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Column: Chinese medicine experts offer novel techniques for managing teen anxiety

Sometimes she’s snuggled up next to you on the couch, sweetly saying “I love you” while you’re watching a movie together. Only hours later, the same girl might be shouting, crying and hurling insults bad enough to make you cringe.

That’s what happens when you have a teenager in the house.

A combination of hormones — which can cause mood swings and intense emotions — academic pressure, social media and the inevitable drama can cause a teenager immense anxiety and unhappiness. Where does that leave a parent? Often, it’s feeling frustrated and helpless.

Two North Shore-based holistic professionals say they’re here to help. Allison Ewing is a licensed clinical social worker with a practice that teaches the “Emotional Freedom Technique,” also called EFT. Beth Lynch is a former oncology, palliative care and hospice nurse turned “Eden Energy Medicine” practitioner.

The two, both moms of teenagers, recently hosted a class called “All-Natural Anxiety Solutions for Parents,” a one-hour offering in which parents could learn about these two Chinese medicine approaches to treating anxiety.

“As moms, we hope our daughters feel good in their own skin — strong and confident,” said Lynch, who has been practicing Eden Energy Medicine for five years. “When we see them stressed, it makes us panic and we feel like, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ ‘Am I doing enough? What are other parents doing?'”

Ewing says some of the problem is related to our new ways of living.

“When we were growing up, you would call a friend and leave a message and you’d have to wait to hear back from the person. We didn’t get our needs gratified in two seconds. Having to wait for anything creates anxiety,” said Ewing, who previously spent 19 years as a counselor for severely mentally ill youth in Chicago.

Ewing said the fear of feeling different, the need to fit in with other kids and the pressure to be perfect are also causes of teenage stress.

“They’re thinking, ‘I’ve got to keep it together at school, I’ve got to look good, put on the mask, get good grades,'” said Ewing. “All that pressure might cause them to come home and fall apart.”

“When we say to them, ‘You can do anything,’ they may hear, ‘I have to do everything,'” Lynch said. “So, they’re in five activities, doing every extra credit project they can, aiming for straight A’s, and that’s a lot of pressure.”

What does stress in a teenager look like? According to Ewing, symptoms include irritability, chewed fingernails, skin picking, hair tugging, headaches, stomach pain and, in extreme cases, self-harm, such as cutting and suicide attempts.

“The stress we can’t see are the thoughts — what thoughts are feeding the anxiety,” she said. “Thoughts of low self-esteem, comparing themselves to others or worrying that their anxiety runs in the family and they are doomed.”

What is the “Emotional Freedom Technique”?

According to Ewing, EFT, also referred to as “tapping,” is a form of self-applied acupressure that helps clear heightened emotions that cause fears, phobias, traumatic memories and stress. Ewing teaches kids (and adults) to say positive messages to themselves while finger tapping on different parts of the body such as inside the eyebrow, side of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, chin, collarbone, under the arm and on top of the head.

“Tapping sends a signal to the fight-or-flight center in the brain to switch it off, which moves the person from their sympathetic nervous system to their parasympathetic nervous system,” said Ewing. “The parasympathetic state is your relaxation response and your body can produce reparative hormones and reduce levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. This gives you better judgement, logic, reasoning, clearer thinking and better executive functioning.”

Ewing recommends making a practice out of tapping for 10 to 15 minutes daily.

What is “Eden Energy Medicine”?

Named after its developer, Donna Eden, Eden Energy Medicine, which was inspired by both yoga and tai chi, blends many different ancient healing traditions that use and work with the life force energy of your body. This provides a more natural energy flow within the body to alleviate and heal symptoms. Lynch said each client’s therapy is personalized according to their issues. In other words, she uses different techniques for different symptoms such as anxiety, concentration, headaches, stomach pain and low energy. The non-invasive therapies include tapping, massaging and connecting specific energy points on the skin.

“These energy tools give (teens) empowerment for how they can shift and work with their own body, energies and emotions,” Lynch said. “I’ve seen clients gain a better sense of themselves and gain confidence. I’ve seen reduced anxiety, improved sleep issues and a shift of how they feel about their bodies.”

According to Ewing, neither EFT or Energy Medicine is meant to replace talk therapy, and most traditional therapists don’t know much about these alternative methods. Ewing explained that these modalities fall into the meditation/self-help/deep breathing family.

As a mom of two teenagers who roll their eyes when they see me engaging in deep breathing or walking into the house with my yoga mat, I have to say that I understand if EFT and Energy Medicine seem vague and unconventional. Lynch said there are many anecdotal case histories and success stories but not a lot of factual studies.

That said, both EFT and Energy Medicine seem low-risk and relatively inexpensive, so if I can arm my teen girl with a couple tools to ease her stress and help make her life a little easier and more enjoyable, what’s the harm in giving them a try? And who knows? They might turn out to be the yoga and meditation of the 2020s!

Jackie Pilossoph is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press. She is also the creator of her divorce support website, Divorced Girl Smiling. Pilossoph lives in Chicago with her two children.