Earthquake and Tsunami Unleash A Childhood Memory

D, an American, was having a great deal of emotional reaction to the multiple tragedies unfolding in Japan. He recognized that his reaction to this disaster seemed to be more acute than to other similar situations. For example, it hit him harder than the news from the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

We mused on reasons why this might be the case, but none of them seemed to account for the deep level of identification D seemed to be feeling with the disaster victims, especially in the early days of the nuclear reactor crisis.

We tapped on the disaster together, including how the people of Japan might be feeling: the devastation, fear, and helplessness. He stated his belief that we all live with an illusion of control of the world around us, which a natural disaster challenges, and we worked on that. Although these produced energy shifts, they did not seem to reach the source of his anxiety.

About a week after the tsunami he told me that while virtual tapping in his mind at 2 AM, unable to sleep from worrying about the Japanese, he’d had a crucial insight.

D’s father was a career Air Force officer, commanding base hospitals across the country. During the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis, when D was seven, his family was living on a SAC (Strategic Air Command) base, with 12 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile sites nearby. As America came to the brink of what it assumed would be nuclear war, these nuclear warheads were made operational.

As the crisis intensified, the families on the base were prepared for evacuation. Although thankfully the crisis was over before D’s family had to leave, his memory was of the anxiety of those days, and the fear that he and his family would have to leave his father behind to face a nuclear attack.

This particular incident wasn’t one of those ‘top of mind’ stories of emotional turmoil that we tend to carry and recount frequently. The disaster in Japan, and in particular the danger from the reactors, had shaken loose an old and buried memory for him.

Insights

This incident illustrated two effects of EFT, and also gave us insight into the world of childhood.

It demonstrates how EFT works underground, or in the background, to keep opening up the areas of blocked energy in our mind and memory banks. If we keep using it, the insights will come.

Additionally, it is a wonderful testimonial to how we can mentally visualize a tapping round, with the same benefits as physically tapping on ourselves.

And it reminds us that adults frequently underestimate the sensitivity of children to the events unfolding in their lives, and overestimate their resiliency. Although children may seem to shake off crises quickly, they bear the scars—sometimes unknown or unacknowledged. In EFT we have a tool to use with and teach our kids, rather than assuming or hoping that the storms of life will pass over and leave them unscathed.

Ange Dickson Finn is an EFT International Accredited Certified EFT Advanced Practitioner. She is based in Houston, Texas, USA, and works with clients over the phone and via Skype. Ange has helped clients with issues including physical pain, health and well-being, work-related stress, equestrian sports and relationships. Visit her on the web at www.TapIntoYourself.com or www.RideWithoutFear.com.

From the EFTfree Archives, which are now a part of EFT International .
Originally published on March 18, 2011.