Thought Field Therapy and QEEG Changes in the Treatment of Trauma
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Traumatology OnlineFirst, published on November 9, 2008 as doi:10.1177/1534765608325304 Traumatology Volume XX Number X Month XXXX xx-xx © 2008 Sage Publications Thought Field Therapy and QEEG 10.1177/1049909106289074 http://tmt.sagepub.com hosted at Changes in the Treatment of Trauma: http://online.sagepub.com A Case Study John H. Diepold, Jr. and David M. Goldstein As identified by quantitative electroencephalography, treated trauma. This case study supports the concept statistically abnormal brain wave patterns were that trauma-based negative emotions do have a corre- observed when a person thought about a trauma when lated and measurable abnormal energetic effect. In addi- compared with thinking about a neutral (baseline) event. tion, this study objectively identified an immediate Reassessment of brain wave patterns (to the traumatic energetic change after thought field therapy in the direc- memory) immediately after thought field therapy diagno- tion of normalcy and health, which has persisted. sis and treatment revealed that the previous abnormal pattern was altered and was no longer statistically abnormal. Keywords: quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG); An 18-month follow-up indicated that the patient con- trauma; thought field therapy (TFT); traumatic memory; tinued to be free of all emotional upset regarding the negative emotions; energetic changes Introduction Thought Field Therapy Purpose of this Study The psychotherapy approach known as thought field therapy originated in the work of clinical psychologist This study set out to investigate the impact of thought Roger J. Callahan, PhD (1985), who introduced his field therapy (TFT) on the brain wave patterns of a patient findings as the Callahan Techniques more than 20 suffering from severe posttraumatic stress disorder years ago. Callahan’s intriguing conceptualization (PTSD) with unrelenting flashbacks of abuse. The authors about the nature of psychological problems, and the hypothesized that statistically aberrant brain wave patterns rapid alleviation of emotional distress, has increasingly would be evident when thinking about the trauma com- caught the attention of psychotherapists pursuing pared with a nontraumatic event. It was further hypothe- more efficient and effective treatment methods. sized that changes in brain wave patterns would be Thought field therapy can be an extraordinarily immediately discernable as neutralized (without statistical precise psychotherapy that uses instant feedback from abnormality relative to the baseline) after successful treat- the patient’s mind–body–energy system when employ- ment with TFT even while thinking about the abuse. ing muscle testing and the diagnostic component of The authors were also interested in addressing col- TFT. The specifics of the TFT diagnostic and treat- legial concern that there needs to be more evidence to ment procedure used with this case study will be support the effectiveness of TFT and the rapid rate in described in the Methods section under the Procedure which negative emotions are relieved. The present heading. In addition, an appendix is provided that study was intended to provide one step in the direction gives more detailed information about TFT. toward providing an objective basis regarding the effec- The psychological community has often viewed tiveness of TFT in a trauma case involving PTSD. the manual muscle-testing procedure through skepti- cal eyes. The lack of evidence to support the validity, From Moorestown, New Jersey. the reliability, and the proneness of the procedure to This pilot study and article was completed in 2000 and revised manipulation served to justify the skepticism of the in 2001. untrained. However, it was concluded, in a landmark Address correspondence to: John H. Diepold, Jr. PhD, Victoria Medical Arts, East Bldg., 703 E. Main Street, Moorestown, NJ study by Monti, Sinnott, Marchese, Kunkel, and 08057; e-mail: [email protected]. Greeson (1999), that “significant differences were 1 2 Traumatology / Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX found in muscle test responses between congruent aspects of EEG. With QEEG, EEG data are ana- and incongruent semantic stimuli” (p. 1019) in this lyzed by computer software into evaluative proper- carefully controlled and electronically sophisticated ties. As with other medical and psychological tests, research. Use of a dynamometer and specialized QEEG has norms that permit objective delineation computer software permitted this study to control for as to whether a person’s QEEG results fall within or potential examiner bias while acquiring precise infor- outside of the normal range for a particular property. mation about the subject’s muscle response. Statistical