EFT Explained

The young and conceptual image of a large stone in the shape of the human brain

Emotional Freedom Technique

What is EFT?

Energy psychology is an arm of psychology that addresses the mind and body systems collaboratively to give attention to the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

EFT tapping is an evolution in our ability to help ourselves and others heal and grow. It integrates many other modalities including cognitive behaviour therapy, talk therapy, NLP and various somatic methods.

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The basic idea of energy psychology is realising that the root cause of psychological problems is emotional distress.

Understanding that any unresolved emotional stress can both cause or lead to physical, mental and performance issues. Therefore, it is imperative to deal with the root cause of the emotional stress when seeking to find a resolution in either physical or mental trauma.

Today EFT is often used as one of the most powerful and effective tools we have available to us in dealing with emotional stress and its associated symptoms which feeds into all aspects of our lives.

Everything from our health, wealth, relationships and work benefits from some tapping.

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How does it work?

  • The EFT tapping technique is disarming in how easy it is to learn and the results it yields. Simply by lightly tapping with your fingertips on the acupuncture points on your face and upper body and at the same time tuning into the traumatic event or memory, the tapping process detaches the emotional charge from that thought or memory.

  • EFT does not remove the memory but instead very cleverly eliminates the associated negative emotions from the memory. By doing so it frees the individual from suffering any continued fear, stress, worry or any other emotional pain when thinking of the event. It neutralises it.

  • One of the truly amazing gifts that EFT brings to psychology, medicine, coaching and other personal development practices is the fact that it is such a gentle technique, that is fast-acting, reliable, and user-friendly for people with even the most traumatic experiences to deal with. When learnt it can be used both independently and with practitioner support.

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What does EFT help with?

EFT is limitless and can be applied to any physical, mental or emotional obstacle. Here are just a few examples:

  • anxiety
  • depression
  • physical trauma
  • mental trauma
  • fear
  • stress
  • work pressure
  • grief
  • loss
  • panic attacks
  • PTSD
  • self-esteem
  • confidence
  • limiting beliefs
  • fixed mindset
  • bullying
  • abuse
  • pain management
  • relationships
  • ADHD
  • focus
  • concentration
  • shock
  • phobias
  • change
  • exam pressures
  • addiction

What are the benefits of EFT?

  • Easy to learn and apply at any age
  • A very gentle and non-invasive healing method
  • Provides rapid results - often immediate relief from symptoms

Despite its gentle approach it has acquired a reputation for achieving quicker, longer lasting results relatively painlessly when compared to other forms of psychotherapy. Because EFT shares elements of traditional psychotherapy and complementary approaches to health and wellbeing, it easily integrates with other forms of therapy such as:

  • homeopathy
  • traditional allopathic medicine
  • massage
  • kinesiology
  • acupuncture
  • psychotherapy
  • counselling
  • neurolinguistic programming
  • hypnotherapy
  • CBT

“Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood and untreated cause of human suffering”

- Peter Levine

since 1990s

Is EFT proven and what is its global impact?

  • EFT is a direct descendant of Thought Field Therapy (TFT) a meridian energy technique devised in the 1980s by Psychologist, Dr Roger Callahan, who also studied kinesiology and acupuncture. EFT was developed in the 1990s by Gary Craig, a Stanford graduate engineer with an interest in psychology and neurolinguistic programming, who trained with Roger Callahan.
  • Using his engineer’s brain, Gary Craig simplified and streamlined TFT into a simple synthesised routine. Along with his personally trained EFT Founding Masters, he has successfully disseminated this unique method all over the world.
  • An ever-increasing body of scientific research has validated the effectiveness of this powerful therapeutic tool. Indeed, EFT has already become one of the most researched therapeutic tools.

A study published in the Journal of Psychological Therapies in Primary Care, which sought to establish the effectiveness of EFT for emotional conditions within the NHS in Sandwell, supported the potential of EFT “as a cost-effective treatment for a range of psychological and physical disorders” - read more here.

Recently in the UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (formerly National Institute for Clinical Excellence – NICE), which is the government body responsible for the evaluation of all treatments and therapy to be recommended for use in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), has found EFT to be clinically effective for PTSD. They are currently supporting further research into this clinically and cost-effective treatment.

For more research see EFT International’s website here.

“Emotions are energy. Repressed emotions block our energy – exhausting us or making us sick. Whatever is repressed will find a way to be expressed.”

- Crystal Andrus