RAPID
EMOTIONAL HEALING:
DESCRIPTION
OF EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUES (EFT) AN
ALTERNATIVE, SHORT-TERM TREATMENT
--Deborah
Mitnick, LCSW-C
In my
practice as a "Personal
Performance Coach," I now use some energy-based
modalities, including Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).
Energy methods often release limiting emotions when the
client gently taps on specific acupressure points on the
body.
Here
are two examples of my results with phobias: * A 12 year
old who suffered a trauma five years ago related to water,
feared going to a swim class. After 20 minutes of EFT, she
felt fine about the swim class and no longer felt plagued
by the memories of the trauma. * A 45-year-old suffered
from claustrophobia for over 30 years. After one hour of
EFT, he was riding elevators and testing his new-freedom
further by locking himself in a small, windowless bathroom
in my office building and turning out the lights. He said
he would never have tried these things before EFT.
Psychologist
Roger Callahan, who calls it Thought Field Therapy (TFT),
developed this energy method. It has been refined and named
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) by Gary Craig, a Stanford
engineer. These techniques involve the client "tuning
into" thoughts, feelings, or images of the situation
(emotional or physical) that he wants to correct, while
stimulating specific acupressure points by tapping on them,
thereby balancing the right and left hemispheres of the
brain. EFT is especially effective for eliminating the effects
of past traumas, anxiety, depression, and fears. Immediate
and dramatic relief is often experienced. It is also highly
effective for enhancing productivity, such as in sales and
sports performance.
The
first manifestation of an emotion, either positive or negative,
is a change in the body’s electrical state. Our thoughts
are constantly creating patterns of electrical energy that
cause the release of neurotransmitters, hormones, and other
chemicals in the body that we feel as emotions. When there
is a disruption in the body’s electrical flow, there is
a reaction. If the disruption continues, it can lead to
emotional distress and even to physical problems. When the
disruption is removed, the distress stops.
What
is remarkable is that most of the time, even after just
a bit of tapping, clients experience an undeniable improvement
in their symptoms. That is, their Subjective Units of Distress
(SUDS) levels drop immediately. This is a reliable and replicable
finding. Treatment continues until the client has no distress
while thinking about the problem. In many cases, the typical
client will get to this point of no distress on the presenting
problem within a single session and often the client will
achieve "no distress" with regard to several issues
in that same session. Treatment on an issue cannot be considered
complete until the client reports that the problem no longer
bothers him in his life. This may take a few hours, but
often the change occurs even after one meeting.
This
treatment is particularly effective in removing the distress
associated with past traumas and lingering negative emotional
states, such as frustration, sadness, and anger. But it
is also extremely effective in treating panic disorder,
depression, pain, and addictive cravings. (Some of these
problems may require more extensive treatment.) In addition,
these interventions have shown exciting promise in the area
of performance enhancement.
None
of these changes relies on the usual "working through"
of the problem. This is not an insight-oriented treatment,
nor is understanding for the sake of understanding thought
to be the mechanism of change. What is fascinating is that
when the energetic aspects of the problem are treated the
cognitive, emotional, and physical elements of the problem
resolve immediately. Clients will typically acknowledge
spontaneous and dramatic cognitive shifts instantly after
tapping. It is for this reason that this treatment appears
to be "on-line" with reality. Again, this is all
very strange to conventional therapists, but isn't so unusual
to people more familiar with energetic healing. And it is
entirely consistent with the tenets of Chinese medicine.
Acupressure
is a wonderful self-care tool that one can learn in minutes.
While doctors and chiropractors use acupuncture, that method
requires years of education and experience to use properly.
However, acupressure is easily taught and uses a
similar system to that used in acupuncture. The client,
to assist in his healing, is directed to tap specific points
on the body. The technique is gentle, quick, and painless.
It often brings about rapid and lasting relief. Acupressure
works by neutralizing disruptions in the body’s electrical
system, which then stops the chemical chain reaction and
frees the client from emotional and physical discomforts.
As the client gently taps on a point, the neural receptors
under the skin convert the pressure to an electrical impulse
that is transmitted to the brain. It is similar to using
a VCR remote control or tapping a key on a keyboard to send
an electrical signal to the computer.
When
clients are instructed in the use of EFT, they "tune
in" to the distress, such as a phobia or trauma while
they tap. This keeps their attention on the disturbance.
The tapping removes or reduces the distress and the problem
is alleviated.
