Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT (often known as Tapping or EFT Tapping), is a powerful therapeutic tool that can provide impressive results for a variety of issues. EFT operates on the premise that no matter what part of your life needs improvement, there are unresolved emotional issues either causing or contributing to the problem. It is commonly accepted in the world of energy psychology (now known as Cognitive/Somatic Energy Practices) that unresolved emotional stress can impede both healing and performance. The reason we say they are unresolved is that any negative experience can be stored in the body and continue affecting the way we handle new experiences.

Energy

Each organ in the body and the body as a whole produces its own electromagnetic field. This field is visible via imaging technology (fMRI). The field can be seen to change with the physical and emotional states of the individual. We often talk about energy without giving much thought to what we are experiencing: “She has such great energy, I love to be around her” or “He has such negative energy, I feel depleted when I’m around him.” The theory goes, that by accessing the energy system while addressing a negative event, EFT helps to smooth out disruptions in the energy system that arise from various traumas, experienced throughout life.

Energy Meridians & The Primo-Vascular System

The Chinese mapped a system of meridians or energy channels that run through the body like a network of hoses. According to the theory behind EFT, when we experience physical or emotional trauma, the flow of energy through one or more of these meridians becomes slowed, blocked, or reversed, as when a hose becomes kinked or twisted. Acupuncturists have, for centuries, used needles, placed along meridian lines, to restore the smooth flow of energy through the meridians to help people with both physical and emotional discomfort. Tapping works to achieve the same results, without the needles. When smooth energy flow is restored through the meridians, we feel more peaceful and our bodies are better able to heal.

The exact mechanism of EFT is still unknown. A recent hypothesis suggests that tapping on acupressure points may send signals to the brain via the Primo-vascular system. This controversial network of anatomical structures was found within the human body by a North Korean scientist, Bong-Han Kim, in the 1960s. This system consists of tiny, thread-like vessels called primo-vessels and nodes known as primo-nodes. The threads appear to run parallel to blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatic vessels. The threads may, somehow, work with the body’s connective tissue to transmit impulses from the acupressure points to the brain as we tap. Further investigation is needed to fully understand its nature.

Energy disruptions are easy to recognize. They often manifest physically. Consider that you produce tears when you are sad, adrenaline when you are scared, nausea when you are nervous, or blushing when you’re embarrassed. When those disruptions accumulate, and the energy system becomes less efficient, we start to see physical and emotional issues develop.

Compared to traditional therapy, we definitely talk about past events and seek resolution. However, by addressing the energy system and releasing the disruptions related to each memory, we often find that the resolution is faster and more permanent by adding the extra step.

In contrast to traditional Western approaches, EFT looks at emotional stress as the primary contributor to physical pain and disease. By identifying and releasing the effects of emotional stress in our lives, our bodies are better able to heal the symptoms.

Many energy techniques often focus on the overall issue or disruptions that might be present at the beginning of treatment. Those of us professionally trained in EFT hunt for the specific events and disruptions that are most likely to be causing or contributing to your issue. We bring them forward to be addressed.

Gary Craig, Founder of EFT

Gary Craig, a Stanford University-educated engineer, founded EFT in the mid-1990s as a self-help tool. As he realized the benefits to the people with whom he “tapped,” he magnanimously released EFT to the world without securing any copyrights or trademarks. Because EFT appears to be very simple, many people have sought to popularize it. This has resulted in many diluted versions of “EFT” being marketed on the Internet, via webinars & mass-tapping events, videos, and many books & DVDs.  While Emotional Freedom Techniques appear to be simple, there are many subtle nuances in working with the techniques that are best navigated with the help of a licensed professional who is fully trained in EFT to achieve maximum benefit. EFT is most effective when it is individualized for each client rather than relying on general scripts, as are used in videos.

There are many videos available online that offer to relieve people of any number of conditions from anxiety, depression, over-eating, poor self-esteem, performance issues, and others. These tap-along videos will focus on the symptoms of the various conditions and may produce some relief. We call this palliative EFT. The problem with this surface approach is that the source of the undesired condition remains unaddressed and symptoms are likely to recur.  Often, the net result is someone who says they “tried EFT” and it didn’t work. Many EFT practitioners do not have the skill or the permission granted by professional licensure to go deep into old memories and address the source of a patient’s negative life experience. This is where a mental health practitioner, skilled in EFT, can make a difference.

EFT operates on the premise that there are unresolved emotional issues either causing or contributing to any problem. The reason we say they are unresolved is that any negative experience can be stored in the body and continue affecting the way we handle new experiences. Here’s an example:

Let’s consider someone with a fear of public speaking. The fear didn’t spontaneously appear. It’s easy to imagine that there were events in his life that contributed to his fear. Maybe he was embarrassed in grade school, speaking in front of the class; maybe his ideas at work have been rejected in front of colleagues, or maybe his father used to criticize him when he spoke up. Can you see how all of these events, together, could lead to a fear of speaking in front of people?

If this person were to find a tap-along video for Fear of Public Speaking or a less-qualified practitioner, he would, most likely, be instructed to tap the acupressure points while saying, “Even though I have this fear of public speaking, I deeply and completely accept myself.” This would be considered a palliative or symptom-reducing approach. The person might experience a calming effect and, maybe, a sense of being able to move forward with public speaking. These effects are, most likely, temporary and the person might feel even more defeated, thinking that they had tried EFT and it didn’t work or, worse, think of themselves as more of a failure because it didn’t seem to work.

Using a clinical form of EFT, the specific events that support the presenting problem and the emotions, physical feelings & thoughts associated with them would be addressed individually, thereby increasing the likelihood of resolution of the problem altogether. Using versions of EFT that use canned scripts and work more generally is like cutting the tops off of the weeds in your garden. It may look like they’re gone but, after a while, they come springing back to life. Clinical EFT can help to collapse them for good.