Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

I wanted to post this in my blog so it is available at any time for my clients.  This is such a useful and powerful tool for change that is fast and very effective.

When we have a negative emotion, thought, belief etc., it can cause a disruption in the energy flow in our bodies via our meridian lines, which correspond to all our major organs.  By tapping firmly about 5-7 times on the acupressure points mentioned below whilst thinking of what we want to clear we can release the negativity that is holding us back.

All the steps are here for you to start to use right away to clear negative emotions.

 

Aids to locating the Basic recipe Tapping Points:

KC: The Karate Chop point (abbreviated KC) is located at the centre of the fleshy part of the outside of your hand (either hand) between the top of the wrist and the base of the baby finger or….stated differently….the part of your hand you would use to deliver a karate chop.

TOH: On the top of the head. If you were to draw a line from one ear, over the head, to the other ear, and another line from your nose to the back of your neck, the TOH point is where those two lines would intersect.

EB: At the beginning of the eyebrow, just above and to one side of the nose. This point is abbreviated EB for beginning of the Eyebrow.

SE: On the bone bordering the outside corner of the eye.  This point is abbreviated SE for Side of the Eye.

UE: On the bone under an eye about 1 inch below your pupil.  This point is abbreviated UE for Under the Eye.

UN: On the small area between the bottom of your nose and the top of your upper lip.  This point is abbreviated UN for Under the Nose.

Ch: Midway between the point of your chin and the bottom of your lower lip.  Even though it is not directly on the point of the chin, we call it the chin point because it is descriptive enough for people to understand easily.  This point is abbreviated Ch for Chin.

CB: The junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone and the first rib meet.  To locate it, first place your forefinger on the U-shaped notch at the top of the breastbone (about where a man would knot his tie).  From the bottom of the U, move your forefinger down toward the navel 1 inch and then go to the left (or right) 1 inch.  This point is abbreviated CB for Collarbone even though it is not on the collarbone (or clavicle) per se.  It is at the beginning of the collarbone and we call it the collarbone point because that is a lot easier to say than “the junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone and the first rib meet.”

UA: On the side of the body, at a point even with the nipple (for men) or in the middle of the bra strap (for women).  It is about 4 inches below the armpit.  This point is abbreviated UA for Under the Arm.

Tapping Tips

These tips answer the most common questions.

  • Some of the tapping points have twin points on each side of the body. For example, the “eyebrow” point on the right side of the body has a twin point on the left side of the body. Years of experience have taught us that you only need to tap one of these twin points. However, if you have both hands free you can certainly tap on both sides for good measure.
  • You can also switch sides when you tap these points. For example, during the same round of The Basic Recipe, you can tap the “karate chop” point on your left hand and the eyebrow point on the right side of your body. This makes the tapping process more convenient to perform.
  • The tapping is done with two or more fingertips. This is so you can cover a larger area and thereby insure that your tapping covers the correct point.
  • While you can tap with the fingertips of either hand, most people use their dominant hand. For example, right handed people tap with the fingertips of their right hand while left handed people tap with the fingertips of their left hand.
  • You tap approximately 5 times on each point. No need to count the taps because anywhere between 3 and 7 taps on each point is adequate. The only exception is during the Setup step (explained later) where the Karate Chop Point is tapped continuously while you repeat some standard wording.
  • The process is easily memorized. After you have tapped the Karate Chop Point, the rest of the points go down the body (see the Sequence Points in the diagram above). The Eyebrow point, for example, is below the Top of the Head point. The Side of the Eye point is below the Eyebrow point. And so on down the body.

The 5 Steps of The Basic Recipe

EFT process so you can memorize it easily.

  1. Identify the Issue: All you do here is make a mental note of what ails you. This becomes the target at which you “aim” the Basic Recipe. Examples might be: Sore shoulder, my father embarrassing me at my age 8 birthday party, hitting that high singing note.  Be sure you are only targeting one issue at a time. As you will learn later, trying to combine issues in the process will compromise your results.