Acupressure
has been practiced for over 5000 years in the Orient, however
its successful application to correcting problematic affective
states is relatively new. Through EFT, stimulation of these
meridians brings about psychological and physical change.
Energy meridians are in fact measurable fields that surround
and permeate our bodies. Our mental and physical states
are influenced by our subtle but detectable electromagnetic
fields. A common example of this can be found in our reaction
to pain. For example, a woman in labor sometimes is tuned
into the pain and, at other times, is distracted from it.
Her pain is not likely to be constant. Later, the pain reasserts
itself in her awareness and she hurts again. Our experience
of pain, therefore, is influenced by our attention to it.
Our attention does not create the pain, but it tunes
it in -- calls it into awareness. The same is true of
all distress.
Today,
the energy modalities are used to treat a wide range of
issues, including physical pain, trauma, stress, anxiety,
fears and phobias, anger, depression, migraines, asthma,
and addictions. They are also used to improve personal performance
in academics, business, sales, and sports by removing anxiety,
doubt, and negative self-talk.
Although
these techniques, like any other method, are not always
completely successful, their success rate cannot be ignored.
I estimate that about 85% or more of emotional issues treated
with these processes are eliminated within four sessions,
with the majority of them being resolved even more quickly.
Here
are a few examples from my practice. All of the results
I report have been long lasting over time. *A 34-year old
suffered a rape trauma 20 years ago. She said it colored
all of her relationships. After 90 minutes of EFT, the trauma
was resolved. I hear from her occasionally. She loved EFT
because it was "gentle." *A 56-year-old suffered
from kidney stone pain. Using EFT when the pain would reappear,
we managed to keep it totally under control for the three
weeks it took for the stone to pass. *An 88-year-old woman
was depressed and fearful the night before her mastectomy.
After 50 minutes of EFT, she felt calm, and actually happy.
She had no problem with the surgery or her recovery. She
said EFT gave her a sense of peace about the procedure.
*A 15-year-old with migraine headaches found relief after
about five minutes of EFT. *A 53-year-old suffering from
anxiety found relief after about 12 minutes using EFT. *A
73 year old with rapid heartbeat (She carries a diagnosis
of atrial fibrillation.) found that EFT reduced her palpitations
and made her more comfortable in about 15 minutes. *A 42-year-old
witnessed a car crash into his house, killing the driver
and gravely wounding the passenger. He complained of flashbacks
and nightmares until we had an EFT session. Those troubling
symptoms left him by the end of the session. *A salesman
was reluctant to make "cold calls." After 40 minutes
of EFT, he had no hesitation to make the calls. He became
the top producer on his company's team.
It may
be difficult to believe that simply by thinking about a
distressing emotion and tapping a few points on the body
can significantly reduce or eliminate all traces of that
distress. However, it happens regularly in my practice.
Many of my clients appear thrilled when they first experience
this result. They often accept the positive changes in themselves
easily and naturally and do not need to look any further
for an explanation. Others want to understand why it works. I have tried to explain some of that in the paragraphs
above.
This
phenomenon called "thought tuning" accesses recalled
or anticipated experiences and also accesses specific associated
energy fields. These fields are associated with memory,
but are also separate from them. Proof of this can be found
with the trauma victim who is "cured" of the trauma
through EFT. She still remembers what happened to her, but
she no longer experiences nightmares, rapid heart beat,
sweating, or fear when recalling it. The event and the emotional
experience of the event exist separately. The emotional
experience was brought about through imbalances in specific
energy fields.
As a
personal performance coach, I use many of the new modalities
in energy treatment, including EFT, as well as other new
and effective therapeutic methods to promote rapid healing
and recovery. Only a few visits or phone sessions are usually
necessary to clear energy blockages and restore healthy
emotional and physical functioning. Some of my colleagues
who practice energy therapies have reported significant
remissions in other conditions, including: chronic pain,
stress, arthritis, lupus, allergies, fibromyalgia, multiple
sclerosis, HIV+, chronic fatigue, low self esteem, sinus
problems, diabetes, addictions, athletic performance, anger,
and habit control.
EFT
is not the same as acupressure, although there is some similarity
in that it utilizes the acupuncture meridian system. Unlike
acupressure, EFT is specifically psychologically oriented.
DEBORAH
G. MITNICK, LCSW-C
http://www.trauma-tir.com
e-mail: dmitnick@qis.net
Specializing
in Phone and E-Mail Session
For more information about Richard Ross, visit
http://www.emotionalfreedom.com
or call him at (505) 828-3527
