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By Dr. Mercola

A Canadian judge has ruled that a teenage boy murdered his friend because of the effects of Prozac.

The ruling will not be appealed.

The decision has revived the debate regarding the widespread prescription of antidepressants to young people.

Justice Robert Heinrichs ruled that the 15-year-old boy was under the influence of the medication when he stabbed and killed a close friend.

He was sentenced to 10 months on top of the two years he had already spent in jail.

“Prozac is meant to curb the effects of depression, but Justice Heinrich concluded it set off a steady deterioration in the young murderer’s behavior,” CCHR¹ reports.

“He had become irritable, restless, agitated, aggressive and unclear in his thinking,” the judge said.

“It was while in that state he overreacted in an impulsive, explosive and violent way. Now that his body and mind are free and clear of any effects of Prozac, he is simply not the same youth in behavior or character.”

Should Antidepressants Carry Black Box Warning for Homicidal Tendencies?

In 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided SSRI antidepressants must carry a black box warning that the drug can cause suicidal tendencies. But what about violence and homicidal tendencies? Despite mounting evidence that antidepressants and certain other drugs can induce violent behavior and has led to the tragic death of spouses, family members and friends, the FDA has done nothing to warn or curb the use of such drugs.

According to CCHR²:

“It is well documented that psychiatric drugs, particularly antidepressants, can cause a host of violent side effects including mania, psychosis, aggression, violence, and in the case of the antidepressant Effexor, homicidal ideation … [P]eople with no prior history of violence (or suicide) became homicidal and suicidal under the influence of antidepressants. … However, despite all the documented violence-inducing side effects of these drugs, the FDA has never issued black box warnings on antidepressants causing violence or homicide despite the fact that at least 11 recent school shootings were committed by kids documented to be on or in withdrawal from psychiatric drugs.”

The expert testimony in this case was supplied by Dr. Peter Breggin, an outspoken critic of psychiatric drugs. The featured article quotes him as saying:

“These drugs produce a stimulant or activation continuum… That continuum includes aggression, hostility, loss of impulse control … all of which are a prescription for violence.”

Other still feel the link between antidepressants and homicide is thin, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s just because they’re refusing to look at the evidence and give it the attention it deserves. The CCHR website includes a helpful search feature³, allowing you to search for all sorts of reports and research relating to psychiatric drugs and their side effects. It took 13 years before the FDA finally agreed SSRI’s can cause suicidal thoughts and behavior. How many decades-worth of evidence will have to mount up before the apparent link to uncontrolled violence and homicide is addressed?

Your Genes May Predispose You to Homicidal Side Effects of Antidepressants

Interestingly, in related news, a 2011 study published in Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine⁴ has found that certain genes may predispose you to homicidal behavior following exposure to antidepressants. Both sudden withdrawal from antidepressants and continuing to take them was found to worsen the problem. According to the study’s authors:

“… The results presented here concerning a sample of persons given antidepressants for psychosocial distress demonstrate the extent to which the psychopharmacology industry has expanded its influence beyond its ability to cure.

… [T]he Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (Star *D) study … found that antidepressants were only marginally (2.7%) more efficacious compared with placebos. The same meta-analyses documented profound publication bias, inflating their apparent efficacy as well as bias in failing to report the negative results … The authors argue for a reappraisal of the current recommended standard of care of depression.” [Emphasis mine]

What they discovered is that many people being treated with antidepressants can’t metabolize them due to common genetic mutations, which can cause severe drug interactions and akathisia (a movement disorder characterized by a feeling of inner restlessness). Some researchers and physicians believe that akathisia is the chief symptom that triggers impulsive violence in certain individuals who take antidepressant drugs. This is thought to be an extreme form of akathisia. Homicidal impulses and murderous behavior due to akathisia is now being called “homicidal akathisia.”

Forensic psychiatrist and lead author of the study, Dr. Yolande Lucire, is now campaigning to introduce ways of minimizing over-prescription of antidepressants by taking genetics into account. Of 129 subjects, more than 120 of them were diagnosed with akathisia/serotonin toxicity caused by psychiatric medications. The authors further explain:

“They were tested for variant alleles in CYP450 genes, which play a major role in Phase 1 metabolism of all antidepressant and many other medications. Eight had committed homicide and many more became extremely violent while on antidepressants. … All those described [in the paper] were able to stop taking antidepressants and return to their previously normal personalities.”

