Tapping to Release Pain & Stress.
In my blog “Be Your Own Health Advocate”, I noted that I appreciated the medical model and how it has helped me in many situations. However, I do approach my health holistically and utilize many alternative treatments for prevention and recovery from symptoms or disease.
One of the alternative treatments I have used is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping. It’s an effective treatment for physical and emotional pain.
What is EFT?
EFT was developed by Gary Craig and is similar to acupuncture. Acupuncture is an ancient healing practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine in which thin needles are placed at specific points in the body. It's used for balancing the flow of energy (chi) believed to flow through pathways (meridians) in your body. By inserting needles into specific points along these meridians, acupuncture practitioners believe that your energy flow will re-balance and improve your physical and emotional health.
Acupuncture uses needles to apply pressure to these energy points, and EFT uses fingertip tapping. Both approaches help restore balance to your body’s energy.
EFT is more practical than acupuncture because you don’t need to have access to a licensed acupuncturist. Anyone can learn the EFT process and apply it to their situation at any time. EFT tapping can reduce the stress or negative emotion you feel from your issue and restore balance to your disrupted energy.
EFT Tapping in 5 steps
EFT tapping can be divided into five steps. It’s best to work on one issue at a time, and sometimes you will notice the issue you are not tapping on will improve. For example, if you feel anxious over an argument you had with a friend, and your back is sore, after tapping on the anxiety issue, your back will likely feel better.
1. Identify the issue
For this technique to be effective, you must first identify the physical or emotional issue you have. This will be your focal point while you’re tapping.
2. Test the initial intensity
After identifying your issue, you need to set a benchmark level of intensity. The intensity level is rated on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the worst or most difficult. The scale assesses the state of emotional or physical pain and discomfort you are experiencing.
Establishing a benchmark helps you monitor your progress after performing a complete EFT sequence.
3. The setup
Before tapping, you need to establish a phrase that explains what you’re trying to address. It must focus on two main goals:
acknowledging the issues
accepting yourself despite the problem
The typical setup phrase is: “Even though I have this [fear or problem], I deeply and completely accept myself.”
You can alter this phrase to fit your problem, but it must not address someone else’s. For example, you can’t say, “Even though my mother is sick, I deeply and completely accept myself.” You have to focus on how the problem makes you feel to relieve the distress it causes. It’s better to address this situation by saying, “Even though I’m sad my mother is sick, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
4. EFT tapping sequence
You use your index and middle fingers of either hand, and the sequence involves tapping on the ends of nine meridian points.
The meridian points accessed via EFT:
Begin by tapping the karate chop point while simultaneously reciting your setup phrase three times. Then, tap each following point seven times, moving down the body in this ascending order:
eyebrow
side of the eye
under the eye
under the nose
chin
beginning of the collarbone
under the arm
After tapping the underarm point, finish the sequence at the top of the head point.
While tapping the ascending points, recite a reminder phrase to maintain focus on your problem area. If your setup phrase is, “Even though I’m sad my mother is sick, I deeply and completely accept myself,” your reminder phrase can be, “The sadness I feel that my mother is sick.” Recite this phrase at each tapping point. Repeat this sequence two or three times.
5. Test the final intensity
At the end of your sequence, drink a large glass of water. Rate your intensity level on a scale from 0 to 10. Compare your results with your initial intensity level. If you haven’t reached 0, repeat this process until you do.
Here’s a video that demonstrates the process. Also, check out this video-Full Body Tapping Video.
Does EFT work?
The first time I observed EFT, I thought it was completely bazaar and a little kooky. However, I’ve tried it many times to help ease an emotional state and have found it very helpful.
A week ago, I was asked to give a 15-minute speech based on 6 hours of interviews that I conducted in March. I had to rewatch each interview and make notes, and of course, my computer was acting up and didn’t correctly save my notes. I lost hours of work and had a full-on meltdown. My level of frustration was at an all-time high. I had to get it together because I had to complete my speech. I took some deep breaths and tried a few rounds of EFT. I quickly went from a 10+++ intensity to about a 4 in a matter of minutes and prevented myself from spiralling further. The technique holds you in the present moment and identifies the issue and how you feel, which all contribute to positive results.
I’ve never tried it for pain because I don’t experience pain very often, and when I have, it has usually been so severe that I don’t even think about EFT. I do not doubt that it would help, though.
EFT has been used to treat war veterans and active military with PTSD effectively. In a 2013 study researchers studied the impact of EFT tapping on veterans with PTSD against those receiving standard care. Within a month, participants receiving EFT coaching sessions had significantly reduced their psychological stress.
A 2016 review compared the effectiveness of using EFT tapping over standard care options for anxiety symptoms. The study concluded there was a significant decrease in anxiety scores compared to participants receiving other care.
Though more research is needed, EFT has been shown to be an effective alternative treatment for many emotional challenges, including PTSD, anxiety, depression and physical pain.
There is an enormous amount of information on EFT available. I recommend checking out the following:
Be well.
Anita
Resources:
2) Healthline
3) EFT Tapping points picture credit
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