Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

What is EFT? Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is also known as tapping and can be described as an emotional form of acupuncture. In actuality it is more like acupressure since there are no needles involved. EFT is simply you, the client, tapping on stress-reduction points or acupressure points (acupoints) around the face and upper body while talking about an event. The client taps with his/her fingers on their own body and the practitioner does the same on his/her own body. The tapping provides physical stimulation to help diminish the associated emotion that usually accompanies an event.

Gary Craig, the founder of EFT said that, “The cause of all negative emotion is a disruption in the body’s energy system.” For example, an individual develops a fear of public speaking because she remembers being embarrassed and laughed at as a child when standing up to give a presentation to the class. This memory is still embedded in the body and every time this person has to give a presentation at work, she calls in sick as an excuse or asks someone else to do it. Because of this fear, this person does not get the chance to showcase her knowledge and talents to the company verbally and therefore company promotions are hard to obtain. EFT can help with the fight or flight stress response associated this fear.

Sometimes, when there is a negative event in our memory it gets trapped in the body and stored. The brain stops remembering right before the negative event began and resumes after it ends in order to protect us from that event. This is known as a trauma capsule. Symptoms of trauma include intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, dissociation and avoidance. Many times a person will go to the doctor complaining of back pain and it is usually just stress related to a negative event from the past. Too much stress can lead to a whole host of conditions and diseases in our body due to living in a constant state of worry. The perceived threat is not real. In the example above the individual perceives herself as a child again having to stand up and do an office presentation and fears being ridiculed by her peers at work.

EFT can help because the tapping targets the sympathetic nervous system associated with stress and provides relaxation to the body. The practitioner determines what tapping method to use based upon the client’s presenting issue and does a sequence of tapping involving phrases related to the event at hand. The client also tells the practitioner how intense the event is in the body on a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being severe. While tapping, it is not uncommon to remember other related events and this is known as daisy chaining. The goal of EFT is to help the client to feel better and not having to live in worry and fear. If there are extreme psychological issues or the client suffers from clinical depression then it is best to work with a psychologist or medical professional trained to handle these conditions.

Rose is a certified intermediate EFT practitioner and has been using EFT for several years and can attest to the positive results that she has seen in others as well as herself. Please note there is a 24 hour cancellation notice or the session will be considered already paid.