Antidepressants Top List of Most Violence-Inducing Drugs

It’s certainly worth paying heed to drug interactions such as violence and homicidal leanings, both as a patient and as a concerned parent, family member or friend. According to a 2010 study published in the journal PLoS One⁵, half of the top 10 drugs disproportionately linked with violent behavior are antidepressants:

1. Varenicline (Chantix): The number one violence-inducing drug on the list, this anti-smoking medication is 18 times more likely to be linked with violence when compared to other drugs
2. Fluoxetine (Prozac): This drug was the first well-known SSRI antidepressant
3. Paroxetine (Paxil): Another SSRI antidepressant, Paxil is also linked with severe withdrawal symptoms and a risk of birth defects
4. Amphetamines: (Various): Used to treat ADHD
5. Mefoquine (Lariam): A treatment for malaria which is often linked with reports of strange behavior
6. Atomoxetine (Strattera): An ADHD drug that affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline
7. Triazolam (Halcion): This potentially addictive drug is used to treat insomnia
8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox): Another SSRI antidepressant
9. Venlafaxine (Effexor): An antidepressant also used to treat anxiety disorders
10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq): An antidepressant which affects both serotonin and noradrenaline

Is Usage of these Drugs Ever Appropriate?

Depression, or more accurately, un-repaired emotional short-circuiting, can absolutely devastate your health and life. However, using antidepressants as the primary (or only) treatment option is simply not advisable, especially if the one suffering from depression is a child or teenager. Whereas severe depression can indeed progress to suicide if left untreated, antidepressant drugs have been shown to CAUSE both suicidal and homicidal thoughts and behaviors. As mentioned in the featured report, at least 11 tragic school shootings were done by children who were either on antidepressants, or going through withdrawal…

I believe this is an enormous price to pay for what amounts to highly questionable benefits.

Studies have found that up to 75 percent of the benefits of antidepressants could be duplicated by a placebo. So not only do these drugs not work as advertised, but the evidence is quite clear that most of these drugs do in fact increase your risk of suicide and violence. Since depression can be a terminal illness, why take a drug that will actually increase your risk of killing yourself—or someone else?

Please understand that I am not seeking to diminish the impact of mental illness. It is massively pervasive and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths every year and needless suffering in millions of others.

My clinical experience leads me to believe that the only appropriate use of these dangerous medications is as a last ditch effort when the patient is at a serious risk to themselves or others. (And, of course, they must be closely monitored for lethal side effects such as suicidal and/or homicidal thoughts and tendencies!) The drugs should be continued until the condition is under control and they are out of harm’s way, and then carefully weaned. This is a very similar strategy to going to the ER and seeing an orthopedic surgeon for a cast when you’ve fractured a major bone.

You don’t use that cast the rest of your life. You use it until your bone is healed.

The REAL tragedy is that most of the drug companies do NOT view antidepressants this way. There are enormous marketing efforts to classify normal behavior as aberrant or diseased, which then requires lifelong therapy with their drug solution.

How to Address the Root Cause of the Problem

I strongly believe that energy psychology is one of the most powerful tools for resolving emotional issues—specifically a technique called EFT—and I’ll be talking more about that in a moment.

But diet and general lifestyle are clearly parts of the “root” that must be healed if you want to resolve mental health issues. For example, mounting evidence tells us that having a healthy gut is profoundly important for both physical and mental health, and the latter can be severely impacted by an imbalance of intestinal bacteria. I strongly recommend addressing the following lifestyle factors if you’re suffering from depression or any other mental health problem.

• Dramatically decrease your consumption of sugar (particularly fructose), grains, and processed foods. (In addition to being high in sugar and grains, processed foods also contain a variety of additives that can affect your brain function and mental state, especially MSG, and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.) There’s a great book on this subject, The Sugar Blues, written by William Dufty more than 30 years ago, that delves into the topic of sugar and mental health in great detail.
• Increase consumption of probiotic foods, such as fermented vegetables and kefir, to promote healthy gut flora
• Get adequate vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency can contribute to depression and affects one in four people.
• Optimize your vitamin D levels, ideally through regular sun exposure. Vitamin D is very important for your mood. In one study, people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were found to be 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who had normal levels.⁶

The best way to get vitamin D is through safe exposure to SUNSHINE. Remember, SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of depression that we know is related to sunshine deficiency, so it would make sense that the perfect way to optimize your vitamin D is through sun exposure, or a safe tanning bed if you don’t have regular access to the sun.

• Get plenty of animal-based omega-3 fats. Many people don’t realize that their brain is 60 percent fat, but not just any fat. It is DHA, an animal based omega-3 fat which, along with EPA, is crucial for good brain function and mental health.⁷ Unfortunately, most people don’t get enough from diet alone. Make sure you take a high-quality omega-3 fat, such as krill oil.

