By Dr. Patricia Carrington
Jan Scholtes worked in the Physiotherapy Department of a hospital in Holland where “Hans” (not his real name) was an outpatient who long suffered from severely impaired blood circulation in his legs. When he was referred to the department by his surgeon, he had already undergone five bypass operations in a futile attempt to correct this situation and was experiencing continuous excruciating pain in his left leg. At a loss for any other solution, his surgeon advised him to have his left leg amputated.
-Not ready to agree to an amputation, Hans was then sent to the Physiotherapy Department for training which could conceivably stimulate re-vascularization. However, the several months of training were unsuccessful. He still had to leave his bed four times each night because of unbearable pain. At that time, his leg would feel “cold and stiff like a clump.” He walked with two crutches and could hardly put any weight or pressure on his foot at any time.
While working with Hans, Jan found that the most helpful thing for Hans was to allow him to talk about his situation. The theory was that if he talked long enough he would eventually make up his mind to have the needed amputation.
Then, this situation changed sharply because Jan heard of EFT for the first time. Interestingly, one of the very first newsletters he received from Gary Craig, founder of EFT, was one that contained an account by a practitioner on the use of EFT for blood clumping, a condition called Rouleaux.
When Jan read how EFT could affect the blood, he immediately thought of Hans and decided to try EFT with him. He didn’t expect this to be easy to do since Hans was, in his words, a “real strait car mechanic.” In fact, Hans did react with some initial resistance when Jan proposed that he do this strange thing that he never seen or heard of before. However, because he had been working well with Jan, Hans’ decision was, “Anything you want to do is OK, so long as I get out of the pain — so what do you want me to do?”
After a short explanation which Hans couldn’t really comprehend, they started tapping. Despite Hans’ lack of understanding of just what was involved, he obviously trusted Jan and said, “Let’s start and see what happens.”
They started by using words such as the following:
“Even though my leg is painful and cold as ice…”
“Even though my blood vessels don’t transport enough oxygen to my left foot, I ask my remaining blood to do its best and bring oxygen to my left foot.”
“Even though my remaining blood vessels are in a bad condition, I want them to repair and bring life to my left foot, etc.”
Directly following his first treatment Hans felt less stiffness in his left foot and this was enough to give him confidence in the technique. Jan then explained to him what he could do for homework. He kept it simple for him and made up a set-up sentence which went something like, “Even though my blood circulation is in a very bad condition, I deeply and completely accept myself and I ask my blood to help me to get as much blood in my left leg as possible.”
Two days later he returned. He had been doing his homework regularly and reported that he now felt even more change in his left foot; there were less cramps, and the stiffness had begun to change. He reported that he had been doing EFT in secret in his bedroom because, he said, he didn’t want his wife to think that he also had a circulation problem in his brain!
After several weeks of EFT Hans could bear more weight and stand longer on his foot and was sleeping the whole night through. After he would do his fitness training, when the cramps in his leg would typically begin, he would use EFT, and in a minute or two the cramps would disappear and he could continue his exercise. This made it possible for him to do more intensive physical training than before which in turn built up the condition of his muscles which was very poor. His left leg was like a thin stick because it had hardly been used for years.
With the use of EFT and the intensified exercise as the result of the changes in his legs, his condition began to improve, slowly but surely.
Eventually, Hans hardly used any pain medication and was only taking 25% of the amount of the medicine that was designed to prevent coagulation of his blood. He was able to work in his garden, as long as he sat down to rest once in a while during that task. He only used his crutches when he walked long distances. He told Jan that he could play some football by “shooting the ball to another person.” (His friends started letting him join in a portion of their games). He also slept the whole night through without any pain and his foot felt “nice and warm” all day.
Measurements of his circulation showed definite improvement, and his surgeon, who saw him several times a year, was astonished and no longer recommended amputation. Jan had not told the surgeon that he was using EFT with Hans though because “he was a ‘real man of science” and Jan was afraid he might disapprove.
As Jan continued to work with Hans, from time to time they changed the setup phrase for his EFT. Some of the phrases they used are:
“Even though my blood circulation still is not as good as I want, I forgive myself for everything that I may have contributed to bringing about this situation.” Or,
“Even though my handicapped blood circulation still is not 100%, I ask my blood cells to transport as much oxygen as they can.”
The outcome in terms of full rehabilitation of such badly damaged tissues is obviously uncertain; Hans’s left leg was what Jan referred to as a “scar field” after so many operations. Nevertheless, Jan reported that Hans’ muscles continued to become stronger, and neither he nor Jan were giving up on future improvements. Persistence is the word, and clearly they both had it!
Aside from my admiration at the way Jan handled that treatment, I would like to point out the interesting use, on several occasions as reported here, of the word “ask” in the EFT affirmation (the last portion of the EFT set-up phrase.) The word “ask” expresses an unusual respect for the processes of the body, for its own agenda. I think it a lovely variation of a positive affirmation such as that used in the EFT Choices method, and I have experimented with its usefulness for physical symptoms. Intuitively, I think it is a wording that contains much wisdom.
I also find it noteworthy that Jan directed Hans to be precise and super-clear when referring to the bodily condition he wanted to have corrected, as well as to the new state he wanted to bring about. This is something which Jan was undoubtedly trained to do as a physiotherapist, but it is also the path which the practitioner followed when she successful directed her blood. Specificity it is apparently the “name of the game” here, and accounts such as this attest to its great effectiveness and potential.
EFT Master, Patricia Carrington, Ph.D.
