How does EFT work?
The short answer is that we still don’t really know for sure! However since most of us also don’t really understand how electricity works, and yet we learn as a result of the light coming on when we flick the switch that it does, that needn’t stand in the way of us using it.
EFT is based on the foundational statement that:
“The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system.”
We have many channels of energy that run throughout our bodies, the channels that, using acupuncture, are unblocked via inserting needles into certain points along the channel. Whenever we suffer something too difficult for us to resolve emotionally it can result in a disruption in the free flow of energy throughout these channels. If blockages to the flow remain over many years physical illness can result.
Clearing the blockages allows us to release all the pent up emotions that we were unable to process at the time of the event and doing so often results in healing of any physical illnesses that the stress contributed to.
An alternative to inserting needles into the acupuncture points to clear the blockages is gently tapping on the points while using the EFT procedure. While acupuncture is an excellent method, it takes many years to learn. One of the advantages of EFT is that it is very simple and quick to learn, and can in many cases be applied as a self help tool without assistance from a trained practitioner. In some cases EFT is also able to assist someone to heal even though they have previously had acupuncture treatments with no success.
Fortunately we don’t really need to understand how EFT works to be able to get up and running with it.
If however you have a burning desire to understand more of the theories behind how it works, you can read some of the (very technical) articles on the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology site at: (http://www.energypsych.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=85). If you would like to read results of some of the preliminary research into the Energy Psychology methods (the group of methods that EFT falls into), you can read “Energy Psychology – A Review of the Preliminary Evidence by David Feinstein, Ph.D (http://www.innersource.net/energy_psych/epi_research.htm).
Doesn’t it just stir up old stuff better left alone?
A common response to EFT goes along the lines of, “Doesn’t this dredging for old emotional wounds just stir stuff up that is better left alone?” It is important to address this up front for anyone considering EFT who has this concern. To answer it is important to look at it from two angles:
1. With EFT there is no need to “dredge up” old emotional stuff. We simply tap on the current challenges we face and follow the trail of what comes up. Where we need to we ask ourselves what the earliest memory of feeling like this is, in order to be able to tap on specific events and memories that could be contributing to our current challenges. As we do this there is no need to re-experience the old emotions, we are simply tapping on the events to clear them. If you find it difficult to do this without being upset by old emotions surfacing read the section on Healing a Major Trauma.
2. It is very common for us to believe that we have dealt with something already, and because we are not consciously aware of it still causing us challenges, that it would be better left alone.
Unfortunately our conscious mind is only aware of a fraction of what our subconscious mind stores for us, so our not being consciously aware of a problem does not mean that there isn’t one. It is very common when tapping to find old memories surfacing that we thought we had dealt with, that in actual fact still have an emotional charge. When the emotions that we were not able to process around the event are still stored in our subconscious mind and body, they have a tendency to cause us to react to things in our lives or experience emotions, despite us not realising what is going on.
When we clear the emotional component of these old events they are no longer able to dominate our emotional landscape, and we become free to live with true joy. It is interesting to note that those with serious auto-immune illnesses, by way of example, tend to be people with high levels of emotional trauma in their early childhoods. While this is an extreme example of how unprocessed emotions continue to haunt us until we clear them, by showing up as physical examples, this can be a factor for all of us with the everyday challenges we faced growing up, which can eventually manifest as symptoms in our bodies.
An example of this can be seen in the author’s own life:
When I heard on an EFT training DVD that allergies are often caused by not feeling safe in the world, I struggled to comprehend how this could be relevant to me. I had been on large amounts of prescribed medication over many years as a child and teenager, and I was convinced that my allergic reactions were a result of damage done to my immune system by both the illness and the drugs I took in an attempt to heal. I had no conscious awareness of not feeling safe in the world, and basically wrote this off as being irrelevant.
A little while later, while tapping on something unrelated, I remembered my mother saying that I was born in a lot of distress, and I wondered whether perhaps I might have arrived into the world feeling unsafe. When I tapped on my birth I had no conscious memories of it (obviously!) and felt that it was a waste of time. However while tapping I felt a lot of emotions surface and resolve, and the end result was that I have not had an allergic reaction to anything in the 18 months since (and in the past I reacted severely to a lot of different foods and chemicals.)
(To read more about this see Section IV - Why I am Passionate about EFT.)
