Children with Cancer and Energetic Techniques in a Hospital – How It Started

This intense and huge project of working with energetic techniques like EFT and children with cancer in a hospital began when I was invited to participate in a fundraiser for children with cancer. I went to the fundraiser thinking, “Let’s see what happens?” Being open to all possibilities led to a life project that continues to expand and fill my heart with love.

It started with a conversation between the head oncologist and myself about energetic techniques like EFT and the needs of these children beyond the physical treatments they receive. He told me that I tried it at the hospital.

I first showed the nursing staff how to tap because they are in immediate contact with the children every day. I wanted them to personally know what I was going to do so they wouldn’t be surprised by the funny “tappings” and “TappyBear” I would be using. I walked them through a few rounds of tapping on their work stress and we ended up laughing and relaxing. This beautiful connection between myself and these nurses who care so diligently for these children established a foundation of trust. I believe that the connection with the nurses has been “key” to success because they allow me to work freely with the children.

The childhood cancer ward environment consists of a waiting room where up to 25 parents and children await treatment and two hospital wards with 3 or 6 beds.

The first day I walked into the cancer ward, I was overwhelmed. It was as if I had been hit by a wall of sadness, pain, misery and fear, the emotions that children and parents felt. A mother and her son were huddled in a corner. There were about 30 others in the room in a similar state. I felt that their perception was that they were alone, huddled in their own misery. I was deeply saddened by this lonely, isolated and depressing image.

The children and parents who tapped with me began to feel relief on many levels, emotional and physical. Over time, and as more and more children and parents tapped, the atmosphere in the cancer room changed significantly.

Here are some changes I witnessed:

– Four children and their parents laughing together during breakfast. It was so remarkable that even the doctor commented on it.
– On another visit, the children played games, put puzzles together, drew and colored, or played ball and built things with Legos, together or alone. There was laughter and much talk among the children.
– Parents had significantly reduced anxiety, stress and fear, which allowed them to be happy with their children.
– Parents began to talk and share experiences and help each other. One mother explained that before learning EFT she couldn’t help anyone else. She was so engrossed in her own problems with her son’s cancer that she couldn’t even think about what was going on with the other children and the parents, much less help them. After EFT she felt empowered, calm and much more relaxed in the face of her son’s cancer. She now enthusiastically goes out of her way to help children and other parents.
– The nurse’s job is more relaxing and enjoyable because interacting with calm children and accepting them and/or their treatments makes their job easier and less stressful.
– The doctor and nurses observed better compliance in the children, since they did not miss their hospital appointments and took their medications more consistently.

Walking into the cancer ward now is a different experience. The room feels light and comfortable. The ever-present and seriousness of the disease still exists, but the intense fear of it or the inability to manage it is not. Laughter is now frequently heard in the cancer ward. These changes alone have been worth bringing the gift of energy techniques and EFT to the hospital.

See “The Oaxaca Project” to read more about this labor of love.

namaste
Deborah Miller, Ph.D.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *