Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
I have been involved in the field of personal development for many years with a firm background in alternative approaches and holistic counselling, and I believe that EFT is one of easiest and best self healing methods available. I've been amazed with the results I have witnessed with this powerful yet simple process.
Until I trained in Applied Kinesiology, (EFT was developed from Applied Kinesiology) I worked almost exclusively using EFT and other Meridian Energy Therapies with clients, because I have always looked for fast, effective ways to assist people to make the changes they desire,…….and EFT does just that.
When I first came across EFT, I thought it sounded too good to be true. I had my first "Aha" moment after applying a few "rounds" of EFT on my son, enabling him to sleep the whole night through in his own bed. Bliss!
Using EFT, I've also assisted others with relief of phobias, traumatic memories, guilt, grief, fear, anger and physical ailments (often in minutes).
EFT isn't perfect, of course. I never got 100%. But it usually works well and the results are sometimes spectacular.
EFT has an identifiable "family tree". The systematic use of our natural tendency to contact comfort spots on our bodies in order to soothe and heal ourselves was introduced into ancient Chinese medicine with the invention of acupuncture. Using needles on spots on the “energy meridians” or energy pathways, as they were called, the originators of this ancient healing practice refined their skills over many centuries. They did not, however, develop a way of using it for emotional problems, that is, they did not view it as a psychological treatment.
In the twentieth century, Dr. George Goodheart, a well known chiropractor, founded a branch of chiropractic based on a precise method of testing the body for information about its own needs. The method, known as Applied Kinesiology, is today used worldwide and has many facets, not all of which are relevant to the development of EFT, but are nevertheless extremely interesting in their own right.
Dr. Goodheart then learned about acupuncture in 1962; he was intrigued with the possibilities and soon introduced acupuncture into Applied Kinesiology and, substituting for the use of needles, he found that he could obtain the same results by applying pressure to acupoints as well as tapping on them.
Building on the work of Goodheart, in the 1970's an Australian psychiatrist, John Diamond, M.D., took this discovery a step further by creating a treatment he termed “Behavioural Kinesiology”. It was a derivative of Goodheart’s method which used affirmations (positive self-statements or thoughts) among other techniques, and the contacting of selected acupuncture points, to treat emotional problems. This promising development was to foreshadow the creation of the “meridian-based therapies”, in the forefront of which we find EFT.
Also branching out from Applied Kinesiology, in the 1980's, an American psychologist, Dr. Roger Callahan, refined the use of the tapping procedure, (TFT - Thought Field Therapy) for emotional problems by combining the tapping with focusing on the problem at hand, and a full fledged therapeutic method was born. Callahan asserted that if a person is focusing on a specific fear of their own at the time they tap, that fear can be removed permanently.
His new treatment had come into being because Dr. Callahan, in an effort to find better answers to some of the problems his patients faced, had studied the meridian system. However, it was an unexpected occurrence which led to the clinical discovery which was to foreshadow the development of EFT.
Callahan had been working for two years with “Mary”, a patient of his who had such a strong fear of water that she could not even get into a bathtub without experiencing severe anxiety. Although he had tried many anxiety reduction techniques with her, progress had been slow and discouraging. Mary could not even approach the swimming pool on the grounds of his office, or allow water to contact her body, without experiencing near panic.
One day, while they were working with this fear in his office, Mary indicated that the fearful feeling was located in her stomach. There happens to be an acupuncture point located directly under the eye, which in traditional acupuncture, is linked to the stomach meridian, and accordingly Dr. Callahan asked her to tap on that point. He did so on the assumption that this manoeuvre might balance a possible disturbance in her energy system and thereby help her lessen her stomach symptoms.
Mary agreed to tap under her eye and did so. Then a totally unexpected thing happened. Instead of merely experiencing relief from the stomach symptoms, she called out in surprise that her fear of water was suddenly gone! Callahan didn’t take this too seriously at first because it seemed unlikely, but when he saw her get up and run toward the swimming pool and when she reached it begin to splash water on her face, he took notice.
At this point he became somewhat alarmed because he knew Mary couldn't swim and he ran after her to make sure she didn't fall into the pool. It turned out, however, that strange as this might seem, the process of tapping under her eyes while she was talking about her fear of water, had led to the elimination of her fear on a permanent basis, a dramatic instance of what Gary Craig, who was later to develop this surprising discovery of Callahan’s into the tapping method known as EFT, calls a “one minute wonder”.