Dr. Stoll, a Harvard psychiatrist, was one of the early leaders in compiling the evidence supporting the use of animal based omega-3 fats for the treatment of depression. He wrote an excellent book that details his experience in this area called The Omega-3 Connection.

• Evaluate your salt intake. Sodium deficiency actually creates symptoms that are very much like those of depression. Make sure you do NOT use processed salt (regular table salt), however. You’ll want to use an all natural, unprocessed salt like Himalayan salt, which contains more than 80 different micronutrients.
• Get adequate daily exercise, which is one of the best-kept secrets to preventing and overcoming depression.
• Get adequate amounts of sleep. You can have the best diet and exercise program possible but if you aren’t sleeping well you can easily become depressed. Sleep and depression are so intimately linked that a sleep disorder is actually part of the definition of the symptom complex that gives the label depression.

New Research Shines Light on the Benefits of EFT

Additionally, it’s imperative to address any underlying emotional issues. I have been a fan of energy psychology for many years, having witnessed its effectiveness in my medical practice and in my own personal life. EFT, as opposed to drugs and supplements, hits at the root of the problem—even if you don’t know exactly what that is. This is the beauty of energy medicine in general—and anyone can learn to apply EFT to themselves, even a young child.

Unfortunately, studies have been few and far in-between as science has been trying to “catch up” with clinical experience. But all of that is changing now!

Before I go any further, I want to stress the importance of getting professional help if you suffer from depression, and that includes seeing a qualified EFT therapist. Although you can learn how to do EFT in a few minutes it can take years to apply it effectively. The best therapists are typically those with conventional psychological training who have studied this in addition to conventional methods. There are times where hospital admission may be necessary to prevent a suicide attempt and untrained therapists will not be able to discern this danger.

If the first therapist can’t help you, I recommend seeking out another. Getting a second opinion is pretty standard when it comes to medicine, and this is no different. The connection between you and your doctor or therapist can have a great influence on the success of your treatment or therapy.

As for the success rate of EFT, several studies have recently been published, demonstrating just how safe and effective EFT really is. For example, the following three studies show remarkable progress in a very short amount of time for people with a history of trauma:

1. A 2009 study of 16 institutionalized adolescent boys with histories of physical or psychological abuse showed substantially decreased intensity of traumatic memories after just ONE session of EFT.
2. An EFT study involving 30 moderately to severely depressed college students was conducted. The depressed students were given four 90-minute EFT sessions. Students who received EFT showed significantly less depression than the control group when evaluated three weeks later.
3. A study of 100 veterans with severe PTSD (Iraq Vets Stress Project) showed an astounding reduction of symptoms after just six one-hour EFT sessions. After completing six sessions, 90 percent of the veterans had such a reduction in symptoms that they no longer met the clinical criteria for PTSD. Sixty percent no longer met PTSD criteria after only three EFT sessions. At the three-month follow-up, the gains remained stable, suggesting lasting and potentially permanent resolution of the problem.

[The Iraq Stress Project is still recruiting veteran volunteers. If you are a veteran and interested in participating, you can get more information here.]

Operation Emotional Freedom

In a new documentary film entitled Operation: Emotional Freedom, directed by Eric Huurre, a number of Veterans and their families went through intensive therapy using EFT. The results were truly astounding. EFT developer Gary Craig, along with other EFT practitioners worked very closely with Veterans who recently returned home from war. They were all suffering from PTSD, depression, anxiety and a few were suicidal.

At the end of treatment, each one of them describes a new feeling of peace and hope that there is help and they were able to overcome emotional traumas experienced in combat.

This film is a close look at the current state of health care for combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD. The film is about examining the myths and misconceptions surrounding the medical/chemical approach to treating emotional conditions and why drugs are not “the answer” that pharmaceuticals promise. Instead, the story follows this group of volunteer Vets and their families on a journey from the hell of their post-war experiences through a newer vision of health and recovery for PTSD and trauma.

Visit the official website www.operation-emotionalfreedom.com to learn more about efforts to assist veterans and their families through energy psychology.

Clearly, energy psychology beats pharmaceuticals HANDS DOWN as a safer, more effective, longer-lasting treatment for stress and emotional problems. And there have been EFT successes with a wide range of other issues—both emotional and physical. EFT is easy to learn, no matter what your age—children included—so I encourage you to add it to your stress-busting tool kit.

In closing, please remember that your emotional health is intimately connected with your physical health, which is largely controlled by diet and lifestyle choices and your reactions to stress. These daily habits have enormous impact, whether you want to overcome depression or just continue enjoying great health. So please, actively investigate and consider the natural treatments I’ve suggested above, ideally with the support and guidance of a knowledgeable natural medicine friendly healthcare practitioner.

