Some vets exploring Chinese healing for PTSD

While it is easier to understand PTSD is not one size fits all when it comes to different levels of it, or "level of cuts" I often discuss, the treatment is not one size fits all either. Different medications work differently person to person. Doctors understand this and if a medication is not working, they try something else. It is the same with therapy. There needs to be a wide variety of treatments to use just as there are a wide variety of medications. If something is not working for you, talk to your doctor and your therapist so that they can try something else. Mention this and see if they think it could be right for you.

Some vets exploring Chinese healing

By Carol Ann Alaimo - Arizona Daily Star via The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 1, 2008 7:17:25 EST

TUCSON, Ariz. — Can ancient Chinese healing rites help Iraq war veterans cope with combat trauma?

A Tucson-area therapist believes they can, and is offering free treatments for local Iraq vets to test an approach that involves tapping on the acupuncture points used in Chinese medicine.

The Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, relatively little known and not widely embraced in traditional therapy circles, has been used to successfully treat crime victims, disaster responders and witnesses to the World Trade Center attacks, according to recent articles in psychology and traumatology journals.

It also is being used to treat troops for combat stress at a handful of veterans’ hospitals around the country, though not in Tucson.

Mary Stafford of Oro Valley is one of a dozen or so therapists nationwide taking part in a clinical trial of the method to assess its effectiveness on returning veterans.

Stafford, who has used the technique for a decade, is approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors to teach it to other therapists.

“This is a counselor’s dream because of how quickly it works and how much you can help people,” Stafford said.

She and other practitioners say the technique takes the sting out of trauma memories, in some cases after years of traditional therapy could not.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_chinesemedicine_120108/