This is an adjunct therapy, for physical or emotional pain, fear and anxiety. It is not a substitute for appropriate medical or mental health care. Pain is a sign/symptom that should not be ignored, therefore for serious mental health or medical conditions, you must seek appropriate care.

The basic premise of EFT is that “The cause of all negative emotions is a disturbance in our body’s energy system.” It can be used on everything…to see if it will work, but again, use common sense in seeking appropriate health care.

FYI:   There are some slight variations by different practitioners, including a brief version of it. You can also use visualization of the tapping if you can’t actually tap, or it is uncomfortable to tap some of the areas (ex: sinus pressure, arthritis of the hands, broken hand or paraplegia).

Sometimes you may not know the cause of your feelings, state the feeling and choose how you want to feel:   ex: Even though I am anxious, I choose to feel calm.

At this point, watch the YouTube clip http://www.emofree.com/eft/recipe.html

Additional notes:

Sometimes if it is not working…may be your wording, or there may be more to the issue. If something else comes to mind as you are tapping, tap on that issue next.   Below are some examples.

While doing the tapping the following may have happened…tap these as well:

Any new thoughts, feelings or sensation come up?

Other parts of the memory (movement, light, noise, etc)

Another memory pop up during the tapping?

Any insights into the problem

Examples: CHANGING TOPICS/ISSUES

My sleep problem

Birth of baby

Troubled marriage

Afraid of the dark

Trauma memory

Trauma upset

Remaining trauma memory

Awake and alone

Remaining memory

REPEAT OPTIONS

Repeat tapping/affirmation until discomfort is zero

&/or Change affirmation based on new thoughts/feelings/memories

Even though I still have….I choose to feel…. (positive affirmation)

then repeat affirmation until gone.

Panic Attacks – Steps to Freedom

1. Heal the memory of the first panic attack
2. Heal the memory of the most recent one
3. Treat panic attacks that are recurrent
4. Address fears of future panic attacks
5. Halt any sign of panic before it escalates

You can’t lie to yourself, if you can’t say, “I fully and completely accept myself”, try something else that you can say, such as, “I am a good person”, or “I am doing my best”, or my personal favorite: “I choose to be calm and relaxed”.

Picking Effective Tapping Phrases

A very simple and effective phrase is to say “Even though I have this _______, I choose to be calm and relaxed”. It works for many issues, pain and anxiety.   I usually do a minimum of 3 rounds. First round of tapping I will repeat the short phrase “pain” or “upset” at each point. 2^nd round I will alternate that phrase with “calm and relaxed”.   3^rd round I will say “calm and relaxed” at every tapping point.

If you have picked a problem to work on such as procrastination or nausea and simply tapping with those words, it may not work. Work at tapping the belief or emotion behind the problem, such as “I’m afraid to fail, so I don’t get started”, or “chemotherapy always causes nausea” (see #3 & #4 below).

Some additional reasons it may not be working:

1. The Set-up was not performed completely enough (state issue louder or tap karate chop point harder)
2. You are trying to apply EFT to more than one thing at a time
3. The problem is being approached too generally or globally
4. The problem is still not specific enough
5. You need to get more clearly in touch with the issue
6. Original memories need to be addressed first
7. A second issue is interfering
8. A “secondary gain” (hidden benefit) is interfering
9. A “blocking belief” is interfering
10. Your feelings about the issue are interfering
11. A deeper issue is interfering
12. You are switching aspects during the tapping
13. Outside input is needed (therapist)

REFERENCES:

• Easy-to-use diagram:   http://www.tapintoheaven.com/charts/EFT_Tapping_Chart_English.pdf
• Introduction to EFT, Gary Craig, available at:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFKVVP8KXd4
• EFT Official Website: http://www.emofree.com/
• Demonstrations of the Basic EFT Recipe:

http://www.emofree.com/eft/recipe.html

• The EFT Manual, Gary Craig
• The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal Change, D. Feinstein, D. Eden, and G. Craig
• How to Pick Effective EFT Tapping Phrases, Stefan Gonick, EFT Practitioner, available at http://www.eft-alive.com/eft-article-when-eft-does-not-seem-to-work.html
• EFT Quick Demonstration/Gary Craig 9 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wG2FA4vfLQ     The Basic Recipe by EFT Tapping

• Another, very useful technique:   Gamut Point training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYknPzTawBg