EFT: Emotional Freedom Technique

"...I think that your EFT workshop was both fascinating and, much to my immense surprise, effective in reducing my leg, neck and back joint pains. My prior remedy has been somewhere between 60-300 mg of codeine daily. ...Upon my arrival in San Jose I waited for my wife to pick me up... An hour passed and no wife. ..I walked the eight or so miles back to the office... and did a little meditative EFT on my aching feet which at least kept them operational. The point of the story is that my leg muscles feel a bit looser and in better tone and the arthritic joints never got sore. My feel stopped bothering me after an hour or two. Today my joints feel fine, yesterday they were OK, as is my back, in spite of carrying a bag with books along with me, and today I feel fine. So much for your bizarre tapping techniques -- if I can be half this effective with people I'll be happy! Darn right you can quote me! I'm impressed!"

David Armentrout, PhD, CHT

“... I thought of you and felt very grateful since I knew EFT inside and out... THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! You were the one who taught me EFT and I have never forgotten it. I have used it with clients and I use it for myself. I have been and will always be eternally grateful to you for teaching it to me (along with others)...So thanks to you and to Gary Craig.”
Linda Compton, Personal Life Consultant
 

EFT is an emotional healing technique (trauma, PTSD, phobias, grief, anger, guilt, anxiety, etc.) which is also capable of dramatically relieving many physical symptoms (pain, headaches, asthma and more). It often does the job in minutes and its results are usually long lasting. It frequently provides relief where other techniques fail and has a high success rate (typically 80% or better). Side effects are almost always positive.

EFT is versatile and has been used confidently by hundreds of therapists on thousands of clients with successes on even the most difficult problems. It is based on a revolutionary new discovery that violates most of the beliefs within conventional psychology. It contends that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system. With remarkable consistency, EFT relieves symptoms by a seemingly strange (but scientific) routine which employs tapping with the fingertips on various body locations. This tapping serves to balance energy meridians which become disrupted when the client thinks about or becomes involved in an emotionally disturbing circumstance. Once balanced, the client cannot get upset about the circumstance no matter how hard they try. The actual memory stays but the charge is gone. Typically, this result is lasting. Cognition often changes in a healthy direction as a natural consequence of the healing.

More complicated issues often have a number of different aspects to them. For instance, we may be sad, angry and hurt about the breakup of a relationship. Each of these aspects needs to be balanced. When working with long standing patterns, you may find that more aspects show up over the course of the day or week. It is important to address each aspect as it arises. I have been using this technique with most of my clients with exceptionally powerful results. I also used it for myself to clear an old belief that, in the past, could quickly bring me to tears. I believed that if I were in a relationship I would be a burden. I have had quite a bit of surgery in my life and there is an outside chance that I may need more. Whenever I was in a serious relationship this idea that I was a burden would surface. Even though I had felt this way for a number of years, in about ten minutes I completely eliminated the emotional charge. Not only did I discharge the negative feelings, but I had an incredible feeling of joy and laughter. When I think about this situation now, I actually feel like laughing. That was months ago and I continue to feel joy and laughter rather than sadness. It is an amazingly effective technique even for issues that have continued for decades.

In addition to the training that I have taken, I have spent many hours viewing a video series on EFT. One of the most profound effects has been with Vietnam vets. Gary Craig, one of the developers of this technique, spent six days at the Veteran's Hospital in Los Angeles. He worked with vets who had suffered from PTSD since the 1960s. In some cases they were unable to work, they suffered from insomnia and constant nightmares. One vet described needing four hours to review, in great detail, every horrible memory from his Vietnam experience before he could go to sleep each night.

These men were literally haunted by their memories. The emotional charge was as strong today as it had been at the time it occurred. In every case the emotional charge was completely released. They could still remember he events but, as one vet reported, it was as if he were watching a movie. He was detached -- as if it had happened to someone else. EFT is incredible. Most of these men had been in counseling for years without getting this relief.

I worked with one client who lacked the motivation to study for the bar exam. He had already failed the exam three times and was very discouraged by the time we met for our first appointment. He did not know why he lacked the motivation to study so that is where we started with the EFT. We tapped for "even though I don't know why, I don't study..." And suddenly he did know. His fears about becoming a lawyer came to the surface. We continued tapping as each new aspect arose and cleared them out. He was understandably worried in his final session that he no longer had enough time to study enough to pass the Bar. However, by tapping for his belief that he could not study enough in the time left before the exam, he completely released that belief. To date, he does not have the test results. However, he scored in the 80s and even one 88 on the practice exams -- for the first time ever!

Here are just some of the issues that EFT works well with:

This technique can also relieve physical pain. I used EFT with a new client over the phone recently. She had a migraine which disappeared in about five minutes. On the video series I saw people with chronic pains and limited movement who were able to move and be free of pain within minutes. Often, when the emotional issues are addressed with this process, the physical component heals spontaneously. After all, we are a mind/body. One unit which works together; what affects one affects the other. Conversely, relieving physical pain often releases past emotional traumas.

As I have learned more about EFT and used it with my clients I am continually in awe at its effectiveness. My clients can be crying with heart wrenching sobs and in a few minutes they are calm and peaceful. They can not get upset again, even if they try. It is almost too good to be true but I see it working again and again.

I am also happy to report that the technique combines well with hypnotherapy. It is also very powerful to use this tapping process with a client who is in hypnosis. Once the emotional charge is released I ask my client to imagine moving forward in time to see themselves without this influence. They often see themselves behaving in completely new, emotionally healthy ways. The subconscious does not know the difference between that visualization and what is real so the new behaviors can become a natural way of being for this person.

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