Important Concluding Thoughts…

I want to make something abundantly clear before I leave you. I know firsthand that depression is devastating. It takes a toll on the healthiest of families and can destroy lifelong friendships. Few things are harder in life than watching someone you love lose their sense of joy, hope, and purpose in life, and wonder if they will ever find it again. And to not have anything within your power that can change things for them. You wonder if you will ever have your loved one “back” again.

It’s impossible to impart the will to live to somebody who no longer possesses it. No amount of logic, reasoning, or reminders about all they have to live for will put a smile back on the face of a loved one masked by the black cloud of depression.

Oftentimes you cannot change your circumstances. You can, however, change your response to them. I encourage you to be balanced in your life. Don’t ignore your body’s warning signs that something needs to change. Sometimes people are so busy taking care of everybody else that they lose sight of themselves.

There are times when a prescription drug may help restore balance to your body. But it’s unclear whether it is the drug providing benefits, or the unbelievable power of your mind that is convinced it is going to work.

If you have been personally affected by depression, my heart goes out to you.

A broken body can be easier to fix than a broken mind. Depression is real. It is my hope that you don’t feel judged here, but that you are encouraged and inspired by those who have been there.

1. CCHR December 7, 2011
2. CCHR December 7, 2011
3. CCHR International Warnings and Studies on Psychiatric Drugs Search Engine
4. Antidepressant-induced akathisia-related homicides associated with diminishing mutations in metabolizing genes of the CYP450 family, Yolande Lucire and Christopher Crotty, Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine July 29, 2011
5. PLoS One December 15, 2010; 5(12)
6. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry December 2006; 14(12): 1032-1040
7. Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Mental Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 116

This is from Kari – she hasn’t had an episode in years. It took her awhile cause she didn’t want to tap on her own, but she kept coming to me and we cleared it! Here’s what she has to say.

Using EFT/Matrix Reimprinting for Depression: Like Battling a Giant with Really Small, Surprisingly Effective Rocks

Tapping is the stupidest thing you’ll ever do.

I realize that I just potentially offended an entire, ever-growing community of people, but it’s true. Tapping is probably the stupidest thing you’ll ever do. Think about it – there are “special places” all over your face and body and if you bang on these enough, while saying some words and imagining some stuff all your problems will go away. To make it even more ridiculous, you can imagine banging on the face of an imaginary younger version of yourself and your problems will go away even faster. And let’s face it, you know that when you’re sitting there, eyes closed, trying to picture your inner four year old, touching your face like a crazy person with a nervous tic, and mumbling that you truly and deeply love and accept yourself anyway – you probably look pretty stupid. In fact, we can go ahead and remove the “probably” – you look stupid.

The problem with this stupid thing is that it actually works. That isn’t to say that it feels any less silly or ridiculous while you’re doing it, and that isn’t to say that you’ll suddenly stop feeling the urge to sigh and roll your eyes every time your practitioner asks you to “ask your little self how they feel”, and it certainly doesn’t mean that all of your issues, problems, and troubles will disappear in a cloud of magic tapping dust tomorrow, but it is to say that you will be involved in a process that will help you to slowly but surely move forward once and for all. And what’s even better is that you will start to feel a difference, see changes in yourself and various parts of your life, and you will get better – it just takes some time and a whole lot of looking stupid.

Everyone who taps gets to go through the “this is so stupid, I can’t believe I’m doing this, this thing can’t possibly actually work” phase – and for some it’s longer than others – but for those dealing with heavy and complex issues like depression, the experience is a little more complicated. You see, depression isn’t something that happens over night – and I speak from experience. Depression is something that creeps in slowly, almost elusively, like putting ink in a jar of water. It creeps. It blurs reality. It affects everything. And when it finally settles, everything seems a little darker – actually, it all seems a lot darker. And you find yourself looking around at all the inky, cloudy water – complete with black ink-sludge on the bottom – and you think “Holy !!##&*@. There’s no way I can clean this up. I don’t even have the energy to think about where to begin, I think I’ll just sleep instead. This is utterly and terribly hopeless.”  So you sit inside of your little, inky jar, feeling depressed, and sad, and hopeless, and unmotivated, and wishing things weren’t like this and having no idea if you’ll have to live like this forever. Meds might help. Talking to someone might help. Seeing a therapist might help. All of these things help you cope with and rationalize the situation, but none of them make the darkness – the depression – go away.

