EFT and the Parisian Mouse
I was in Paris, France on the first day of September 1997. Sadly, it was the day after Princess Diana had lost her life there in a tragic car accident. In the midst of the somber mood of Paris, an amusing event occurred that temporarily helped divert my thoughts from this terrible tragedy.
I was enjoying a lovely lunch at Chez Jenny Brasserrie near the Eiffel Tower and Republic Square. We had just finished the main course, a delicious chicken dish, and were diving into our delectable desserts. Much to our surprise, my Russian dining companion, Inna, discovered a live mouse under the table! The rodent was resting comfortably on Inna’s linen napkin she had inadvertently dropped earlier. Fortunately, Inna did not blindly grope for the napkin, which was now a “mouse mattress,” and spied the napping stowaway rodent. She was able to retract her hand before touching it. He seemed content to stay put and was oblivious to our movement. I excitedly observed the mouse, commented on how cute it was, and resumed eating my dessert and sipping my cappuccino. I did put my feet up on the bench seat, but like the mouse, was content to stay put.
After finishing my meal, I decided to tell the three waiters congregated to one side of the restaurant about our furry friend, as several diners had become aware of the mouse and were fleeing. I didn’t really want to disturb the little guy, but also reasoned it wouldn’t bode well for their eating establishment to have a mouse disturbing their diners. I approached them and said, “Excuse me, but you might like to know there is a live mouse under our table over there!”, as I pointed toward our vacated booth. The waiters looked at me with confused expressions and replied in French. It was obvious they did not speak English. I resorted to hand gestures and a simple English phrase, “A mouse?!”, in my best French accent. One of the waiters responded, “A cat?!”. I must have used the wrong hand gestures, or perhaps those were one of the few English words he knew. At any rate, I’m glad I wasn’t playing charades. I then tried to be more creative in my pronunciation of mouse. “No, le mouse, le mice, le mouse?!”, I attempted. More confused faces. “Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse”, I then said, as I placed my open palmed hands on either side of my head to model an improvised Mousekateer. A light bulb went off for one of the French waiters, “Ah, le mousse, le mousse, Mickay Mousse, Mickay Mousse!” Smiles and nods of agreement emerged from the four of us–and we momentarily basked in the success of our cross-cultural communication by chanting “Mickay Mousse, Mickay Mousse!”, in unison. I felt like saying, “Viva, le EuroDisney!”, but resisted. Instead I exclaimed, “Yes, yes! Over there!”, and again pointed under the table.
What happened next looked like something out of a Jerry Lewis movie, which seems appropriate. (I understand the French are big fans of this American comedian.) All three waiters ran toward the table and chased the mouse in all different directions trying to stomp it with their feet. Inna and I were horrified. We did not want the cute mouse with his chinchilla-like fur, sweet little face, and adorable ears to be killed! I started yelling, “Don’t kill it; don’t kill it!” Oh no, I thought. I could not look and quickly exited the room. I hoped that the mouse had been able to escape and did not want to know if he had not. Once out on the street, Inna, accusingly asked me why I had told the waiters. I had the restaurant’s reputation at heart, but expressed my regret and apologized to her for my part in the mouse’s possible demise. But, I like to think that “le mousse” escaped to a better hiding place.
The most amazing part of this story to me is that I did not run out of the room in disgust or fear like most of my fellow diners upon learning there was a “mouse in the house.” After all, I’ve had an extreme phobia of rats and mice since I was a child and would have run the other way if I even thought there was a mouse around. Why didn’t I scream and run away? Why did I have compassion instead of revulsion for this previously dreaded creature? I attribute it to a new therapy tool called EFT – Emotional Freedom Techniques I had used just three weeks prior to the trip to cure my rodent phobia.
I had completed The EFT course the previous month from the Founder of EFT, Gary Craig. After only one application of the technique, I was able to hold a pet rat in my hand and pet it without disgust or fear, even after he ‘wet’ me! I had been a psychotherapist for 15 years and thus studied and used many valuable counseling techniques. EFT is one of the most effective therapy tools I’ve found for achieving quick and lasting relief from an unlimited array of problems. What exactly is EFT you may be asking, and how does it work?
EFT-Emotional Freedom Technique is greatly derived from the pioneering work in Thought Field Therapy (TFT) of Dr. Roger J. Callahan, a Southern Californian psychologist. The technique is likened to psychological accupressure. “After years of painstaking effort and refinement by Dr. Callahan, [TFT and EFT is] finding its way into the mainstream of psychology.”, states Gary Craig (a Stanford trained engineer, minister, and early student of Dr. Callahan) in his book, Emotional Freedom Technique, The Manual.
The scientific foundation of why it works in a nutshell is based on Gary Craig’s EFT Discovery Statement — “The cause of all negative emotions is an imbalance in the body’s energy system.” EFT works with the body’s energy meridians by correcting the physical and emotional imbalance of the problem. It makes a mind/body connection to provide relief and healing. It’s about a two-minute process that works by tapping on various body energy meridian points while speaking aloud a prescribed affirmation statement, performing a series of eye movements, humming, and counting. Albeit unconventional and funny to see performed, it works most of the time on most people! Generally, it can be used on negative emotional or mental issues, including fears, phobias, and traumatic memories, negative feelings, behaviors, and learning disabilities. It can provide relief from physical pains and symptoms of physical ailments, including minor to severe body pains and aches, health problems, addictions and cravings, and eating disorders. Additionally, it can even enhance and help improve your skills, talents, and athletic performance.
Skeptical? I was too at first, as were many friends, family members, clients, students, and colleagues I’ve shown EFT to, until they experienced it first hand by “tapping” into their own successful results. EFT is a safe and simple self-therapy tool, yet utterly amazing.
Since applying this two-minute technique to alleviate my current fears and past traumas associated with rodents, I’ve gotten to test its effectiveness several times. In addition to holding the rat at the actual EFT training and the Parisian mouse incident I have already told you about, another test of EFT’s effectiveness occurred on the TWA flight home from Rome following my European excursion. There were mice running across the top of the movie screen in flight! While I found this inexcusable on the now defunct airline, TWA’s part, I did not “freak out” or really allow it to bother me. A few days later I was on a stairway path at the zoo and looked down to see a mouse running a couple of steps ahead of me. I thought he was cute and felt sorry for him, as he was obviously afraid of us and scurrying to get out of our way, however, I felt no fear. I now know that my rodent phobia is gone for good all these years later and I continue to experience success with this breakthrough therapy tool in all its applications.
That’s the story of “EFT and the Parisian Mouse” with an endorsement of a great psychotherapy tool thrown in for good measure. Remember, EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques, not the “Eiffel Tower.” I would be happy to teach this extraordinary technique to you. We probably don’t even have to speak the same language in order for it to work!
