Why EFT Tapping?

EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques. Most people refer to it as “tapping”.

I prefer to use tapping”, so that it is not confused with Emotionally Focused Therapy, an approach used in couples therapy.

I like tapping because:

• it is simple to do and learn and
• because it targets the energy systems in the body, as well as our thoughts, beliefs and emotions.

The more we learn, the more we realize how much connection there is between the brain and the body.

In the past we believed that most of the information was traveling downward from the brain. That the brain was driving the car, so to speak.

Now we know that there is a great deal of information, coming up from the body to the brain.

Information comes in from our whole body, including our cells.

There is so much information coming from the gut that it has been described as “the second brain.”

So, when we just work with beliefs, alone, we miss a huge piece of the puzzle.

It is important to target what is happening in the body, as well as in the brain, when we want to create change.

Tapping is one of the techniques designed to do this.

What is EFT tapping?

Tapping combines modern psychotherapy techniques such as

• cognitive-therapy
• emotionally based therapies
• exposure therapy

with principles of acupressure of Chinese medicine,

which works with the energy systems moving throughout the body.

It is believed that old trauma or limiting beliefs block the natural flow of energy through the body.

Tapping and other forms of energy psychology work to release blocks in this flow of energy – blocks which are resulting in symptoms.

There is a great deal of research on the effectiveness of tapping.

Research has demonstrated that tapping, calms the body as evidenced by decreased stress chemicals such as cortisol as well as to effect gene expression.

There is evidence that tapping creates changes in the brain which support behavioral change and that the effects of tapping are maintained over time after tapping.

What does tapping look like?

Tapping involves tapping with the fingertips on the end points of the meridians of energy that move through the body while thinking about bothersome symptoms, stories or pain.

The pressure on the meridian endpoints seems to calm the body and thus take the “charge” out of these beliefs or other symptoms, while restoring the healthy flow of energy throughout the body.

My training

I received my training in EFT Tapping through the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) and have completed Level 2 Training.