EFT

"Emotional Freedom Techniques"

Often termed “one of the most effective healing techniques available today”! EFT (“Emotional

Freedom Techniques”) is sometimes referred to as “acupuncture without needles”, since some of the same points used in acupuncture are used in this simple but powerful healing method. EFT involves light finger tapping on the endpoints of a dozen or so acupuncture meridians, meanwhile focussing the mind on the issue that one wants to change. EFT is an offshoot of the new field of “energy psychology”, for which California psychologist Roger Callahan is given much credit for originating.

I (CPR) learned about EFT at an energy conference in the summer of 2000. I found it interesting, but was not sure it had a role in my practice. Only after a string of successes did it seem that EFT was not only simple and gentle, but also powerful, painfree and long lasting. Now, EFT is the first tool I turn to for many clients, and the track record of some 90+ percent successes has made it a mainstay of what I do every day.

How does EFT work? Let’s take a simple example of its use: Here’s a real life example from our files. “Viola” came to my office some 8 years ago. She and her husband were planning a vacation trip to Alaska, and part of the trip involved a pleasure boat excursion along the shores of this huge state. But... Viola was ....TERRIFIED of the thought of being anywhere where her feet were not touching the ground! I explained to her this somewhat “weird” method of tapping on a dozen or so points located on the face and upper body, and she agreed, reluctantly, to give it a try.

I asked her to repeat a few phrases dealing with this fear, such as, “...Even though I am TERRIBLY afraid of being in a boat on the water, I love myself deeply and completely...” as we tapped gently on a certain acupuncture point on the side of her hand. Then I had her tap on another dozen points on the face and upper body, as we repeated a few words which reminded her of her issue-- words like “ my fear of boats, my fear of being on water “. We repeated words such as these as we tapped repeatedly on the EFT points. Twenty minutes later it appeared that the intensity of this fear was gone. We checked it in several different ways but it seemed that Viola was “good to go”. She was happy and confident. Two weeks later I received a note from her. It seemed that the TRIP HAD GONE SPLENDIDLY for her-- not even any seasickness while on the boat!

Viola’s experience is pretty typical of most clients with whom I use EFT. Sometimes the issue is one of apprehension-- Viola had never been on a boat, and she didn’t like the idea of it at all! At other times, a client has already HAD an intense experience,and the memories are impacting her life, big time. Suppose that you’re walking down a city street at night and some kid with a knife demands your purse. You give him the purse, he runs off, but that’s not the end of the experience for you. It’s likely that for several days, weeks, months, perhaps even years, you’re going to be reluctant to walk down any darkened street because you intensely remember that experience. (Our soldiers’ experiences in the wars of Vietnam and Iraq are extreme examples of this sort of thing.) When we use EFT to work with such an experience, we DO NOT attempt to erase the memory of the experience. What we DO do is to eliminate the INTENSITY of the experience, so that the client remembers the experience as though it were a few paragraphs in a mystery book they read last year, or as though it were a scene in a movie they saw a while back. And we’re usually pretty darned successful at doing it.

Do the effects last? Yes, usually they do. Now, if the person who was mugged has ANOTHER experience a year later, then the EFT therapy may need to be repeated. But barring that, yes, the effects tend to be long lasting.

Are there side effects to the use of EFT? No negative side effects have been reported. Nor, to my knowledge, have any of my clients experienced such. Positive benefits, for sure. Negative? Uh uh.

Is EFT painfull? Do you have to “spill your guts” to the therapist? Nope. My clients go through maybe one box of Kleenex in a year. If there is a painful issue that needs to be resolved, we usually have ways to work around it, so that most of the pain does NOT need to be experienced.

Is EFT confidential? Yep, pretty much. I tell my clients that IF there are very personal parts of their stories that they really don’t want anyone else to know about, that’s not a problem. So long as THEY know the story, there is no need for ME to know.

You’ve already gathered by now that EFT can be quite fast in some cases. Some have suggested that it may be some five times faster than conventional psychotherapy and perhaps 50% more effective. I dunno about that; I’ve not done conventional psychotherapy. All I know is that if I’m unable to “clear” a specific issue for a client in a half hour, I was probably not paying attention. (Exception: Some clients seem to have “layer upon layer” of issues under some single label such as “depression”, or “shame”, or “poor self esteem”. In this case, it will likely take longer-- more issues to clear.)

NOW, lest you get the impression that “treating emotional issues” is all we do, let me expand upon the applications just a bit. Many therapists (myself included) are of the opinion that WHEN a client comes through the door with a PHYSICAL issue (e.g. sore joint, back pain, headache, blurred vision, etc.), it is very likely that there is an EMOTIONAL issue associated with the physical issue. Since we seem to be pretty skilled at clearing the emotional issues fairly quickly, we often will attempt to identify the emotional issue(s) and work on them first thing. Once the emotional issues have been resolved with EFT (or occasionally with hypnosis), it seems that the physical issues are then well on the way to being resolved themselves! Consequently, whenever a client comes through the door, EFT is often the first “treatment” we try, whether physical, emotional, mental or even spiritual. EFT has helped us work with bed wetting, finger biting, back pain, allergies, fears, phobias, digestive issues, MS, cancer,..... the list goes on. EFT is not always ALL we need-- sometimes we add hypnosis, or acupuncture, or Qigong to the therapy--, but EFT nearly always helps the client, and does so quickly and painlessly. (BTW: My personal feeling is that, not withstanding that our culture has developed computers and other kinds of techie, "left brained" gadgets, we are fundamentally EMOTIONAL CREATURES. Therefore, it makes sense to me that our issues may be fundamentally EMOTIONAL in nature, and hence resolvable by "emotion based" methods such as EFT. )

You might also like to know that EFT seems to work quite admirably by telephone. I have even used it by email. So, while our little clinic is located way out on the prairies of SW Minnesota, help can be as near as your telephone.

Read up on how EFT may be able to help you. You can find more on the international EFT website: www.emofree.com/ Click on the EFT video on this page. Give us a call, and we can do work over the phone.

By Charles Reinert ND, PhD, CHt, EFT-ADV HTH therapist