Section II – How to do EFT
The Basics
There are four main parts to the EFT process, and it’s really important not to skip any parts when you are first starting. The method presented here is the shortcut method, there is a longer method that you can learn from the free EFT manual at www.emofree.com if you want to, but practitioners rarely use it now, and find the shortcut just as effective in most cases. If you would like to watch a short demonstration of the tapping sequence you can watch EFT Master Judy Byrne demonstrating the sequence at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b15Zhu6fEdg
If you would like to tap along with some audio files with the author leading you through the process, to help you to learn it, after reading the basics below you can download and listen to four short files from http://www.selfheal4me.com/Books.php
Step 1 - Estimate severity
It’s a good idea to start by estimating the severity of the problem on a scale of 0 to 10, 10 being serious distress or pain, and 0 none. A lot of people get hung up on this but it’s just the first number that comes into your mind, as a benchmark so you can see if it’s going down. For more detail on this if required, see Appendix N.
Step 2 - The Setup Phrase
We all have aspects of our subconscious that are not ready to heal, because part of us thinks it’s safer to stay as we are. The setup phrase is designed to help all parts of us to be ready to heal.
(Note that this concept is covered in more depth in the section entitled When you want to heal but…
When first learning EFT the best thing to do is just use the standard phrase and see what happens when you do the tapping. You will only need to explore this further if you find that the standard approach is not clearing issues for you quickly.)
With the setup phrase, you tap on the Karate Chop point (see picture on next page) with the index and middle fingers of your dominant hand (or any other way that feels right), while you say (preferably out loud, but in your mind if necessary):
“Even though I have <this problem> I completely love and accept myself” 3 times
For example “Even though I have this throbbing pain in my lower back, I completely love and accept myself.”
Or
“Even though I have this fear of heights, I completely love and accept myself”.
This is often an important step. Some people want to miss it out because they feel its crazy accepting something they don’t want, but if we don’t accept ourselves the way we are, we often can’t get to where we want to go. It is also really important to be as specific as possible with this. So for instance, instead of
“this pain in my back”, describe it as exactly as you can, for example “this throbbing and pulsing pain in the centre of my lower back” etc. If you find yourself very resistant to saying “I completely love and accept myself” read Appendix H and try the process there.
Step 3 - Tapping the points
Now go through and tap each of the spots in the diagram below, about 5 to 7 times on each spot, while saying <this problem> at each spot. For example, “this throbbing lower back pain” or “this fear of heights”.
Note that the points start at the top of the head and then you move sequentially down the body, finishing under the arm. (The gamut point is for another process detailed later in the book). Alternatively some people like to start with the eyebrow point and finish by coming back up to the top of the head. Either way is fine.
Note that once you have mastered the basic tapping sequence, you don’t have to stick with saying the same thing on each point. You can simply say however it is that you are feeling about the issue as you tap through the points. Say whatever comes to mind, and really let yourself go with the flow.
Top of head - the highest point if you trace your finger up the midline from your nose
End of eyebrow
Side of eye (on bone)
Under eye (on bone directly under pupil) Under nose
Chin (midway between
bottom lip & chin) Collarbone (the junction
where the sternum,
collarbone and 1st rib meet
Under arm (on side of body, at a point even with nipple (for men) or in the middle of bra strap (for women)
Karate point (anywhere on part of hand you would do a karate chop with)
Gamut (see text for description)
Important: As you are tapping on the points, be mindful of any memories or emotions or thoughts or feelings in your body that surface, and incorporate them with either the current or the next round of tapping. As we tap our subconscious mind often gives us clues on what we need to tap on next, and even if they initially seem unrelated, it pays to trust that they have come up for a reason and tapping on them will most likely be useful.
Step 4 – Continuation
Now you estimate the severity again, and if it has gone down, but isn’t zero, you do another round, but for this and any subsequent rounds you adjust the wording as follows:
For the setup phrase it becomes “Even though I still have some of <this problem>, I completely love and accept myself”, and the reminder phrase becomes “remaining <this problem>” (each time with <this problem>
replaced with your specific pain or fear etc).
So to continue the above example you would tap on the karate point with: “Even though I still have this throbbing pain in my lower back, I deeply and completely love and accept myself”. Then continue as above with all the tapping points, saying “this remaining throbbing lower back pain”, and keep going until it’s down to 0, which often only takes one or two rounds.
Be sure to incorporate any memories, thoughts, emotions or feelings in your body that come up as you are tapping, into the current or subsequent rounds.
