Emotional Freedom Techniques
EFT is a type of psychological acupuncture that helps alleviate many emotional and physical problems by using a unique energy balancing technique. Dr. Roger Callahan, a practicing clinical psychologist who specialized in the treatment of phobias, developed it over twenty years ago. At the time Dr. Callahan was becoming dissatisfied with the results of traditional therapy techniques and was searching for a faster, more pain-free way for his clients to be relieved of their symptoms. He began to explore body-centered therapies, acupuncture being one of them.
One day, a client who had a severe fear of water mentioned to him that she felt sick to her stomach when she looked at water. Dr. Callahan knew that one of the major acupuncture points for the stomach meridian was just under the eyes. Meridians are the highways of energy in the body that acupuncture addresses. On a hunch, he asked her to tap gently under one eye and to the total amazement of both she and Dr. Callahan, her fear of water rapidly disappeared. Encouraged by this incident Dr. Callahan continued to use this method until her water phobia was completely cured.
Dr. Callahan went on to develop a complex system for rapidly diagnosing and treating many emotional as well as physical issues. He called it Thought Field Therapy. In recent years, Gary Craig, an engineer, personal performance coach and one of Dr. Callahan's students, realized that there was a way to simplify the complex system of TFT. Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT is that simplification.
The basic premise of EFT and TFT is that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's meridian system. Scientists know that when a person has a thought, certain chemicals and an electromagnetic-like field are detectable throughout the body. Thus, our thoughts have an embodied physical presence. Callahan called this the "thought field." In their book Energy Tapping, Fred Gallo and Harry Vincenzi explain that external events can cause disruptions in the body's energy system and in turn set off hormonal, neurological, chemical, and cognitive events that cause the experience of negative emotion. When a disruption occurs within a thought field, it can be found in specific energy meridians in the body. Energy psychologists address the disruption by tapping on certain points on the meridians.
For several years Dr. Callahan used his new method with great success. However, he soon noticed that a certain percentage of clients could not be helped. He discovered that an energy system can be reversed in polarity, resulting in self-sabotaging behavior. He called this phenomenonPsychological Reversal, or PR. When a person is psychologically reversed, no matter how hard they try to change the reversal makes it impossible. A good example is when we say we really want to lose weight or stop smoking but find ourselves unable to maintain any of the behaviors that would help us achieve our goal.
The EFT process consists of two parts. The first, which is called the Setup, addresses the Psychological Reversal (PR). The second, which is the main body of the work and called the Sequence, clears the energy disruption. This is achieved by gently tapping on specific energy points while focusing on the distressing issue. After several rounds of tapping, the distress may be dissolved or greatly diminished. The amount of time needed to address a specific problem depends on its complexity.
EFT can be used in everyday life as a self-help tool. It can be used for relieving daily stress, simple anxiety, worry, fatigue, sadness, and emotional upsets of many kinds. It can also be used to address core issues, old emotional wounds, and self-defeating beliefs. Many therapists use it as an adjunct to short and long term psychotherapy, to help clients quickly discover and clear the root cause of their issues.
One day, a client who had a severe fear of water mentioned to him that she felt sick to her stomach when she looked at water. Dr. Callahan knew that one of the major acupuncture points for the stomach meridian was just under the eyes. Meridians are the highways of energy in the body that acupuncture addresses. On a hunch, he asked her to tap gently under one eye and to the total amazement of both she and Dr. Callahan, her fear of water rapidly disappeared. Encouraged by this incident Dr. Callahan continued to use this method until her water phobia was completely cured.
Dr. Callahan went on to develop a complex system for rapidly diagnosing and treating many emotional as well as physical issues. He called it Thought Field Therapy. In recent years, Gary Craig, an engineer, personal performance coach and one of Dr. Callahan's students, realized that there was a way to simplify the complex system of TFT. Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT is that simplification.
The basic premise of EFT and TFT is that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's meridian system. Scientists know that when a person has a thought, certain chemicals and an electromagnetic-like field are detectable throughout the body. Thus, our thoughts have an embodied physical presence. Callahan called this the "thought field." In their book Energy Tapping, Fred Gallo and Harry Vincenzi explain that external events can cause disruptions in the body's energy system and in turn set off hormonal, neurological, chemical, and cognitive events that cause the experience of negative emotion. When a disruption occurs within a thought field, it can be found in specific energy meridians in the body. Energy psychologists address the disruption by tapping on certain points on the meridians.
For several years Dr. Callahan used his new method with great success. However, he soon noticed that a certain percentage of clients could not be helped. He discovered that an energy system can be reversed in polarity, resulting in self-sabotaging behavior. He called this phenomenonPsychological Reversal, or PR. When a person is psychologically reversed, no matter how hard they try to change the reversal makes it impossible. A good example is when we say we really want to lose weight or stop smoking but find ourselves unable to maintain any of the behaviors that would help us achieve our goal.
The EFT process consists of two parts. The first, which is called the Setup, addresses the Psychological Reversal (PR). The second, which is the main body of the work and called the Sequence, clears the energy disruption. This is achieved by gently tapping on specific energy points while focusing on the distressing issue. After several rounds of tapping, the distress may be dissolved or greatly diminished. The amount of time needed to address a specific problem depends on its complexity.
EFT can be used in everyday life as a self-help tool. It can be used for relieving daily stress, simple anxiety, worry, fatigue, sadness, and emotional upsets of many kinds. It can also be used to address core issues, old emotional wounds, and self-defeating beliefs. Many therapists use it as an adjunct to short and long term psychotherapy, to help clients quickly discover and clear the root cause of their issues.
Stephen Joseph, MA, LMHC, 68 Leonard St, Suite 208, Belmont, MA 02478 781-648-4599