Staying in Control
Things that seem totally out of your control are, unbelievably, still under your control in a major way. There are ways that you can structure a situation in your mind (“reframe it”) so that it becomes quite comfortable and you will be the one determining your reaction to it.
Remember that you are the one who is in control of your perceptions at all times.
You need not pick up the seeming energy of adverse reactions and make them a disadvantage for you. You can actually do the opposite. What an amount of power that is!
You make powerful choices all day long and don’t even realize it, but if you recognize them and take control of your choices, you can, in turn, acquire amazing control over your life.
By doing so, you will feel the power of making perspective altering choices not only when you are experiencing adverse circumstances, but during many other situations.
As you probably know, post-hospital care typically follows a debilitating physical injury, illness, or condition. While the therapy given during rehabilitation strives to strengthen the body, as well as teach measures to prevent further injuries, the mind can sometimes wreak havoc on one’s outlook for the future. This can be especially true when life after rehab ultimately becomes much different than life was before rehab.
In such cases, a future after rehabilitation can be full of uncertainties. There may be ongoing physical challenges, pain, feelings of fear, frustration, diminished self-esteem, and even hopelessness.
No matter the scenario, know that you can remain in control to overcome the hindrances and live a fulfilling life. It all comes down, again, to your determined “Choices.” In fact, it is during the most challenging times that the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) can make a profound difference.
Continuing research shows that veterans suffering with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) are using the classic form of EFT with amazing results. The EFT Choices Method expounds upon the classic version to give you more flexibility for choosing your choices that you consider to fit your unique situation.
EFT Tapping Exercise for Trauma
(Excerpted from Clearing Everyday Traumas and adapted for this article.)
Begin on the Karate Chop Spot. As you may know, when using the Karate Chop Spot in EFT, you repeat the entire sentence three times and you can change it up for your purposes.
Karate Chop Spot: Even though I see this disaster as actually going to happen . . .
. . . I choose to see the other possibilities as well.
Still again on the Karate Chop Spot: Even though I’d be a fool to hope here . . .
. . . I choose to see other possibilities as well.
Still on the Karate Chop Spot: Even though I see no way out of this . . .
. . . I choose to see other possibilities . . . no matter how remote they may seem.
Inner Eyebrow: This terrible thing that could happen is a real possibility.
Outer Eye: It really is possible.
Under Eye: I never dreamed that this could possibly happen to me.
Under Nose: I now admit that it could happen to me.
Under Mouth: I can no longer pretend that it can’t.
Collarbone: This terrible thing is a real possibility.
Under Arm: I see that it could happen.
Top of Head: I feel as though it were happening now.
Now, take a deep breath, an easy breath, and just let the negatives that you have been tapping on float away with your out breath. Know that it’s there. Know that you’re facing it, which is very healthy. Let it go. You will now do some more tapping, but this time it will be the positive choices phrases.
Inner Eyebrow: I choose to see a positive resolution . . .
. . . no matter how remote it seems.
Outer Eye: I choose to see a positive outcome as a real possibility . . .
. . . no matter how unlikely that seems to be.
Under Eye: I choose to know that nothing is ever carved in stone the way it seems to be.
Under Nose: I choose to see this whole situation . . .
. . . as though I were an eagle soaring high above the earth looking through the eagle’s eyes, seeing my life and future from a great distance.
Under Mouth: I choose to see way below . . .
. . . two diverging paths in front of me.
One is the disaster path.
It looks terrifying.
The other is the solution path.
It is amazingly comforting.
The solution path shows new ways of doing things.
The disaster path looks familiar, sounds familiar, and feels familiar.
The solution path is unfamiliar and is unexpected.
From my vantage point of the eagle soaring above the earth . . .
. . . I can see the disaster path and the solution path.
Collarbone: I choose to see the solution path cast its (heavenly) light upon the disaster path.
I see the disaster path as no longer solid . . .
I see the disaster path as broken up by shafts of light.
The light is from the solution path.
They are little ways of helping me.
They are little ways in which others will help me.
They are little ways in which I will be able to continue my life . . . and find joy and peace in it no matter what.
Top of Head: I choose to see the disaster path . . .
. . . as no longer being just darkness and annihilation.
The solution path will have its moments of danger and challenge.
The disaster path will have its moments of beauty and peace.
These two possibilities are not strangers to each other.
I choose to soar way up in the sky . . .
. . . seeing it all from the eagle’s perspective.
Now, take another easy breath and just let these thoughts, these choices, this different perspective begin to settle in. It’s always a good idea in EFT to sometimes pause and let what is going on sink in. Now you can continue.
Inner eyebrow: I choose to see the disaster path broken up into a thousand little steps, not as a slippery cliff sliding me helplessly downward.
Outer Eye: Now I can respond with hope . . .
. . . not with irrational hope . . .
. . . not with unrealistic hope . . .
. . . but with realistic hope.
Under Eye: My hope is in the tendency of life to turn around when least expected.
Under Nose: I choose to remember the many turnarounds in my own life… last-minute turnarounds . . .
. . . last-minute reprieves.
Under Mouth: I choose to thank life for its unexpected turnarounds.
Collarbone: I choose to think of the thousands and thousands of turnarounds that I have witnessed . . .
Under Arm: I choose to notice the turnarounds that happen every single day.
Top of Head: I choose to ride the wave of my inner strength and inspiration.
Nothing equals that…
Now take an easy breath. Again, let it sink in and absorb it.
I hope this will help you through your journey to recovery!
(A compiled, expanded, and edited version of Dr. Carrington’s written experiences during her first visit to rehab, by Lynn M. Johnson)
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