Driven by her passionate desire to serve, psychologist Connie
Louie-Handelman joined the US Army at the age of 56. Disturbed by the
high rates of PTSD and suicide among warriors, she wanted to make a
difference. After training, she was deployed at a forward operating base
in the hot and dusty plains of Kandahar, Afghanistan. There she found
soldiers fighting more than the enemies they encountered in the
battlefield.
The casualty rate from invisible enemies like anxiety, depression, low
self-esteem, and fear was high. When improvised explosive devices killed
or wounded warriors near the base, she would journey outside the wire to
units that were under attack. Besides their shattering experiences on
the battlefield, many warriors were also locked in domestic tragedies,
with spouses having affairs or wanting divorces, or children going
astray. Connie and her fellow mental health professionals faced enormous
obstacles as they treated their patients. Basic supplies were scarce and
they worked out of tiny spaces where privacy was impossible.
Many warriors were rotating through different duty stations and Connie
often had only one session to help them before they moved on. Besides
her conventional psychological training, Connie had a secret weapon for
treating trauma. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) combines elements of
cognitive therapy with acupressure, in the form of fingertip tapping on
acupuncture points. She describes how she used EFT to treat PTSD, anger,
insomnia, depression, and stress.
Many of her patients calmed down within a few minutes of tapping and
were able to make substantial progress, often in just a single session.
They learned EFT quickly and many referred their buddies. In this lucid
and compelling account, she shares the knowledge she gained while
treating 199 warriors over a total of 574 sessions. She went on to
become a passionate advocate for EFT as well as work for the Veterans
Administration.
