Emotional Freedom Technique

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

Today’s guest blogger is Rita Witt, Vice President of Clinical Services for Hope House.

Hope House has long been aware that domestic violence victims are at high risk for post-traumatic stress. Our therapy department has consistently pursued treatment approaches and training to best prepare the therapists to assist our clients in addressing the effects of trauma in their lives. 

Therapeutic approaches have always included simple, empowering techniques and information that clients could continue to use on their own after they left Hope House. Among those approaches are some in the field of energy psychology.

Energy psychology is based on the principle that the body, like everything in the universe, is composed of energy which flows through the body by means of a meridian system. While this is a relatively new idea is the Western world, the healing concepts that it's based upon have been in practice in Eastern medicine for over 5,000 years.

Like acupuncture and acupressure, this approach consists of techniques that utilize the body's energy meridian points.  Energy psychology treatments have both a psychological component and a mechanical/energetic component.

One such energy-based approach used at Hope House is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). A fundamental principle of EFT is that all negative emotions are a disruption of the body's energy.

By tapping, or stimulating certain meridian points with the fingertips, literally tapping into the body's own energy and healing power, one can restore balance to the body's energy, and mend the negative emotions and physical symptoms that stem from the energy disruption. 

Because of this simple and empowering effect, Janet Howard, Hope House Substance Abuse counselor, reports her clients have been especially successful in using it to address addiction.

Using this simple method, the client can take her physical and emotional well-being into her own hands. It's simple for anyone to master; it is non-invasive, highly specific, has no side effects, and best of all, it's free.

If you’re interested in learning more about EFT, please visit http://www.garythink.com/eft/.

Does the Economy Cause Domestic Violence?

I have been asked many times in the past months how the economy has affected domestic violence. Does the economy cause domestic violence? What is economic abuse? I thought I would take this opportunity to provide more information about those issues.

Domestic violence is a pattern of controlling behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over his partner. Economic abuse is using economics/money to maintain that power and control.

Examples of how this is done include:

• Controlling finances
• withholding money or credit cards
• ruining credit ratings
• requiring an accounting of money that is spent and punishment if not spent on things the abuser approves
• preventing the partner from working or causing them to lose their job
• withholding necessities such as food, clothing and medication
• stealing from their partner or using their personal identification fraudulently 

Does the bad economy cause domestic violence? The answer is “no”. However, it doesn’t help in situations where there is already abuse present. Economic stresses often lead to more frequent and more violent abuse when domestic violence is already present. It also creates more barriers to a woman’s ability to flee the situation.

• Domestic violence is three times as likely to occur when couples are experiencing high levels of financial strain as when they are experiencing low levels of financial strain.
• Women whose male partners experience two or more periods of unemployment over a 5-year study were almost three times as likely to be victims of intimate violence as were women whose partners were in stable jobs.
• Three out of four domestic violence shelters report an increase in women seeking assistance from abuse since September 2008 (NNEDV, Impact of the economy on domestic violence)

Hope House is one of the shelters that have seen an increase in the numbers of people seeking services. We are seeing the impact of the economy in the length of time people are staying in shelter. People are staying longer, because it’s more difficult to secure employment, get bills paid and access services from other agencies that are at capacity due to their own diminished resources.

We are seeing more people in our outreach programs and have a waiting list that is longer than any time in our history. We turned away more than we served in shelter last fiscal year.

The struggle for Hope House is to find the balance between the increase in the demand for services coupled with decreases in our funding. We are doing more with less but will continue to work to provide the absolute best service for our clients, while we work to increase our resources.

Teen Dating Violence

Our guest blogger this week is one of Hope House's Children's Therapist, Thada Pulliam, MA, LPC, NBCC

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Over the past several years in working at Hope House, I have had the opportunity to make presentations in local high schools on the topic of Teen Dating Violence. During these presentations, teens would often ask questions. Those questions offer some clues as to the on-going issue of teen dating violence, presenting a sad picture of teens today and their understanding of a healthy partner relationship. The following are a few questions they typically ask and my reply.

Q. He only hit me once and promised to never do it again. Can I believe him?
A. Chances are that he will hurt again. If a person used a physical means to release anger onto a person, that is probably a behavior used before and has become a habit.

Q. My boyfriend is under a lot of stress. Is this why he hits me?
A. Stress is not the cause of abuse. It is an excuse, as are other reasons abusers give for their own actions. Everyone is responsible for their own actions and can never blame their actions on someone else.

Q. My boyfriend puts me down a lot, but he never hits me.
A. The teasing and negative remarks can be just as damaging as the physical assaults. He is still controlling through words or looks. If you are feeling embarrassed, hurt, humiliated, or inadequate due to his remarks, this is abuse.

Sometimes a teen (or a concerned parent) will seek a one-on-one session with me to discuss their situation. Melinda* was 17 and was dating Zac*, who was 20. Zac had bruised Melinda’s arms but she related the incident as if it were an accident and said that Zac did not mean to hurt her, but he had become angry with her. Melinda accepted full responsibility for her bruises as if she had inflicted them upon herself.

In subsequent sessions Melinda was able to identify several incidents which would suggest Zac had characteristics of an abusive personality, including controlling all their decisions, expecting sex whenever he wanted it, and refusing to let her spend time with her family or friends. Melinda minimized his behavior by saying that he loved her and that he was frequently in a foul mood due to his family issues.

When Melinda became pregnant, Zac was angry and blamed her. This interaction helped Melinda understand that her love for him was not mutual and that he was not good for her long-term. With the positive support of her parents, Melinda began to see the good in herself and came to believe that she deserved someone better.

If your teen is finding themselves in a similar situation, there are many resources available.

National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline 1-866-331-9474
Hope House Hotline: 816-461-HOPE (4673)
Hope House Website: www.hopehouse.net
Teen websites: www.loveisrespect.org and www.loveisnotabuse.com