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EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a self-help technique which can be used in such a wide array of problems and with such quick relief in many cases that it can arguably be called a Miracle Cure.  Basically, it is a specialized Acupressure procedure which involves thinking about a problem (emotional or physical) while tapping on Acupuncture points.  It was developed by Gary Craig and the website is a wonderful collection of case reports detailing the multitude of ways in which EFT can be used.

EFT Website

Wonderful EFT video in case you missed the link from the Home Page.

EFT Video

We've all experienced times when worries or fears seemed to circle around in our heads, keeping us from sleeping or eating or just enjoying life.  This can be caused by memories of some traumatic incident, or anxieties about personal relationships, money issues, phobias, pain or chronic health problems.  The list can go on and on.

The basic principle behind EFT is that these "negative emotions" are caused by a disruption of the body's energy system.  Just as an electrical disruption in your TV will affect the image, an energy disruption in your body will result in unwanted symptoms. 

Have you ever had a radio or TV start having problems?  What's the first thing you do?  You walk up and tap on it hoping to break up whatever energy disruption is causing the problem, and frequently this works!

This is what EFT does.

By focusing on a specific memory or problem you have, you bring up the energy disruption that always occurs with that thought and then you tap on certain points on your Meridians which sends a jolt (actually a relaxation signal) through the energy system to break up the disruption.  This happens painlessly, quickly, and the results are usually permanent.

Frequently, however, there is a problem referred to as psychological reversal which must be corrected before the tapping will be effective.  In the EFT manual this is considered to be the result of a polarity reversal in the energy system.  Whatever the cause, its results can frequently be demonstrated by use of Muscle Response Testing.  

 Muscle Response Testing - or MRT - is based upon the idea that your muscles receive energy and instruction from the brain, and "negative" thoughts result in less energy to muscles.  So a standard MRT is to have a client stand up with their right arm held straight out to the side, and the tester places one hand on the clients shoulder and their other hand on the wrist of the outstretched arm.  The tester first has the client make some statement they both know to be true, such as "My name is ________".  The tester tells the client to not let his arm be pushed down, then the tester applies a firm but brief pressure downward on the arm.  The arm should easily maintain its "lock" in that position.  However, if the tester next asks the client to state something they both know to be false, such as "I have 30 kids" and then applies the pressure, usually it will be relatively easy to push the arm down.  This occurs because the client has just made a false statement, which briefly lowers the energy state of his nervous system, and thus the energy to his muscle.  This can also happen if you just think a negative thought, such as focusing on someone or something you don't like, or even just saying negative words to yourself such as hate, despise, or kill.  You can also test weak if you place something within your energy field that is harmful to your body, such as cigarettes, sugar, or substances you are allergic to.  Simply have the client hold an item with their left hand over their heart while you test the right arm to see if they are sensitive to it.  Many people test drugs and food this way before they ingest it for the first time.  There are many good books that describe how to muscle test, but one of the best is Donna Eden's Energy Medicine.  She calls it energy testing, which might be a more accurate description, since you are not really testing the muscle but rather the energy supplied to the muscle.

Take, for example, the case of someone who is overweight and is extremely unhappy because they have failed at diet after diet.  Very often, you can have this person stand up, hold out their arm, and you can test them on two different statements "I want to lose weight" and "I want to lay around on the couch all day and stuff myself with food".  Guess which one tests as true!!  Even though the person consciously desires to lose weight, there is a subconcious reason for not losing weight that causes all diets to fail.  For some women, this can be because they feel "safe" by being overweight and thus unattractive so they don't have to deal with unwanted advances from men.  Diet problems is just one example of psychological reversal.  Consider the case of someone with a chronic illness who gets attention and caring from family and friends, and sometimes even disability income necessary to support their family.  How likely are they to have a psychological reversal to getting well?

Note: The following procedure is a short summary of the the manual, which includes diagrams of the acupuncture points,  that can be downloaded for free from the EFT website.

Link to Download Manual

Luckily, the procedure for correcting psychological reversal is quite simple.  You just rub a spot on the chest called the "sore spot" (it's easy to find because - guess what - it's sore) or tap a spot on your hand called the Karate Chop point  while repeating an affirmation three times.  Usually the affirmation consists of a statement of the problem or memory followed by a positive personal statement.  A general example would be:

       Even though I have this __________, I deeply and completely accept myself.

