EFT
EFT – Emotional Freedom Techniques
As each of us sets out on our journey of life, we are confronted with different challenges and experiences that ultimately make us who we are today. Whilst these experiences might be positive and enriching, there are others that mark us in undesired ways, creating complex behavioural patterns and negative emotions such as fear, anger, jealousy, anxiety, guilt and confusion.
To those around us these negative emotions often appear to be completely irrational, seemingly coming from nowhere and having no connection with our present reality. If left untreated, such emotions or irrational behaviour can become firmly embedded in our emotional psyche, creating a “blockage” that prevents us from fulfilling our true potential.
Fortunately, there is light at the end of even the darkest of emotional tunnels! The answer is a technique that has been described as one of the most exciting breakthroughs in alternative therapies and personal development: EFT.
“These techniques may be the most exciting discovery in psychology since Freud discovered the unconscious mind.”
Sue Beer, EFT Master, 2005
EFT is the perfect tool to address a wide range of behavioural issues including (but not limited to):
- phobias (such as fear of flying and fear of driving)
- stress related issues
- fear of public speaking
- relationship problems
- insomnia
- anger
- professional or emotional self-sabotage
- limiting beliefs
- eating disorders
- addictive behaviour
- harassment at work
- fear of exams
- unexplained physical pain
- feeling stuck in your life
EFT is also gaining increased recognition as a powerful support, alongside traditional medical treatment, for dealing with serious diseases. As Emma Roberts, EFT Master and author of the seminal book “Even though I have cancer…” says: “EFT Tapping is (…) a valuable support to the healing process, clearing the body’s energetic blocks to healing at a physical, emotional and spiritual level”.
During an EFT session, nine of these acupoints are tapped in a specific sequence, whilst the person being treated focuses on the issue to be resolved. The act of tapping triggers pulses of energy which rebalance the body’s energy system in relation to the specific issue being targeted. The tapping process can be understood as an emotional rewiring of the brain’s conditioned response. Negative energy is literally tapped away. Once the body’s energy system has been rebalanced, it is possible for the mind-body-spirit connection to be restored to a state of harmony.
EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques is an alternative energy technique developed in the early 90’s by Gary Craig, an American who trained with the psychologist Roger Callahan, the inventor of “Thought Field Therapy”. EFT, which is inspired by Callahan’s TFT, is often described as “emotional acupuncture without needles”. This is because it works by tapping on the traditional acupuncture points on “meridians” of Chinese medicine (the meridians represent a path through which our life-energy, known as “qi”, flows).
EFT enables us to change how we feel about something while accepting that we cannot change what has happened. This realisation is truly “emotional freedom” and is the empowerment that enables us to change our lives.
EFT can be used to treat a wide range of negative emotions such as anxiety, guilt, disappointment, embarrassment, fatigue, heartbreak and loneliness. It can break through self-sabotage, repetitive negative patterns, limiting beliefs and addictive behaviour. The range of EFT’s applications is as extensive as emotional issues are diverse, so there is no longer any need to accept a life of compromise.