Alternatives to Tapping
In some situations it is easier to use the Touch and Breathe Method instead of tapping. To do this simply touch each point with your fingertips and take a deep breath, as you go through the sequence. Another alternative that is particularly useful if you are in a public place is to simply imagine that you are tapping on the points. Studies have shown that the same parts in the brain light up whether you are actually doing a particular activity or simply imagining yourself doing it. It can be useful to do the tapping physically several times before trying this technique, so that the body already knows the activity.
But that’s way too simple…
Many of us tend to write the simple off as not being powerful enough to really help us. The author was guilty of this the first time she was introduced to EFT, and is so incredibly thankful that she had an opportunity to revisit it several years later. After searching for many more answers to her chronic illness in the intervening years, three sessions of EFT, without the assistance of a practitioner, completely resolved her physical illness! If you would like to learn more from this story see Section IV Why I am so Passionate about EFT.
When we first learn EFT many of us tend to be concerned about what language we should use for the part to replace <this problem> in the standard phrase. It is important to understand how EFT works and then you can relax when it comes to the language you use. EFT works by you tuning in to an issue in your life, and tapping while you tune in to it. The words that we use in the tapping phrases are simply to help you to tune into the issue. We generally do the setup phrase just to be sure that we are ready to heal, however in a lot of cases this isn’t necessary. It is generally quicker to do the setup at the start of each round than to use a method to determine whether or not it is required. If something has just happened that has made you very angry, it pays to still say the setup statement to be sure that all parts of you are ready to heal, but as you will already be tuned in to the issue, it’s likely that you won’t need a reminder phrase. By simply tapping you will probably clear the blockages associated with it. If however you are not really tuned into an issue when you tap on it, the phrases help you to tune in to what you want to work on.
It can be really helpful to have a couple of sessions with an experienced EFT practitioner by phone or in person to get up and running with EFT, however this is often not necessary at all. One of the great benefits of working with a good EFT practitioner is simply that you will realise that more often than not, all they are doing is taking the words you said to them and reflecting them back to you as tapping phrases. (See Appendix L for helpful ideas for when you can’t work with a practitioner.)
Simple and Powerful Method for working alone
For a simple way to start working on your own, sit down and write all you can think of about an issue, as if you are describing it to an EFT practitioner who doesn’t know anything about you. Write everything you know about the issue, using the following questions as guidelines of areas to explore:
• Describe the challenge you are having in as much detail as you can
• How does it feel to have this challenge in your life?
• What is your theory as to why you still have this challenge in your life?
• When did the problem first occur in your life?
• What was happening at that time (see above question)?
• What fears, worries or concerns do you have in relation to this issue?
• Is there anything else that comes to mind as you write about this that you could include?
The next step is to take every sentence you have written and turn it into a tapping statement as detailed above (simply add “Even though” to the start of each sentence, and “I deeply and completely love and accept myself” to the end of each sentence). Then look through the sentences and group them into groups of up to three statements that seem to go together, and tap through each group, being sure to note what comes to mind as you are tapping and incorporate that into the tapping. This can be a very simple and powerful way to do your own healing.
How long should I tap for?
A common question when someone first learns EFT is, “How long should I tap for on each issue?” The answer to this is basically as long as you need in order to clear the issue*, however simply tapping the same thing over and over when you aren’t seeing any movement isn’t the most effective way to work. If you have a forest full of trees that you want to cut down and you are trying to fell them with a blunt saw, it will be hard work and slow going. Just as with cutting down trees it pays to stop and sharpen a blunt saw, the same applies to EFT – if you have been tapping several rounds on something and the intensity isn’t coming down, it pays to stop and “sharpen the saw”. There are several ways you can do this:
1. Ask yourself whether you are being specific enough. If you are tapping on a very global issue (for example, “Even though I have bad self-esteem…”), it’s often the equivalent of trying to cut down a tree with a blunt saw. Make your phrases more specific and you may find yourself making much quicker progress.
2. Is the setup statement working for you? When you tap with “and I deeply and completely love and accept myself”, does it feel OK, or are you finding major resistance and a feeling that you are just saying the words but don’t really buy into them? If the latter, try the process in Appendix H
“Clearing Blocks to EFT”.
3. If you’ve been tapping through various aspects of an issue over a period of time and are finding that the issue itself just doesn’t seem to be budging, try reading the Common Challenges section
3. If you’ve been tapping through various aspects of an issue over a period of time and are finding that the issue itself just doesn’t seem to be budging, try reading the Common Challenges section