapter has dealt specifically with the issue of cults, but we are routinely able to help people with a variety of psychological problems including PTSD from any type of trauma, phobias, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, addictive urges, and a wide variety of other problems.

In conclusion, I would like to add that I do not expect anyone reading this to take my word for it.  I realize that many therapies have come and gone that have made big claims.  What sets TFT apart from the rest of these treatments, however, is that TFT is a treatment that any therapist can take into their office and replicate the very specific predictions made by TFT, for themselves.  I urge the readers to try the algorithm given in this chapter, to observe the laws of TFT at work for yourself and thus experience the tremendous sense of fulfillment that those of us trained in these procedures get when we recognize that we have truly helped someone who has not previously been able to get help from any other source.  We truly owe Dr. Roger Callahan a tremendous debt of gratitude for his remarkable discoveries that, for the first time in the history of psychology,  make help of this calibre possible.

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Volume VI, Issue 3, Article 5 (October, 2000)