What is the Emotional Freedom Technique?
The Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, is the psychological acupressure technique I routinely use in my practice and most highly recommend to optimize your emotional health. Although it is still often overlooked, emotional health is absolutely essential to your physical health and healing - no matter how devoted you are to the proper diet and lifestyle, you will not achieve your body's ideal healing and preventative powers if emotional barriers stand in your way.
EFT is very easy to learn, and will help you:
EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over five thousand years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on the head and chest while you think about your specific problem - whether it is a traumatic event, an addiction, pain, etc. -- and voice positive affirmations.
- Remove Negative Emotions
- Reduce Food Cravings
- Reduce or Eliminate Pain
- Implement Positive Goals
This combination of tapping the energy meridians and voicing positive affirmation works to clear the "short-circuit" - the emotional block -- from your body's bioenergy system, thus restoring your mind and body's balance, which is essential for optimal health and the healing of physical disease.
Some people are initially wary of these principles that EFT is based on - the electromagnetic energy that flows through the body and regulates our health is only recently becoming recognized in the West. Others are initially taken aback by (and sometimes amused by) the EFT tapping and affirmation methodology, whose basics you will learn here.
But keep in mind that, more than any traditional or alternative method I have used or researched, EFT works. I have witnessed the results in my patients since deciding to use EFT exclusively in June of 2001. Indeed, because of its very high rate of success, the use of EFT has spread rapidly, and medical practitioners employing EFT can now be found in every corner of the country and world.
This manual will provide an overview on how and where to tap, and the proper affirmation techniques, so that you can begin using EFT immediately to help yourself and others. It will also provide an introduction to some advanced EFT techniques and principles you can employ. If you are interested in taking your EFT knowledge and practice to the next level, please consider Try It On Everything for the incredible benefits that they can provide you.
Tapping Locations & Technique
There are two basic areas to learn in order to use EFT: the tapping locations and technique, and the positive affirmations. These areas, as well as some advanced EFT principles and techniques, are covered in the following sections.
You should be able to successfully treat many problems by diligently applying the following instructions. To expand your abilities and understand, considerTry It On Everything.
If you are not getting the results you would like, or you have a particularly traumatic issue, please do not give up! Instead, consider consulting with an EFT professional. Dr. Patricia Carrington has some guidelines on selecting an EFT therapist, followed by a list of EFT practitioners throughout the U.S. and world. Many of these therapists even offer a free 15-minute phone session in which you can ask them questions to see if you connect.
Proper EFT Tapping
The basic EFT sequence is straightforward and generally takes my patients only a few minutes to learn. They have the slight advantage of me personally showing them the tapping points, but you should be able to pick up these points relatively quickly. With a little practice, you will be performing each round in under a minute.
NOTE: While it is important to tap the correct area, you need not worry about being absolutely precise, as tapping the general area is sufficient.
It's All in the Fingertips
The following information provides an overview of theEFT technique to give you a sense of how this amazing "tool" works. But bear in mind that by far the best instruction for this powerful technique is visual/audio instruction. When you are ready to tap into EFT's full potential, an outstanding (and economical!) investment is the book and DVD on learning EFT called, "Try It On Everything."The first thing to understand is that you will be tapping with your fingers. There are a number of acupuncture meridians on your fingertips, and when you tap with your fingertips you are also likely using not only the meridians you are tapping on, but also the ones on your fingers.
Traditional EFT has you tapping with the fingertips of your index finger and middle finger and with only one hand. Either hand works just as well. Most of the tapping points exist on either side of the body, so it doesn't matter which side you use, nor does it matter if you switch sides during the tapping. For example, you can tap under your right eye and, later in the tapping, under your left arm.
I modified this approach slightly by having you use both hands and all your fingers, so that they are gently relaxed and form a slightly curved natural line. The use of more fingers allows you to access more of the acupuncture points. When you use all your fingers you will cover a larger area than just tapping with one or two fingertips, and this will allow you to cover the tapping points more easily.
However, many obtain quite successful results with the traditional one-handed two-finger approach. You can use either method, but I tend to use my modified version in an effort to be more complete.
Ideally, you will want to use your fingertips, not your finger pads as they have more meridian points. However, if you are a woman with long fingernails you should of course use your finger pads (otherwise you may end up stabbing yourself).
You should also remove your watch and bracelets, as that will interfere with your use of the wrist meridian tapping.
Tap Solidly - But Don't Hurt Yourself!
You should tap solidly, but never so hard as to hurt or bruise yourself.
If you decide to use both hands, I recommend slightly alternating the tapping so that each hand is slightly out of phase with the other and you are not tapping with both hands simultaneously. This provides a kinesthetic variant of the alternating eye movement work that is done in EMDR and may have some slight additional benefit.
When you tap on the points outlined below, you will tap about 5-7 times. The actual number is not critical, but ideally should be about the length of time it takes for one full breath. There is probably a distinct benefit for tapping through one complete respiration cycle.
Please notice that these tapping points proceed down the body. That is, each tapping point is below the one before it. That should make it a snap to memorize. A few trips through it and it should be yours forever. However, unlike TFT, the sequence is not critical. You can tap the points in any order and sequence, just so long as all the points are covered. It just is easier to go from top to bottom to make sure you remember to do them all.
Remove your Glasses and Watch Prior to Tapping
Glasses and watches can mechanically and electromagnetically interfere with EF, so I advise everyone to remove them prior to tapping. For quick sessions conducted upon yourself, this is not critical, as you can easily tap around them, but I think there is always a benefit to removing them when possible.
Using EFT in Public: Eliminating any Embarrassment
Many people are concerned about embarrassing themselves by using EFT in public, especially when implementing my revision of it, which really makes one stand out in a crowd.
After a while of using and perfecting the technique - in private quarters, if you prefer - you will be able to use only two fingers of one hand, and to say the affirmation softly under your breath or silently. This way you can do EFT in just about any social setting, and if people even notice what you are doing at all, it will appear to them that you are merely thinking.
Finding the Right Tapping Points
The tapping points, and their abbreviations, are explained below, followed by a chart of the points. They are presented below in the exact order in which they should be tapped.
The abbreviations for these points are summarized below in the same order as given above. It is, again, the order in which they should be tapped:
1. Top of the Head (TH)With fingers back-to-back down the center of the skull. 2. Eyebrow (EB)
Just above and to one side of the nose, at the beginning of the eyebrow.3. Side of the Eye (SE)
On the bone bordering the outside corner of the eye.4. Under the Eye (UE)On the bone under an eye about 1 inch below your pupil. 5. Under the Nose (UN)
On the small area between the bottom of your nose and the top of your upper lip.6. Chin (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. 7. Collar Bone (CB)The junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone and the first rib meet. This is a very important point and in acupuncture is referred to as K (kidney) 27. 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 referred to as Collar Bone even though it is not on the collarbone (or clavicle) per se. 8. Under the Arm (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. 9. Wrists (WR)
The last point is the inside of both wrists.
TH = Top of Head
EB = Eye Brow
SE = Side of the Eye
UE = Under the Eye
UN = Under the Nose
Ch = Chin
CB = Collar Bone
UA = Under the Arm
WR = Wrists