Enter tapping (cue glorious music from the sky, a video montage of clouds opening, and maybe even the voice of Morgan Freeman!). Tapping is supposed to be able to help! There’s a success rate and testimonials from other people who couldn’t get out of their inky, water-filled jars and got better from doing this stupid thing, and suddenly, even though you can hardly believe it (even though you’re terrified to believe it because what if it doesn’t work on you??!), there’s some hope. A glimmer through the muck and mire. And so you resolve yourself, as difficult as resolve feels most of the time, that you’re going to try it. You read all of the success stories and watch all of the near-miraculous videos and You Tube clips and talk to as many people as you can and when you finally try this miraculous, godsend of a cure, your realize how stupid it feels, how you don’t really wanna talk to any *#%! younger version of yourself, let alone bang on their faces, you don’t feel like doing work on your own in-between sessions even though your practitioner highly recommends it, and my god it’s taking so long why is it taking so long????

In these moments, remember that depression (or fill in the blank with the disorder of your choice!) most likely didn’t happen over night, and there’s no reason to expect that it will go away over night – but it will go away. It can be defeated. Again, I speak from experience. Think of tapping like this (I really like metaphors): Tapping is like fighting giants with stones. Some giants are bigger than others (depression is huge, a spider phobia? Not so huge), and some stones are bigger than others. At first, it’s totally natural to look at the pile of stones that you have and think, “There is no way in #@!! these will ever take down that whole giant,” but you lob one at him anyway, just because, well, you’ve tried everything else and you may as well cross this stupid tapping stuff off your list too. The stone you threw (not very zealously, I might add, because you were too busy being skeptical and convincing yourself that it wouldn’t work anyway), hits the giant’s little finger. Not exactly deadly, but to your surprise, his little pinky finger disintegrates. Poof. Gone. Just like that. You stare at the space where his finger once was in shock. It worked! These stones may seem small compared to the giant, but they’re surprisingly effective. It’s easy to get hung up on how huge the giant seems – your depression giant is a big one – he’s been binging on chocolate and carbs to make himself feel better and spending most of his days laying in bed – but if you keep lobbing stones, knowing that if you just hit him again, another piece of him will disintegrate, and then another, and another, and so on. If you feel motivated to tap on your own and you throw some extra stones, great! But if not, it really doesn’t matter. As long as you keep going in some fashion, the giant will slowly, but surely, break down, until there’s nothing left but a foot, maybe an ear, and you’ll think, “Hey. I can live with that!” and it’ll be over and you’ll be moving on with the rest of your life before you know it.

It takes time. And you’ll feel stupid. And it’ll feel so long and ridiculous and impossible. But when the giant’s gone, all the stupid rock throwing will have been totally worth it.

It creates a foundation for the individual that can then support the rest of his/her life, no matter what negative things happened in life. It’s especially good for people who feel alone or depressed or disconnected, etc. I’ve recently videotaped 2 sessions using this and will create a DVD so anyone can learn it and use it.

This is from Gerry K. It is his experience and result. Thanks for sharing to help others!

I have started with a repeat of his last paragraph:

This imprinting into my whole self was an unbelievably powerful experience with, I’m sure immeasurable consequences. I felt a shift within me, like a more grounded me, a more powerful me. I feel that still this morning, in some ways even more powerfully.

… so we started the Soul Reconnection. She wanted me to sit with me in the womb – early, before 12 weeks old. She explained how it is generally accepted wisdom that the soul enters the body at about that age. The idea behind this process is to integrate the body and soul in a gentle, peaceful way. So I was to sit at some distance and observe the baby Gerry in the womb. Since I haven’t been good at visualizing, I had some trouble getting the image. Finally, I got an image of the baby tumbling head over heels. She asked me to ask the baby if he would be open to going on an adventure. The baby said yes. I held the baby and we went up a tube into a place where souls await their next assignment. There we were to meet my soul, though he may be busy preparing for the assignment. I had a hard time getting a visual fix on this soul, so Karin finally suggested a light, and then added “perhaps a green light?” which I later altered to a green-white light. I was to ask the baby me if I could allow the soul to hold him. He agreed and the soul held the baby me. When I was there as the baby me and was feeling comfortable and warm, we imprinted that good feeling.

We then went into the “soul planning room” and the baby me was shown that out of all the choices, the soul chose Gerry. This made the baby feel special and loved and we reimprinted that feeling and image.