patterns of QEEG results, called discrim- Scientific research to better understand the neu- inant functions, have been used in the diagnosis of rophysiological mechanisms and observed effects of closed head injury and in various psychiatric condi- TFT was sparse at the time of this study. Callahan tions. Hughes and John (1999) provide a good sum- (1998) reported that rouleaux, the absence of healthy mary of the clinical work with conventional and face color caused by red blood cell clumping, was quantitative EEG. QEEG has been used to guide completely alleviated in a flu-stricken woman after 8 neurofeedback. The general strategy is to provide min of TFT algorithm1 treatment. The results were neurofeedback training, which will have the impact reported to correlate exactly with her report of dis- of correcting the deviation from normal noted in the tress, facial coloration, and percentage of red blood QEEG evaluation (Thatcher, 1999). cell clumping as verified by microscope analysis. TFT algorithms have also had a marked and positive impact on heart rate variability measurements, when Method pre- and post-TFT treatment results were compared (Callahan, 2001). Heart rate variability technology is Subject thought to yield information about the functioning of The patient is a woman in her 30s. Her parents had the autonomic nervous system by quantifying varia- frequently and severely abused her (physically and tions in the space between heartbeats, and is not sexually) throughout her life. After leaving home, allegedly affected by placebo. It appears that TFT there was abuse from a male student/friend and then enables a normalizing adjustment to take place in the from a husband. She is bright and talented. She is a mind–body–energy system affecting the functioning college graduate and had been able to function ade- of the heart and the autonomic nervous system. quately in the work world until recently. When she began to experience frightening flashbacks of abuse Electroencephalography there was a suicide attempt, which led to a psychi- atric hospitalization and placement on disability. Brain activity has long been revered in science as She was being seen in individual psychotherapy two holding keys to understanding human behavior and times a week by the second author and took med- experience. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a ications for anxiety and depression (Klonopin, 1 mg; method of measuring voltages on the scalp, which Synthroid, 1 mg; Neurontin, 800 mg bid; Inderal reflect brain activity. However, the exact meaning of LA, 80 mg; Effexor, 37.5 mg; Flonase, 2 puffs). At the voltages, and how voltage originates in the brain, the time of this study, the diagnosis of dissociative remains speculative. The primary medical use for identity disorder was suspected but not confirmed. EEG involves the study of human sleep cycles and to assist in the diagnosis of seizure disorders. A major Research Design drawback of EEG is that it does not precisely local- ize those parts of the brain that are having problems. The research design can be described as using six Other brain imaging techniques (e.g., positron-emis- conditions: A1, A2, B3, C4, A5, and B6. The initial sion tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) conditions, A1 and A2, were used as a measure of are better in this respect. However, the major advan- test–retest reliability using the QEEG methodology. tage of EEG is that it is noninvasive, inexpensive, With both A1 and A2, the patient was asked to clear and more readily available than the other brain her mind and think about neutral thoughts or mem- imaging techniques. ories while QEEG data were collected for 5 min The potential of EEG to help in diagnosis and while her eyes were closed for each of these two sep- treatment has been enhanced by the advent of arate conditions. Both A1 and A2 served as pretreat- QEEG procedures. The Q stands for quantitative ment baseline measures. TFT and QEEG Changes in the Treatment of Trauma / Diepold, Goldstein 3 A third pretreatment measure was Condition meridian alarm points without the need for physical B3. This was a measure of brain wave activity while contact beyond the wrist (while manual muscle testing actively thinking about her traumatic, distressing the arm [deltoid] as done in applied kinesiology). As memory involving 5 min of QEEG data collection. each acupuncture meridian was diagnosed, treatments Again, her eyes were closed, and she stayed as immediately followed by having the subject gently tap motionless as possible. In addition, verbal reports five to seven times on the designated meridian treat- and observational data were recorded. ment points. All acupoints were treated bilaterally On completion of the three pretreatment meas- (either simultaneously or in sequence) as there was ures described above, the TFT treatment