The blank could be filled in with a limitless variety of phrases (called a reminder phrase) - headache, fear of public speaking, anger toward my father, memory of almost drowning, desire for a cigarette, etc.  You then start tapping on the acupuncture points (using your index and middle finger of your right hand if you are right-handed) about five to seven times each while repeating the reminder phrase (out loud for best effect).

Note: Although only the Left side points are shown, the points Eyebrow, Side of Eye, Beneath the Eye, Collarbone, and Underarm are also located on the Right side of the body.  It does not matter in what order you tap the points, however the standard procedure is to start at the Eyebrow point and work your way down, finishing with the top of the head (a point which was added later).  It also doesn't matter which side you tap on, so you could tap the Left Eyebrow and then the Right Side of Eye, etc.  Some people use both hands to tap both bilateral points at the same time.  I have added another point (after the top of the head point) in the center of the chest between the nipple line, which is the Acupuncture point where the energy from the heart chakra comes in.

In order to best judge how effective the tapping was you need to remember how bad you felt before the tapping.  (Although this sounds a little silly, frequently the tapping gets rid of the problem AND your memory of exactly how bad the problem was. )  The best way to do this is to first focus on the problem and then give a subjective rating of from zero to ten of the pain or distress you feel - with zero being no pain and ten being the worst.  (This is called a SUDS level.)  After tapping you use this same comparative scale to see if any movement has occurred in your feelings about this problem.

A very important rule to follow if you want a better chance for the tapping to be effective is to be specific with the problem phrase.

Saying "my father always abused me" is too global.  You must pick out specific instances which you remember and start with the most troubling one.  So you would say something like:

"Even though I remember the time my father called me stupid in front of my girlfriend, I deeply and completely accept myself."

After one or more rounds of tapping took away the emotional intensity of that memory you would then work on the next most troubling one on your list of things your father did.  What is surprising is that even if you started with a list of one hundred events concerning your father's behavior that really upset you, after using EFT to take care of the three or four worst ones you will suddenly realize that all the others don't seem so distressing anymore.

In summary, you first bring the distressing thought to the center of attention and give it an intensity value from 0 to 10.  As you focus on the problem you repeat a positive affirmation three times while either tapping the Karate Chop Point or the "sore spot" on the chest.  Then while repeating the reminder phrase out loud you begin tapping the acupuncture points.  After tapping all the points you take a deep breath and then reassess your emotional intensity on the thought and give it a number rating (SUDS level).  If you have trouble getting the intensity down try going through the sequence again but this time state the affirmation with more feeling.

Note:  In the free downloadable manual from the EFT website there is an additional procedure in which you roll your eyes in certain directions, hum, count to ten, then hum again while tapping the back of the hand.  In later training DVD's they eliminate this step as they found it is usually unnecessary. 

I make a small commission if you buy a set through this link from my website, but I would include the link even if this were not the case.  I enjoyed the DVD's so much that I bought twenty sets and passed them out free to friends and patients at the hospital that I thought would benefit from the material.

Link to EFT Website page describing the training DVD's

Also, in the more advanced training DVD sets both Gary Craig and other practitioners discuss ways in which EFT research is delving into unbelievable aspects of applying the tapping, such as - doing it surrogately for a client by tapping on yourself while telling yourself that your body is a stand-in for their body (EFT practitioners do this frequently when working on animals), doing instant EFT by not actually tapping but just waving your hand down the front of their body, or when talking on the phone with a client closing your eyes and imagining tapping on their points.  If you have read other things about energy healing you will realize that this is all the same as Distant Healing, and so you realize that in essence EFT is fundamentally the same as Reiki and the other modalities.

Disclaimer:  Obviously I am not a Therapist, and so I do not diagnose or prescribe.  EFT is a SELF-HELP method, and my role after years of study of both EFT and Chinese Energy Meridian Theory is to provide advice on possible ways to alter your practice of EFT if you are not getting the hoped-for benefits.  Sometimes the points may need to be changed, or the order in which the points are tapped may affect the outcome.  Sometimes the wording of the setup phrase may need to be altered. 

My hope is that you get comfortable with EFT and its uses so that the next time your back hurts or you're having trouble sleeping you try a little EFT first before moving on to solutions that may be time-consuming,or painful, or expensive, or all three.