Next we called in the supervisor of wombs who went down to rehab the womb to make it a more comfortable place to inhabit. He installed a liner/filter that was fine mesh and would absorb any negative emotions or vibes that would come from Mother (or Dad), but would allow any feelings of love or other positive emotions to still flow freely through. Then he installed an umbilical filter that would filter out any negative things Mother might imbibe and alchemically alter them into beneficial nutrients. I then asked the baby me what else he might want in there to make it a more inviting, peaceful place. He asked for a night sky with brilliant stars and some vibrant green plants. The supervisor then left, we said goodbye for now to my soul and I took the baby me and slid back down the chute into the newly refurbished womb. I asked him how he liked it and he did and basked in the comfort of this much upgraded living quarters. We then imprinted those feelings of warmth and comfort and safety.

We then went forward in time to week 12, when the soul enters the body. I asked the baby me to tell me if he doesn’t feel comfortable with this. We went ahead with the soul coming in and the baby me sitting on his amorphous green-white light lap. Then the soul started shrinking and being absorbed into the baby me. There was some discomfort so we stopped and waited, and then the baby me accepted the absorption and felt the glow enter his body. As we lingered on this scene we imprinted it. It was the most powerful exercise I’ve ever done. I could feel the power surge through every part of me. I could feel the integration with the soul and the connection to myself, to my source. I could feel in particular a lot of motion in my first and second chakras, my root and power centers. The lower abdomen just felt like it was rolling around, rippling with an energy I’ve never felt before. We imprinted this long and deep. I visualized colors at Karin’s urging, though they were pretty faint. I pictured purple and green, then blue and yellow. She asked me to take these colors and the feelings of power and project them up and down my timeline – into the future Gerry at various points in his life, and backwards, presumably into previous lifetimes.

This imprinting into my whole self was an unbelievably powerful experience with, I’m sure immeasurable consequences. I felt a shift within me, like a more grounded me, a more powerful me. I feel that still this morning, in some ways even more powerfully.

It has been about a month and a half since my 7 day whirlwind experience in Florida with the EFT and Matrix Reimprinting Classes. As if that were not enough, I promptly followed that trip with the “I Can Do It” Conference in Vancouver. Since the middle of March, I have gone nowhere, and have allowed myself to recharge, rejuvenate, and focus on my day job of being a high school teacher.  However, I have continued to read, recently being exposed to Jiddu Krishnamurti, as well as to conduct Matrix Reimprinting/Rebirthing Sessions with various close friends. I have also been listening to the Webinars, as well as “playing” with some of my own Echos in the Matrix.

I give all this background information for a reason. Something profound happened to me in Florida. It started with volunteering to be a demo for Karin Davidson with an “easy” Echo to show the process. We worked on loneliness. I don’t remember much of the session itself, but I do remember her asking me how long I had felt this loneliness. I replied that ever since I remembered, I had always had this loneliness. She asked if it came from before birth, and I said yes, and then she asked me to give an age from conception to 9 months. I said that I didn’t know, and she asked me to give whatever number popped in my mind and “2” came out. She smiled as this obviously meant something to her but nothing to me. She looked at Sharon King who was sitting in the back and said, “She needs Soul Reconnection” – whatever that was. We continued with the session and imprinted a beautiful image of present Amber and Echo Amber sitting arm in arm on a beach – happy with each other and not lonely.

Fast-forward a few days to the Matrix Rebirthing and Life Purpose Workshop with Sharon King. I remember very vividly reading the slide for the Soul Reconnection, and I started to cry, as I totally resonated and saw myself in that description:

A feeling of one of the following

never really connect with your “higher self”

you feel like “fate” controls your life

you never really have control over you own life

you take your body for granted – it’s there to house your life purpose.

That was me – even though I didn’t want to admit it – especially the last one. Karin went up, and spoke briefly on the slide, asked for volunteers, and then looked at me and called me up – remember she felt from the first demo that this could help. She didn’t know it, but I really didn’t want to go up – but I was anxious to get rid of this nagging sense of always being in a war with my body and so agreed.

I would like to explain here that I have spent my whole life split in half. I always identified very strongly with my mind, and my soul; my body – well, it was just along for the ride, and as a result, I treated myself horribly. I pushed myself mercilessly in athletics, and it was just a given that my body would do what I demanded of it without question. Of course, I struggled with my weight, and alternated between indulging and denying myself everything and anything, not to mention forcing myself to do things I didn’t want to do. Suffice to say that I had never felt at home in my own skin – but having nothing to compare it to, I thought this was normal. As I sat up there with Karin, I was overcome with the shame and sadness about how horribly I had treated my body:  going from no exercise to 2 hours a day of exercise; eating healthy to eating crap; eating nothing to eating everything. And I haven’t even mentioned the total and utter loathing and hatred I felt for my body – how I despised my “thunder thighs,” and agonized over my weight;  how I hated what I saw in the mirror. Everything was wrong with how I looked, and I always felt very unattractive as a result.