 

  1. Test the Initial Intensity: Here you establish a before level of the issue’s intensity by assigning a number to it on a 0-10 scale where 10 is the worst the issue has ever been and 0 is no problem whatsoever. This serves as a benchmark so we can compare our progress after each round of The Basic Recipe. If, for example, we start at an 8 and eventually reach a 4, then we know we have achieved a 50% improvement. The number of possible issues we can address with The Basic Recipe is endless and they don’t all fit into neat testing boxes. That is why we have an entire segment later on dedicated to testing. For this stage of your learning, however, here are some useful methods to help you access your issue(s) and arrive at your 0-10 numbers. They apply to most issues.

    For emotional issues, you can recreate the memories in your mind and assess their discomforts.
    For physical ailments you can simply assess the existing pain or discomfort.
    For performance issues you can attempt the desired performance level and measure how close you come to it.

 

  1. The Setup: The Setup is a process we use to start each round of tapping. By designing a simple phrase and saying it while continuously tapping the KC point, you let your system know what you’re trying to address.

When designing this phrase there are two goals to achieve:

1)  acknowledge the problem
2)  accept yourself in spite of it

We do this by saying:

“Even though I have this _______________, I deeply and completely accept myself”.

This ______________ is the problem you want to address, so you can just insert things like:

This sore shoulder:
“Even though I have this sore shoulder, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

This fear of spiders:
“Even though I have this fear of spiders, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

This humiliation at my eighth grade graduation:
“Even though I have this humiliation at my eighth grade graduation, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

This difficulty making free throws:
“Even though I have this difficulty making free throws, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

 

Not all of the issues will fit neatly into “Even though I have this ____________,” so you can use some flexibility when designing your Setup phrase. For example, instead of “this sore shoulder” you could say “Even though my shoulder hurts, I deeply and completely accept myself”. Or instead of “this humiliation at my eighth grade graduation” you could say “Even though my dad humiliated me at my eighth grade graduation.”

By using “Even though I have this _______________,” you will automatically choose something that represents your experience, your reaction, or a problem that you recognize as something that belongs to you, and that is an important feature.

We do not want to use EFT on someone else’s problem. For example, rather than, “Even though my son is addicted to drugs, I deeply and completely accept myself,” it’s better to focus on your own reaction which might be, “Even though I’m frustrated by my son’s drug addiction.” Or instead of “Even though my husband works too much…,” better to try something like, “Even though I feel alone when my husband stays late at the office…” We want to aim EFT at our part of the problem rather than trying to fix someone else’s problem.

By identifying the problem with this phrase, you “set up” the  behind the scenes so the tapping has something to resolve.

Important, Important, Important: The language that we use always aims at the negative. This is essential because it is the negative that creates the energy disruptions that The Basic Recipe clears (and thus brings peace to the system). By contrast, conventional methods and popular self-help books stress positive thinking and preach avoiding the negative. This sounds good but, for our purposes, it does little more than cover over the negative with pleasant sounding words. EFT, on the other hand, needs to aim at the negative so it can be neutralized.  This allows our natural positives to bubble up to the top.

  1. The Sequence: This is the workhorse part of The Basic Recipe that stimulates/balances the body’s energy pathways. It is the main part of the how to do EFT basics process.  To perform it, you tap each of the points shown in the Sequence Points diagram (see above) while saying a Reminder Phrase that keeps your system tuned into the issue. I list the points below followed by a description of the Reminder Phrase:

Top of the Head (TOH)
Beginning of the Eyebrow (EB)
Side of the Eye (SE)
Under the Eye (UE)
Under the Nose (UN)
Chin Point (CH)
Beginning of the Collarbone (CB)
Under the Arm (UA)

The Reminder Phrase is quite simple as you need only identify the issue with some brief wording. Depending on your issue, you might say the following at each tapping point….

“This sore shoulder”,
“My father embarrassed me”,
“This difficulty in singing that high note.”

  1. Test the Intensity Again: Finally, you establish an after level of the issue’s intensity by assigning a number to it on a 0-10 scale. You compare this with the before level to see how much progress you have made. If you are not down to zero then repeat the process until you either achieve zero or plateau at some level.