Energy therapy yields promising results for American combat veterans

by Contributing Writer Lisa Stormes Hawker

With American soldiers fighting wars on two fronts subjected to extended and repeated tours of duty, it’s no wonder that so many return with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Psychotherapy has been traditionally utilized to treat this disorder in vets and disaster survivors. Success rates vary widely, but one treatment that is showing promise in treating PTSD is energy therapy.

One effective energy therapy technique has the patient think about a stress trigger or traumatic memory while the therapist simultaneously taps acupuncture points. The theory is that the procedure sends signals to the brain that counteract the stress response.

A paper presented at an American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine Conference documented that 19 combat veterans treated had their symptoms of PTSD dramatically reduced after six hour-long sessions using the method, and that 16 of those no longer scored within the PTSD range at all. The scores of members of a control group who received no treatment remained unchanged.

Conventional treatments, in comparison, did not fare as well. Cognitive Behavior Therapy, for instance, had only a 50% success rate with PTSD after twelve sessions, which is considered by therapeutic standards a highly favorable response.

A separate study, conducted in 2009 by Diepold and Goldstein, also determined that energy therapy shows promise as a treatment for PTSD:

“This study examined a group of veterans with PTSD and their family members, and after five days of daily treatment with energy therapy, the group no longer scored positive on standard military measures of PTSD. A one-year follow-up found that the group had maintained their gains. In addition, energy therapy treatment resulted in significant improvements in other co-occurring measures of psychological distress, including anxiety and hostility. The breadth and severity of psychological problems also decreased significantly, with gains maintained at follow-up.

“The study concluded that although the 5-day intensive treatment delivery protocol used in this study involves a considerable commitment of resources, the alternatives are more costly. The medical and economic costs to society of PTSD sufferers, who would otherwise face many additional years of impaired functioning, are substantial. Energy therapy merits consideration as a treatment for PTSD and co-morbid conditions in veterans and other at-risk populations.”

Can’t wait to see you again! Since we spoke in January I have been completely well, with no symptoms of PTSD whatsoever. The very next day after we spoke I was having eye surgery and they were reviewing my medical history. I found myself literally unable to say that I had PTSD. My throat closed up around the words and the only way I could explain it was to put it in the past tense. I knew that very day that I really was free of that horrible condition. So many miracles have happened since I attended the training in February of 2009, but since we spoke in January it’s been even better! I’m helping people left and right, my family is doing so well, and business is booming, yay! So many skeptics in my life are now believers. I am completely devoted to this work. It is such a tremendous blessing and I’m forever grateful! Because of I am not only free of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, but I’m also back at church every Sunday, and finally doing what I’ve always wanted to do with my life, helping and healing other people!