introduction to an overlooked mineral

FAST

USING EFT TO COMBAT STRESS AND TRAUMA IN THE Healthcare Sector

Wendy Power Stoten shares her plans for FAST, an organisation which provides free EFT treatment for health professionals suffering from the stresses of the pandemic…

MY first career was as a business skills and language trainer, with frequent travel. When I married, moved to Cornwall and had a baby, that job didn’t fit any more. A visiting friend from London told me of this amazing therapy called EFT. An hour later EFT was mentioned on the radio and the next day, I picked up a magazine and EFT was there again. I always act on threes, so the rest is history.

When the pandemic started, I became aware of the huge amount of stress and trauma being experienced by frontline healthcare workers and formed FAST – Frontline Assistance for Stress and Trauma. We now have over thirty EFT practitioners involved, mainly in the UK, but also in Dubai and New Zealand. The initial challenge was responding to an overwhelming need as quickly as possible, whilst making sure we developed and put in place the best, most effective way of delivery. Luckily, I have a wonderful friend whose technical and computer skills were invaluable in setting up a solid and secure structure. Attracting a team of advanced EFT practitioners was the easiest part. So many were wanting an opportunity to help in the best way they could and make a difference. They are a truly wonderful team and I’m so grateful to each and every one. In February, FAST became a Community Interest Company, thanks to help from our amazing team members, Mark Bristow and Gill Crane. FAST is run on an entirely voluntary basis, funded only by donations, and anyone asking for help is put in touch with a practitioner within 24 hours.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), also known as Tapping, is a holistic therapy involving fingertip tapping on acupuncture points on the body. Scientific research has shown this can significantly reduce the stress hormone cortisol.

One of the greatest benefits of EFT is that effective results can be equally achieved on line as face to face. Perhaps the biggest plus is the speed with which clients learn EFT as a self-help tool. They realise they can dial down stress and anxieties by tapping with their own fingertips.

Although it may feel that the pandemic is starting to recede, healthcare and emergency workers are left badly traumatised. We are finding that frontline staff are facing layer upon layer of stress. The trauma is off the scale. We’re looking at an epidemic of PTSD, with mental health problems linked to their COVID experiences lasting many years. As an organisation, now twelve months old, we feel that our real work is only just beginning.

“In early April 2020 I helped a nurse struggling with COVID stress. I realised that EFT could be enormously helpful for anyone on the COVID frontline because it is simple to learn and highly effective. I got flooded with requests for help, so I quickly started a pilot project, FAST, creating a network of practitioners experienced in working with trauma, offering 4 free online sessions to any health or emergency worker who needed them.

NHS mental health services are so overstretched at the moment, with long waits for an appointment. We have had 100% positive feedback from everyone we placed with a practitioner.

One of the first people to be helped by FAST was Nikki Brown, a theatre nurse in Cornwall, who felt overwhelmed with fear as the pandemic developed. “As a nurse already living with anxiety issues, working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has proved challenging,” said Nikki. “I got help from a FAST practitioner, and her support and training during the first lockdown was vital in enabling me to be proactive in taking control of my feelings when needed. EFT tapping really worked for me. Eleven months down the line now and I am still finding it an invaluable tool. I can’t recommend it or the FAST team enough.”

Practitioners around the country have given their services for free, among them Ginny Cunningham, based in Conwy, Wales. “The level of trauma that we are seeing is shocking. These healthcare workers are at the end of their tether, they are desperate and running on empty. And they are just so incredibly grateful for the help that EFT can offer. Some of them come to us so traumatised they can hardly speak. By gently tapping with them we can start releasing those traumas straight away. We help them to take back some control, so they feel they can cope again, enough to go back to work. It is surprising how quickly they can start to feel better.” We hope that FAST can offer extended sessions for those with PTSD. If left untreated, PTSD usually gets worse, impacting that person and those around them emotionally, physically and often financially. It is vital that FAST now becomes a sustainable, long-term community interest initiative, and we are looking for benefactors and sponsors to help us go forward.

EFT International, the professional body for the practice of EFT, is in full support of FAST. Chairperson Jacqui Footman, commented, “The emerging evidence base for the use of EFT in the treatment of PTSD shows huge promise. Our organisation is working in the UK as a stakeholder for the NG116 PTSD Guideline with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which has found EFT to be clinically effective and cost-effective for PTSD and has requested more scientific research. EFT has already been shown to be helpful for war veterans suffering from PTSD. In addition to the randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses considered by NICE, there is also plenty of anecdotal and practitioner-based evidence to support EFT’s use as a first line of treatment for trauma. In these difficult times, as so many frontline workers face growing trauma, we are keen to help spread the message that tapping can help anyone who may be struggling with stress.”

What’s next for FAST?

A year in and we are realising this is just the start. It’s clear that COVID brings a massive PTSD fallout. This is often complex and ongoing because people are still in the jobs that triggered the traumatic experience. We need to extend our offer from four free sessions to more where PTSD symptoms are involved.

With our successful, recorded and proven track record, and as a newly formed CIC, we are hoping to attract benefactors and sponsors who appreciate the voluntary service we have all given to date, and want to help us make FAST sustainable. Monetising FAST will allow us to fulfil our wish to continue to offer four free sessions to those healthcare workers who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access such support, such as care home workers.

It is FAST’s ultimate mission to raise awareness, acknowledgement, acceptance and use of EFT as one of the most effective tools to solve the UK’s mental health crisis that was already in existence but has grown exponentially due to the pandemic. n

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For further information, please visit

www.fasttraumasupport.org.uk.