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Children

Behavior

Andrew: "There are mice in my pants"

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated. Please use my newest advancement, Optimal EFT. It is more efficient, more powerful and clearly explained in my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™.  Best wishes, Gary

Children respond very well to EFT. However .... and this is a BIG however .... you simply MUST gain rapport to maximize EFT's use for them. Otherwise, they may become restless, distracted and uncooperative. I've had good success by improvising a "tapping game" with them.

Jan Bennett-Collier, Cht displays superb rapport skills in her successful case with "Andrew", a 3 year old boy who was convinced he had mice in his pants. Please note her approaches at rapport and her languaging skills.

At the end of her article, Jan also describes another case with a 7 year old girl who was upset before a funeral.

Cheers, Gary


by Jan Bennett-Collier, Cht

Dear Gary,

I had to write you about a delightful EFT experience I had with a little three year old boy who thought he had mice in his pants.

Andrew had been visiting his grandparents on their farm when a field mouse was found in the house early in the afternoon. By evening his active imagination had gotten away with him on the mouse issue and he was completely, distressingly convinced there were mice in his pants. As dinner at a local restaurant progressed, he became so upset that his parents removed his pants to 'prove' there were no mice. But he wouldn't dress again and they ended up leaving with their dinner in to-go boxes and Andrew wailing in their arms. All the way home in the vehicle, he cried and was adamant that the mice were getting him. Finally, in desperation, they called me at 9:30 pm to ask if I would see him.

When little Andrew and his mom walked into my living room together he was moving like a child in wet britches, walking slowly and rather stiff-legged like he didn't want the fabric to touch his legs. Mom excused herself to the restroom while I urged him onto the sofa beside me and removed his shoes, telling him they might make the sofa dirty. Actually I wanted them off for ease of pants removal if that became necessary. He was quiet but obviously upset with his little face all tight and 'squenched up' and he was wringing his hands in a way that perfectly fit the 'squenched up' phrase. It was apparent these mice were very real to him.

I asked him about the mice at his grandparents and he answered, "There are mice in my pants."

"Oh, really? Where?" I asked.

He was wearing heavy corduroy long pants and tentatively pointed to a place where they naturally bunched up away from his skin. "There."

I pressed down on the spot and of course there was nothing there, but that effort didn't relieve him in any way. "Andrew, would you play a little game with me about making the mice go away?"

His little face was cast downward, rather tucked under my arm as he sat beside me, so I tapped as best I could without making it too obvious and uncomfortable to look up, skipping the underarm altogether for the same reason.

First round set up, "Even though there are mice in my pants and I don't want them there, my mommy loves me and I'm a cool kid." He sat quietly and let me do it for him.

Second round, same set up, he used his own fingers to tap with me.

By the third round set up, we changed to, "Even though the mice are getting me, they have to go outside (his own words at this point) 'cause I'm the boss of me." He spoke the words well, willingly repeating after me and tapping with his own fingers including under the arm. I had tried to show him the spot and we discovered it was too ticklish!

At this point I asked him if the mice were still there in his pants. He looked at me quizzically and said they were at his house. At that point his mom picked up the cell phone and called dad to tell him to be sure the mice were let outside. We could hear dad respond that he was right then taking care of it.

We tapped another round on, "The mice at my house have to go outside 'cause I'm the boss of me." He seemed to like this phrase and I told mom in an aside that I hoped I hadn't created a later problem for her! He tapped willingly and spoke the set up without much prompting. All signs of distress had disappeared and, in fact, I thought he was about to fall asleep beside me. Mom took him home, a 20 minute drive, and called to say he hadn't mentioned mice at all on the way.

A follow-up call the next noon also gave a "no mice!" report and though I attended his birthday party two days later, he never mentioned the mice or our tapping game. His father, whom I had previously seen for panic attacks which happened on highway overpasses was absolutely amazed and delighted.

As an interesting note, I had just the previous night used EFT over the phone with a seven year old girl for anxiety stomach ache. The mother had just gone through a stillbirth labor and the baby was to be buried the following day.

I had not seen her to teach the tapping points face-to-face and was somewhat concerned about my ability to convey over the phone where to tap . But I just left out the collarbone and underarm and went on telling her where else to tap and using phrases like...

"Even though I'm worried the funeral will be 'messed up' and I have this tummy ache......." "Even though I'm sad for mommy who keeps crying and it makes me nervous......" "Even though I have this tummy ache and don't think I can sleep tonight......"

I told her after she hung up the phone to look at her face in a mirror as she tapped some more before going to bed, to tap until she felt completely better. I was told at the funeral that she had tapped as instructed and slept very well.

Children are such quick studies and they are so willing. I really enjoy working with them.

Jan Bennett-Collier, CHt., EFT-CC

More articles on Children's Issues

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