Taming Trauma Beasties Review
Gallagher and Karjala on Using Energy Psychology for Children
Aug 10, 2008 Victoria Anisman-Reiner
The concept of "trauma beasties" was developed by Dr. Gallagher to help foster parents address the needs of children suffering the persistent effects of trauma. In the course of working with children's trauma beasties, she teamed up with Dr. Karjala to present a synthesis of traditional psychotherapy and energy psychology in Taming Trauma Beasties: Helping Children Confront Trauma and Heal (ThomasMax Publishing, 2007).
What are Trauma Beasties?
"Trauma beasties" is Gallagher's phrase for the thoughts, feelings and memories that recreate a trauma or trigger fears, discomfort, nightmares or flashbacks. The concept of a "trauma beastie" allows children to understand and express their feelings and gives caregivers – be they parents, teachers or foster parents – a framework to discuss the ways that children may be acting out as a result of fears about earlier experiences.
The trauma beastie concept was developed over ten years ago by Mary Gallagher, Ph.D. but, she says, "The initial formulation of the Trauma Beastie concept could help children manage and regulate the trauma symptoms but could not neutralize them. It needed to include an intervention that could tame the Trauma Beastie." With her discovery of energy psychology, that intervention was born.
Energy Psychology for Children
Despite the growing popularity of energy psychology as a method for changing bad habits, overcoming fears and healing trauma, few have written about using this energy therapy with children.
The Trauma Beastie book and workbook offers a compassionate, simple way to introduce energy psychology to children and invite them to use the techniques to tame their "beasties."
The authors describe acupressure points as "energy spots" and say, "Tapping these special spots… moves out the trauma beastie feelings and thoughts and moves in feelings, thoughts and behaviors that will help you to be happy and to solve your problems in a helpful way."
Taming Trauma Beasties and the additional "activity book" are designed to give children and parents/caregivers the "the tools you need to stop trauma beasties from tricking, bothering and pestering you." Additional sections for caregivers explain concepts more fully and give further examples of applications of the trauma beasties energy psychology process.
"Taming Trauma Beasties"
As with most energy psychology practices, children will likely be skeptical of trying the tools contained in Taming Trauma Beasties – but only until they have used them. Gallagher and Karjala have composed a simplified energy psychology protocol (based on Patricia Carrington's "Choices" model) that is an easy and effective beginning. Parents and adults reading this book may find this approach useful for themselves, as well.
Taming Trauma Beasties presents simple, effective techniques for children to learn to work with their "trauma beasties" by reframing how the "beasties" make them feel as well as resolving on new, more supportive ways to feel and act. The energy psychology protocols offered in this short book are a helpful tool in managing to succeed, as the authors write, "not only to intervene but to help eliminate the devastating impact of trauma at all levels of functioning."
More information on…
Taming Trauma Beasties, Gallagher & Karjala, Ph.D.
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