Emotional freedom technique or commonly referred to as EFT or tapping is an alternative treatment that partners tapping on meridian points (similar to acupuncture or acupressure) and use of specific language. Together the practices that make up EFT can help with limiting beliefs, physical pain, chronic pain, emotional pain, mindset issues, stress, anxiety, trauma, disorders, addictions, PTSD, fixations and so much more.
EFT is really unique because you can take this practice into your own hands, you need very little materials (your hands, brain, and body for the most part), and you can really work with EFT at any point no matter where you are. With such amazing results, the ability to work with so many issues, and the limited resources needed to start – this practice screams accessibility to the masses.
EFT like many other healing modalities has skeptics around it however, The Tapping Solution states, “Research done at the prestigious university (Harvard Medical School) during the last decade found that the brain’s stress and fear response – which is controlled by an almond-shaped part of your brain called the amygdala – could be lessened by stimulating the meridian points used in acupuncture, acupressure, and of course, tapping.”
In addition to the research done at Harvard, Dr. Dawson Church and his team did a randomized controlled trial on hour long tapping sessions and the effect on stress levels, “Dr. Church and his team measured their level of cortisol, a hormone secreted by the body when it undergoes stress. Their findings? The average level of cortisol reduction was 24%, with a whopping reduction of almost 50% in some subjects! In comparison, there was no significant cortisol reduction in those who underwent an hour of traditional talk therapy.” – The Tapping Solution.
Basically, tapping has been proven scientifically to support stress relief and relaxation. There are numerous anecdotes of EFT helping individuals extremely quickly with both physical and emotional pain that has plagued them for long periods of time.
Here are some of the commonly used tapping points:
- Karate chop point – fleshy side of the hand below the pinky
- Inner Eyebrow – right where the eyebrow starts in the center of the face
- Outer side of eye – to the right of left of your eye near the temples
- Under eye – right where you can feel the orbital bone
- Cupid’s bow – I curl the top lip down a bit to hit the cupids bow
- Cleft of chin – I pull the bottom lip tight to tap the cleft of the chin
- Collar bone –a little bit under the collar bone on the plain of the chest
- Bra strap spot – under the armpit where you bra strap would be
- Top of the head – top and center of the head
Here is the list that I personally use:
- Karate chop point, fleshy side part of the hand
- Top of the head
- Beginning of the eyebrow (one side or both)
- Side of the eye (around the outside corner of the eye, feel for the bone)
- Under the eye (below your pupil)
- Cupids bow (gently pull your lip down to expose that spot)
- Chin (gently pull your lip up to expose that spot)
- Clavicle point (inch down and inch out from the center)
- Under arm / bra strap point (side of the body, under the under arm, at the spot of your bra strap)
- Tapping wrists together
- Top of the hand (in between pinky and ring finger, soft fleshy part)
- Top of the pointer, middle, and pinky fingers and under the ring finger
When creating a tapping script (which you can do or you can freestyle) the language starts in the negative, or heavy spots – progresses into the middle points / neutral points / or becoming open, then transitions into the positive or ideal programming.
What this speaks to strongly, and one of the main reasons I adore tapping so much, is that this process honors and acknowledges that you are experiencing/have experienced something negative. Often in spiritual practices we only focus on the positive and tapping acknowledges the negative, and then points out that we still love ourselves even with this negative or heavy item. Then we progress to the neutral or into the maybe, and then we end in the positive. In this positive you are able to re-work your operating system. You are able to select what you would like to think and feel, and where you would like to operate from. This is why I love tapping!
Let me give you an example of the language.
In the negative
When working in the negative – you always say…
Even though (insert negative thing here) I deeply and completely love and accept myself
Even though I have made poor financial decisions in the past, I deeply and completely love and accept myself
In the neutral
When working in the neutral you want to allow yourself to transition from the negative to the positive.
- Maybe I could let this go.
- Maybe I could change this.
- I am open to moving past this.
- I am available to change this.
In the positive
When working in the positive, I take the negative items that are weighing on me, that are difficult, or roadblocks and I re-write them to my desires.
- I am abundant.
