EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques is a new branch of psychotherapy, the so-called energy psychotherapy. It is a combination of conversation and focus on the problem with an energy intervention based on the basics of Chinese medicine.
Chinese medicine says that in the human body there are meridians (energy channels) on which acupuncture points are located. In EFT, by tapping, we introduce vibration into these points, which releases blockages.
How EFT was founded:
The precursor of the EFT method was another method – TFT, the creator of which was the American psychologist and psychotherapist Dr. Roger Callahan. One of his patients was Mary, who had suffered from a very intense water phobia for many years. After 1.5 years of working together and using all available means, her phobia was still at the same level. It so happened that Callahan was also interested in Chinese medicine and was familiar with the theory of meridians and acupuncture points. In desperation, in one session, he asked Mary to start tapping the acupuncture point under her eye – the end of the stomach meridian. To Callahan’s surprise, after a few minutes of tapping, Mary’s problem was completely gone. It surprised him a lot, so he started exploring this topic, and thus he came up with the TFT method – Thought Field Therapy. It differed from EFT in that it designed point algorithms for specific problems like depression, phobias, etc. Callahan’s apprentice was Gary Craig, a bridge engineer, scientific mind. Interested in personal development, he decided to get to know TFT. While practicing the method, he noticed that during tapping it is enough to use one algorithm for all problems. He called his method EFT, and its effectiveness has been stunning.
Why EFT Works:
EFT works because it is probably the only method in the world that affects all our areas: body, mind, emotions, and you might be tempted to say that it also affects our spiritual aspects. EFT clears our problem in all these fields. During the session, we stimulate the acupuncture points, i.e. we taper them down. This tapping causes vibrations in our body, in our energy system. They move to the meridians that make up the energy system (connected to our nervous system and brain). This is how the vibrations reach the blockages. Gary Craig says that if we have a problem, it will be associated with some discomfort. It means a disturbance in the body’s energy system, i.e. some kind of blockage. This blockage is about the past. We experience emotions and problems here and now, but we will always look for the sources of these feelings in the past. If there is a problem, emotion, discomfort, or illness, it means we should go back to the root problems in the past. By paying attention to these root problems and by further stimulating the acupuncture points, the problem will be released.
What we can use EFT for:
EFT can be applied to any problem, stimulating positive solutions or effects. If we feel any discomfort related to the sphere of emotions, we can deal with it quite quickly using the EFT method. The same applies to problems at work or in relationships with people. Remember that every problem is a problem because we feel some unpleasant emotions in relation to it. When we release the emotions that are latent in the problem, it turns out that the aspect is no longer a problem for us. Likewise, we can cope with physical ailments as well as achieve better results in various aspects of life.