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The Value of EFT Homework

By Dr. Patricia Carrington

 Gary Craig's Introduction:

Dr. Patricia Carrington, an EFT Master, brings us an important case illustrating (1) the use of EFT homework and (2) the importance of meeting the clients where they are.

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There is a saying in social agencies which goes, “Always meet the client where they are.” I remember my first clinical supervisor telling me about that.  It translates roughly into the concept that as therapists we should never force our own ideas on the client or expect them to want for themselves what we want for them – we are to meet them where THEY are. The following case of Victor illustrates the wisdom of "meeting the client where they are" as well as the effective use of doing "EFT homework" between sessions.

Victor's persistent use of EFT homework between therapy sessions was admirable.  It was due to his diligence in whittling away at each and every detail of his troubling phobia that aided in his completely clearing the problem.

This huge strapping young man had been referred to me by his student counseling center at the Ivy League college where he was a senior and important member (a former one as it turned out) of the university’s football team.  The counseling center had tried all the standard behavioral and psychodynamic approaches with Victor with no success.  The chief psychologist there knew me and knew that I was always trying “new approaches” so he sent him to me.  No-one could think of anything else to do.

When Victor came to see me he was so agitated he could barely remain seated on a chair while telling me his story.  He kept jumping up and pacing back and forth and then sitting down again.  His face was red.  He was breathless.  He talked so rapidly that I had to listen with the greatest attention to catch everything he said.  Later I was to discover that some of this “hyper” behavior was just the way Victor was. By nature he is an intensely active person, ambitious, and driving.

However, his normal level of intensity was greatly exaggerated by his distress at finding himself -- a sturdy fellow who had thought he could conquer all obstacles - terrified to the point of trembling and almost fainting when he had to drive (or even when he was driven) through tunnels, or found himself in any enclosed space such as a plane cabin.  He had never before in his life had any irrational fears but had always been daring and plucky.

The origin of Victor’s problem was clear, but up until now it had proven impossible to clear up.  Several months previously he had sustained a severe shoulder injury during football which had disqualified him from the team and for which he had to obtain extensive medical treatment for several months.  In the course of this his doctor had ordered an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.

When Victor entered the MRI apparatus -- a narrow tunnel-like device in which one lies confined, while being mechanically moved slowly through the tunnel -- he literally had to be squeezed into it in order for his broad torso to fit into the space.  As he moved through the tunnel on his back the apparatus suddenly came to a halt and it wouldn't open no matter how forcefully the staff tried.  In his words, “I was stuck in the damned thing and they couldn’t get me out!  They couldn’t get me out!”

Terrified by the fact that he couldn’t move, Victor had marshaled a massive effort, and using all his considerable strength (while yelling at them to “Do something!”) he somehow managed to kick and twist and push hard enough to break the apparatus and crawl out.

He didn’t sustain any bodily injury from this event, but was so shaken by it that since that time he had not been able to approach a tunnel of any sort (no matter how small) or allow himself to be confined in any small space without panicking.  No application of systematic desensitization, or any other therapy technique, had been able to diminish this terror.

Victor was now at a point where he felt despair about ever finding a solution, but when I told him (as I regularly do in such cases) that we now have “new techniques for dealing with traumas like this that are ‘state of the art’ and able to accomplish things that former methods couldn’t handle at all,”  and that this method has been used successfully on “Viet Nam veterans who had flashbacks for 25 years that nothing else could handle,” a look of determination crossed his face. I knew he was going to put everything he had into clearing up this problem.  His drive to help himself was tremendous, just as it had been when he broke the MRI apparatus to free himself.

Victor’s cure was not a One Minute Wonder.  It took us over two and a half months biweekly therapy sessions, and later weekly sessions, for him to arrive at the point where he could go about his life without fear.  Apparently the trauma was deeply embedded, perhaps within a context of other long forgotten past traumas.  But we never found about this possibility because Victor wasn’t AT ALL interested in delving into the past or in delving at all, for that matter.  His approach was direct, practical and to the point.  “Let’s do what we have to do and get this over with” was his philosophy.  The words of my supervisor rung in my ears – “Meet the client where they are.” That’s the way we went.

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