When I first discovered EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) back in 2018, I was so amazed at its power that I trained to become a certified practitioner. I’d previously had therapy to help me heal from a slipped disc at the bottom of my spine and had also trained in NLP (neurolinguistic programming) as part of my diploma in Performance Coaching. But this took things to the next level… or rather it took them a lot deeper.
Here’s the reason why: whenever we experience a traumatic event (it could be a single event or something that is repeated), our body registers it somewhere, together with the emotions that we felt at that particular moment in time.
As the majority of us are extremely resilient, even if we don’t admit it, we can often tend to ‘just get on with life’… until life decides to remind us of a particular traumatic event, in the form of a limiting belief, lack of self-esteem, self-confidence and/or self-love, for example. Depending on what we experienced and on our individual capacity to heal, “traditional” coaching can be enough to accept this, process this and move forwards.
In my experience, there are times when more traditional coaching methods simply don’t work for deeply embedded trauma, fear, or stress because the obstacle pops up further down the path the client is on. In this blog, I’d like to share the origins of EFT, the benefits of having an EFT session and how it works.
The Origins of EFT
EFT was founded in 1991 by Gary Craig, a student of the late Roger Callahan, the father of tapping therapy. Callahan was one of the founders of energy psychology, which can be described as “acupuncture without needles”, and is a combination of exposure therapy and meridian point stimulation. If you don’t know what exposure therapy is, it involves exposing the patient/client to the source of anxiety or its context, without the intention to cause any danger.
As I’ve already mentioned, traumatic events trapped in our mind/body can have a negative impact on our life, and it is believed that energy psychology techniques can help us release these events more rapidly than if we simply talk about them. The process of tapping on meridian points is intended to send signals to the brain, to help it to regulate any physical and emotional reactions affecting our health and well-being.
The Benefits of EFT
Tapping on acupuncture points is thought to help stabilise cortisol levels and balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, thus reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, among other issues.
It has been found that EFT leads to a 68% decrease in physical problems, such as pain and disease, and a 45% decrease in psychological problems, like anxiety and depression, fear, and phobia.
The results can be very quick, and it sometimes only takes one EFT session to bust through a client’s blockages and move forwards. Here’s what some of my EFT clients have to say:
Carolanne “My session with you was enlightening, unexpected and deeply healing.”
Sarah “Sarah guided and supported me beautifully throughout the process of releasing the energy of some very painful childhood experiences, and I felt so much lighter afterwards.”
Lucille “Straight after our session, I felt my energy begin to move again, releasing blockages that were stuck in my body.”
How EFT Works
So, how does EFT work? One of the wonders of EFT is that you can practice it alone, without any former training, whenever you feel stressed or anxious about something relatively minor. You can access my introductory video explaining what it is and how to do an EFT sequence here:
The steps below are to be followed if you are doing this alone. They will vary if you have an EFT session with me, as I’m trained to deal with trauma and much deeper issues. Part of my expertise is the ability to create many different reminder phrases and introduce them at the right time during the tapping process.
I’m also trained in making sure that you’re safe during and after the session and dealing with extremely intense emotions that can come up while tapping certain meridian points. When working with me, you will repeat everything I say and will be guided throughout the whole process. I also use some NLP techniques to identify and get to the heart of the problem and the trapped emotions.
The 7 Step Self-Help Process
There are 7 steps to the self-help process, and it’s important to follow them in this order:
- Recognize the problem: First of all, you must identify your problem. It can be physical or emotional, but focus on the issue that is troubling you, for example feeling stressed about losing clients.
- Create a reminder phrase: After identifying the issue, make a short phrase that summarises your problem. Fix it in your mind, so you get focused during the rest of the process, e.g. I’m really stressed about losing clients.
- Rate the issue: Now, rate the intensity of your problem on a 0 – 10 scale and understand how important the issue is. 10 indicates that your stress is through the roof. It’s not uncommon for my clients to begin with an intensity of 8 or 9.
- Set up an affirmation: Create a self-affirming statement, which is positive. Repeat the statement frequently so that you will feel better when you think about your problem. For example, “Even though I am really stressed about losing clients, I deeply and completely accept myself”. Repeat the statement as you tap on the meridian points mentioned below, in step 5.
- Perform the tapping sequence: The tapping process should cover all 8 meridian points of your body in the following order. You will begin with the top of the eyebrow, then move to the side of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, under the chin, under the collar bone, under the arm, and finally the top of the head. The tapping must be very gentle, but it should be constant and firm taps. Use your index and middle fingers to tap.
- Re-rate the issue: Now, rate your issue on the same scale from 0 – 10. The aim of this reassessment is to see how much better you feel and to ideally reach an intensity of 1 or 2 maximum.
- Repeat the process if necessary: If you still struggle with the same issue, you can either change your affirmation statement with some more positive sentence and/or repeat the whole process again.
I only recommend doing EFT on your own for relatively recent, non-traumatic events. Click here for my latest video called Tapping Into Joy, which will guide you through the emotional scale to reach a feeling of joy. If you’re struggling with childhood trauma, intense stress or deep-rooted fear, for example, then please reach out to me, either by sending me a message or booking your SOUL call, a 30-minute call to explore how I can best help you.