I would also like to add that sometime during the past few months, I had also realized that I was an emotional eater who ate to fill the void of being lonely, as well as to give myself love. Somehow in my mixed-up mind, food gave me the support and unconditional love that I felt I never got in my childhood. From a rational point of view, this was ridiculous, as I had two parents who loved me very much, and it would hurt them to know that I felt so unloved. Yet, my inner child, or one of my Echos, basically told me that she just wanted love, but somehow food had become a good substitute! I would walk around the house in the evenings with a sense of “dis-ease” looking for whatever food – peanut butter, fruit, chocolate, raw cookie dough – ANYTHING that would fill me up and make the empty feeling go away. After these mini binges, I would be struck with guilt, shame, and total and utter self-loathing, and I was always so envious of skinny people who did not have to go through this garbage.

This was all the baggage I carried up with me to Karin, baggage which I was very anxious to get rid of. So I plunked myself down, part of me very unwilling and part of me excited to “get ‘er done!”  What I discovered was that my pattern of “forcing” DID NOT WORK in this instance. I begged, pleaded, and even threatened my “baby Amber Echo” (well, actually my two month old embryo Echo) to hurry up this process. I remember being horrified that I was being such a stubborn demo, and that Karin was going to lose patience with me.  I also remember wanting desperately to fake the reconnection and bolt – anything to avoid facing myself and that 2 month old Echo who was NOT very happy with me.  To me, it seemed Karin tried EVERYTHING, and my frustration and embarrassment grew until she finally told the now me (Matrix me) to go and stand in the “corner” of my mother’s womb, sit down, and shut up.  I swear my Echo laughed at this moment – when she deigned to give me the time of day.  She knew who I was, and basically, she was SUPER PISSED at me, and this was her chance to let me have it.  I also swear she gave me the finger at some point! Meanwhile, present day-demo Amber was dying of mortification, praying for anything to hurrying up this process.  And that was when I finally realized that my Echo was treating me the way I had been treating my body, and MYSELF for the past 34 years:  never listening, never paying attention, and always forcing myself to do things I didn’t want to do.  And so the Matrix Amber sat down, shut up, and watched – and STOPPED TRYING TO FORCE THE SITUATION in the way I wanted it to go, and stopped trying to force myself to do something I didn’t want to do.  And no, this was NOT a pattern I recognized AT ALL in my life!  I knew at that moment that something profound had happened, and even now I have a hard time explaining it or even understanding it.  It was the start of something very beautiful which I continue to see unfolding in my life today.

Fast-forward almost a month and half to April 9^th as I write this. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who held the space – who watched patiently as I struggled and railed against myself.  I would also like to thank Karin who didn’t let me run away, although I so desperately wanted to, and thank you to Sharon for introducing me to the Matrix Soul Purpose and Soul Reconnection.  So where am I now?  Well, I have had numerous friends and colleagues comment on how different I look, how I radiate and glow, and they ask me what I have been doing.  My energy friends have also noticed that my energy is more settled and peaceful.  For the first time in my life, I feel safe and comfortable in my own skin.  And I have continued to grow:   I have done several profound Matrix Sessions on myself, and I think I am on about day 100 of the Matrix Reimprinting Field Clearing Technique.  I do about 30 days, and then start on something new.  Suffice to say, I have focused on love and appreciation for my body, treating my body well, and listening to my body.  I am now on to celebrating my body.  I don’t feel split anymore, and I feel more in harmony with myself.  The urge to wander around and eat is no longer there – which still kind of amazes me, and I have to admit that I still look for it – after all, it has been a lifetime companion!  I don’t always make the best choices about what I eat, but I am present and appreciative (most of the time) about what I eat.  AND the ability to ignore and override my body and binge when I am not hungry is no longer there.  I eat when I am hungry – and yes, sometimes it is a bit of chocolate but I SAVOUR it!  When I try to eat when I am not hungry, I am just not interested and end up putting the food down.  I have also started a “Course in Weightloss”, which to me is another method to help me face my “dark” side – which also gives me a place to go in the Matrix, and helps me find and identify appropriate Echos to work with.  I truly believe that all of this started with the Soul Reconnection.  I know I tend to devote a lot of time and energy into my personal development, so who knows, perhaps I would have ended up here anyways, but I do know that the process has been much easier since the Soul Reconnection.  I continue to learn and grow, and it doesn’t seem so hard.  I have also stopped forcing myself to do things I don’t want to, which means I have become a little bit of a hermit recently, but I have spent my whole life forcing myself and my body that it feels appropriate to slow down and give myself time to enjoy life.  I find myself sitting and listening to classical music as a form of meditation and visualization, and perhaps I don’t accomplish as much as I used to, but I am a lot more content and settled.  It feels nice, and even a tad decadent to sit and savour quiet moments as I do now.  I don’t feel the need to be on the go all the time, and I have actually found myself to be quite pleasant company :-)  Lastly, I am able to look in the mirror, and maybe I don’t totally love what I see, and I know that I am not my ideal weight yet, but I accept myself and my body, I celebrate myself and my body, and daresay, I even like myself and my body.  And for that, I am truly grateful. – Amber