- I love money and money loves me.
- There is always more money coming in than going out.
Now that we have a general idea of the tapping process, what it does, and how it accomplishes these goals – I will break down the exact process I use with clients.
EFT Process –
1. We identify the main issue and create a topic sentence.
Examples:
- I put limitations on my abundance.
- I have an achy back that I can’t seem to get rid of for more than a day or two.
- I push people away when they try to get close.
- I have high anxiety around test taking.
2. On a scale of 1-10, how does (insert topic sentence) feel today?
You want to rank the pain / irritation etc so that you can compare the start to the finish of your EFT practice.
3. Can you locate this feeling in your body?
When you ask the scale, ideally you want to be open to feeling this in your physical vessel so taking a few moments to feel into it, see if it calls to a physical space in your body.
4. List out all the negative items you would like to address.
I typically will work in themes and do different tapping script for each theme, but I do have clients who love to throw it all into one!
Use the following prompt:
“Even though (insert limiting belief, issue, negative item) I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
5. Then list out your neutral or maybe or transition items
- I would really love to change my situation with xyz.
- Maybe I could change this.
- Maybe I could let xyz go.
- I choose to release the hold this has on me.
- This is just a story that I have told myself.
- Maybe this could be different.
- What if I allowed myself to tell a different story.
- I can change how I feel about this.
- I know I can make these changes.
- I believe in these changes.
- I release and let go of anything that no longer serves me.
- I know that I can show up fully for myself and let go of the weight of xyz.
Tip:
Take as long as you need to transition from the negative to neutral or even start getting into a feeling of positivity. Use language that feels authentic, that calls an emotion from you, that allows you to get into the feeling.
6. Then list out your desires, your positive, the new means of belief that you would like to wire yourself with.
I put limitations on my abundance would shift into…
- I am available for abundance, wealth, and prosperity to come to me in many different ways.
- I am constantly welcoming abundance into my life.
- I am an energetic match for money.
- I am paid for my talents.
- Money loves me and I love money.
- Money is a resource.
- Money is energy.
- I am an energetic match for money.
I have an achy back that I can’t seem to get rid of for more than a day or two would shift into…
- My back feels fantastic.
- I am pain free.
- My back is so flexible.
- I have so much range of motion.
- My joints feel healthy.
- I am comfortable in my physical vessel.
I push people away when they try to get close would shift into…
- I am available for intimacy and connection with the right people.
- I am open and experience love from many directions.
- I am compassionate, understanding, and allow myself to show vulnerability in safe environments.
I have high anxiety around test taking would shift into…
- I am cool, calm, and confident in test settings.
- I am so confident in my skills and understanding.
- Testing is enjoyable for me.
- I score so high when I take standardized tests.
7. Then at the end of the tapping round, I ask my client to rank the feeling from 1 – 10 again and make notes of the shifts.
I also really enjoy turning tapping scripts into mediations to listen to. I record them and play them in the background of my day, or play them as I fall asleep. When possible, I add the physical tapping (sometimes I only use one meridian point for ease like the karate chop point) and other times, I just listen to the audio. Once I have been working with a script for a while, I will chop out the negative and neutral and just listen to the positive on repeat – tapping those desires directly into my operating system.
Some great tips on tapping:
Calling in the energy and feeling of what you are saying is so important. If you are saying how horrible your emotional distress or back pain is, allow that to come up, feel into it every time you say the statement. Sometimes we have stored something so deep in the physical body, we need to get it up and out to make space for that which we desire. Getting into the feeling during tapping is huge!
Some people only need one session but a lot of others really really benefit from repetition of the tapping process.
Keep an open mind and allow it to work. So often when we try something new, we are just looking for reasons to say “this doesn’t work” or “I feel stupid doing this” or if it doesn’t make sense to the logical mind, we close ourselves off from the actual progress. I ask that you go into tapping / EFT with an open mind and willingness to release that which no longer serves you.
Read more resources on tapping:
The Tapping Solution
Healthline article on tapping
Chalkboard Mag on the power of EFT Tapping Therapy
Mind Body Green on how to use tapping to solve any emotional or physical issue