Consistent with, and probably influenced by psychiatrist John Diamond, M.D,’s earlier discovery that stimulation of certain acupuncture points can bring about changes in emotional states as well as in physical conditions, Callahan decided to explore the possibility of using strategic tapping on certain meridian points to treat other phobias. While not all the phobias that Callahan then tried this out on yielded to the tapping procedure as rapidly as Mary’s had (although surprisingly some did!) her experience marked an important turning point. A new technology had been born, that of systematically tapping on strategic spots on the body while repeating key phrases out loud. This system could bring about beneficial changes in one's emotional state, and thereby treat psychological problems.
Callahan pursued his new approach and since his method built upon some of the clinical observations in Applied Kinesiology which uses muscle testing to determine the appropriateness of any form of treatment (among other applications of this method), he also employed muscle testing in his procedure.
He used specific sequences of acupoints for different emotional problems. According to him, there was a correct sequence for every emotional issue and this could be determined for a particular individual through the use of muscle testing. Later he devised specific tapping sequences which he called “algorithms”, which were considered targeted treatments for various emotional problems. Using this method of treatment, which he originally called “The Callahan Techniques”, (now known as “Thought Field Therapy” or “TFT”) Callahan achieved some remarkable results in his clinical work over a period of years.
However, despite startling effectiveness in many cases, his technique had certain drawbacks. Muscle testing for the appropriate points to tap on is not only cumbersome but must be done by someone expert in muscle testing so it is by no means a self-help technique. Besides, it was not clear that such precision as he used was necessary. What would happen, for example, if one were to have a person tap on all 12 of the meridian end-points (or some other responsive points on the body) every time they did a round of the treatment, thereby by passing the necessity for muscle testing altogether? In other words, the question was whether one could “cover the waterfront” each time one tapped by tapping on
It occurred to a few of us that this might be an easier and quicker procedure and one that people could easily do at home. Gary Craig, an engineer and personal performance coach, was one of the people who wondered about this.
Gary Craig developed a single algorithm method called Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
When Gary worked with EFT, he found it to be every bit as effective as the more elaborate and time consuming approach that Callahan had developed, and also easier to learn. He then proceeded to construct what is presently the leading website in the energy psychology field, and is the acknowledged master of the technique he developed.
What is EFT?
In simplest terms, EFT is best described as an emotional form of acupuncture except there are no needles! As people experience EFT, most report a profound easing of stress-producing emotions like anxiety and fear, anger and frustration, sadness, even cravings.
EFT involves a simple process of tapping on stress relief points (actually, acupuncture points) on the body after “tuning into” the issue that you want resolving. You do the tapping yourself and, as you learn to “tap away” the negative emotional charge, you easily learn the procedures of EFT during treatment, enabling you to better achieve and manage your own health and happiness in the future.
Many people are able to go deeper into their issues as EFT “peels the layers of the onion,” and at those levels, real transformation can take place. You may be aware that certain situations upset you. It’s as if we have “emotional wiring” programmed into us from prior experiences. EFT helps us to “rewire” the emotional patterns within so that we are no longer triggered in painful ways.
It is literally “emotional freedom” to feel different, lighter, less burdened by the past, less susceptible to reacting with painful emotion.
Further, EFT often provides relief for a very wide range of physical symptoms. This, too, is abundantly clear in case histories, which provide unmistakable evidence of the link between our physical ailments and our emotional issues.
YOU REALLY DON’T!
How to apply EFT: http://www.creativekinesiology.com/applyingeft.htm
Correct Tapping: http://www.creativekinesiology.com/eftcorrecttapping.htm
Personal Peace Procedure: http://www.creativekinesiology.com/eftpeaceprocedure.htm
Choices method: http://www.creativekinesiology.com/eftchoices.htm
Psychological Reversals: http://www.creativekinesiology.com/eftreversals.htm
When EFT doesn't work: http://www.creativekinesiology.com/eftdoesntwork.htm
For more information on EFT or to find an EFT practitioner to work with, please check the founder, Gary Craig's website: http://www.emofree.com
Disclaimer: http://www.creativekinesiology.com/disclaimer.htm