OK – I read the above and I need to say that I love Ann. And I respect Ann. I love her ability as a LCSW who was the administrator of a mental institution and worked with Gary Craig and was on those great (but so hard to watch DVDs where you didn’t know WHAT the heck you were watching until you actually understood this stuff so you knew what the heck you were watching…) to be able to write a coursebook with some television producer (cause that’s what I was) who ended up knowing a lot about EFT and is told she’s darn good at it but still not a trained therapist and blah blah – and then actually LISTEN to why I say the stuff in the book like the way I want to say it and she has to put her name on my stuff too. Hmmm – thank you, Ann. But still – pain in my buttocks. Hers too I’m sure. What people do to help the world, ya know? Boy it better help the world.

If you’ve gotten this far in the blog and you want to get the book, here are 2 places:

http://www.howtotap.com/level-1-package/

and just the book HERE

AND SO I honor these people who are willing to use tapping to clear depression and such. I agree with all my clients that staying on medication for the rest of your life is not a good option in my opinion. And to work with any practitioner, be sure to let them know what medication(s) you are on and where on, who is prescribing your medication and how often you see him/her for evaluation. (And of course do not change your dose(s) without your doctor’s help.)

If you are new – Please see www.HowToTap.com/newclient and watch the top 3 videos. Very often we will be using an advanced EFT technique called Matrix Reimprinting. So please also watch the top 6 videos at www.MatrixReimprintingUS.com/videos. That’s a lot of information, so I don’t expect anyone to watch them all at once.

I find that all depression, bipolar, and etc. has roots in very young childhood and even the womb. These events set up the person to utilize depression, etc. as a kind of coping skill for unfortunate things that happen in early teens and 20′s and on. This is not something I learned in a class or a book (although there are many that support this.) This is pure experience. So we will work with those events you believe caused this, but we will also be working earlier.

It is important that you understand that depression takes time to clear. There will be other areas that will improve more quickly as we tap, but the depression itself takes time. I must let you know that the shortest time was 3.5 months of once a week appointments AND the individual tapped on their own twice daily (taking notes as needed if her own work needed my help) The longest was 6 years, however, the person came sporadically and never tapped on her own. I do have one gentleman that has greatly improved in only one month – however, he is working with my students in between our weekly sessions and he came to my 2-day practitioner’s course – so he is very familiar with the process. The average is a year and a half if the person does not do any work on themselves on their own. This does not seem a long time for someone who has had depression, bipolar, etc. for years.

I recently had a client who was DETERMINED – we worked 3 or more times a week and I also had her work with an energy clearer/BodyTalk colleague in between and tapping on herself. It took 45 days. WOW. This is NOT the norm.

OK, so I’m not cheap. And once you begin, I would like you to be committed to becoming well. If you feel I may be too expensive for you, I do have practitioner candidates who study under me who are $25 per session until they are certified. I would still want you to work with me at least once a month.

I also use Meta-Medicine. You can watch a session here. www.howtotap.com/MM/ I was videotaping so the person tapping is Karl Dawson, creator of Matrix Reimprinting. To this day, she has not had any symptoms of bipolar.

Now as an EFT practitioner, clients only see a tiny bit of my dry humor, because there is a time and place for it and it doesn’t belong IN a session without EXACT PRECISE correct timing – but this isn’t an EFT session, now is it? hehehehe… My husband says people don’t want to hear the truth. My response is well, then, don’t ask me, ask someone else – really. I know that one can say it nicely, even the touchy stuff, but I’m gonna tell the truth. I feel I have to – sorry but not sorry – so I’m warning you now – don’t read this if you don’t want to know the truth. And my truth will not always be your truth – and I’m OK with that. If you’re not, don’t read on. I mean that’s what we’re all about right? The lovely wonderful differences and similarities of lives. Other’s perceptions will open our own, even if we disagree. I won’t ask you to be on board with what I say, just know that even if you disagree, I care what YOU think – even if I disagree. Actually, I hope the whole world can do that eventually…