What is EFT or TAPPING? A tool for your Aging Life Care Management box
Author: Bobbi Kolonay – President of Holistic Aging in Pittsburgh PA
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique (sometimes called tapping). The basic premise is that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system, which is the centerpiece of eastern medicine. When the energy in our body is flowing normally, we feel great; when it becomes stagnant or obstructed, this causes disruptions along the energy meridians leading to negative or damaging emotions which can develop into physical symptoms. Correcting these imbalances is done by tapping with your fingers on meridian points, while at the same time being tuned into the issue to be resolved. When done properly, the underlying emotional factors that contribute to the problem are typically released along with the energy blocks.
The ETF basics are extremely easy to learn and use, it is fully portable, requires no special equipment, no drugs, surgeries or other medical interventions. Relief can occur no matter what the diagnosis or how many other interventions have failed.
I would encourage anyone to experiment with it and try it both personally and professionally for assisting clients to heal. It makes sense that if your energy is balanced, you can better assist another person with their issues. At Holistic Aging/Options For Elder Care we have found it a beneficial tool to add to our clients repertories to empower them to heal themselves and contribute to their own well-being. We also have done tapping to those who cannot complete the manipulations themselves due to cognitive or physical restraints.
ETF can be used to:
- Remove negative emotions such as phobias or emotional trauma
- Reduce or eliminate pain and disease
- Implement positive goals
- Reduce food cravings
- And many more
There are two basic areas to learn in order to use EFT: the tapping locations and technique, and the positive affirmations. Per ETF originator Gary Craig, who provides the Gold standard in ETF techniques:
EFT Tapping Locations
KC: The Karate Chop point (abbreviated KC) is located at the center of the fleshy part of the outside of your hand (either hand) between the top of the wrist and the base of the baby finger or….stated differently….the part of your hand you would use to deliver a karate chop.
TOH: On the top of the head. If you were to draw a line from one ear, over the head, to the other ear, and another line from your nose to the back of your neck, the TOH point is where those two lines would intersect.
EB: At the beginning of the eyebrow, just above and to one side of the nose. This point is abbreviated EB for beginning of the EyeBrow.
SE: On the bone bordering the outside corner of the eye. This point is abbreviated SE for Side of the Eye.
UE: On the bone under an eye about 1 inch below your pupil. This point is abbreviated UE for Under the Eye.
UN: On the small area between the bottom of your nose and the top of your upper lip. This point is abbreviated UN for Under the Nose.
Ch: Midway between the point of your chin and the bottom of your lower lip. Even though it is not directly on the point of the chin, we call it the chin point because it is descriptive enough for people to understand easily. This point is abbreviated Ch for Chin.
CB: The junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone and the first rib meet. To locate it, first place your forefinger on the U-shaped notch at the top of the breastbone (about where a man would knot his tie). From the bottom of the U, move your forefinger down toward the navel 1 inch and then go to the left (or right) 1 inch. This point is abbreviated CB for CollarBone even though it is not on the collarbone (or clavicle). It is at the beginning of the collarbone and we call it the collarbone point because that is a lot easier to say than “the junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone and the first rib meet.”
UA: On the side of the body, at a point even with the nipple (for men) or in the middle of the bra strap (for women). It is about 4 inches below the armpit. This point is abbreviated UA for Under the Arm.
Tapping Tips
- Some of the Tapping points have twin points on each side of the body. For example, the “eyebrow” point on the right side of the body has a twin point on the left side of the body. Years of experience have taught us that you only need to tap one of these twin points. However, if you have both hands free you can certainly tap on both sides for good measure.
- You can also switch sides when you tap these points. For example, during the same round of The EFT Tapping Basic Recipe, you can tap the “karate chop” point on your lefthand and the eyebrow point on the right side of your body. This makes the Tapping process more convenient to perform.
- The Tapping is done with two or more fingertips. This is so you can cover a larger area and thereby insure that your Tapping covers the correct point.
- While you can tap with the fingertips of either hand, most people use their dominant hand. For example, right handed people tap with the fingertips of their right hand while left handed people tap with the fingertips of their left hand.
- You tap approximately 5 times on each point. No need to count the taps because anywhere between 3 and 7 taps on each point is adequate. The only exception is during the Setup step (explained later) where the Karate Chop Point is tapped continuously while you repeat some standard wording.
- The process is easily memorized. After you have tapped the Karate Chop Point, the rest of the points go down the body (see the Sequence Points in the diagram above). The Eyebrow point, for example, is below the Top of the Head point. The Side of the Eye point is below the Eyebrow point. And so on down the body.
The 5 Steps to EFT Tapping per Gary Craig:
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Identify the Issue:
All you do here is make a mental note of what ails you. This becomes the target at which you “aim” the EFT Tapping Basic Recipe. Examples might be: Sore shoulder, traumatic experience in childhood, or inability to stop eating in the evening. Be sure you are only targeting one issue at a time.
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Test the Initial Intensity:
Here you establish a before level of the issue’s intensity by assigning a number to it on a 0-10 scale where 10 is the worst the issue has ever been and 0 is no problem whatsoever, similar to the pain scale used in a medical setting. This serves as a benchmark so we can compare our progress after each round of The EFT Tapping Basic Recipe. If, for example, we start at an 8 and eventually reach a 4, then we know we have achieved a 50% improvement.
- For emotional issues, you can recreate the memories in your mind and assess the discomforts.
- For physical ailments you can simply assess the existing pain or discomfort.
- For performance issues you can attempt the desired performance level and measure how close you come to it.
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The Setup:
The Setup is a process we use to start each round of Tapping. By designing a simple phrase and saying it while continuously Tapping the KC point, you let your system know what you’re trying to address.
When designing this phrase there are two goals to achieve:
1) acknowledge the problem
2) accept yourself in spite of it
We do this by saying:
“Even though I have this _______________, I deeply and completely accept myself”.
The blank above represents the problem you want to address, so you can just insert things like:
This sore shoulder:
“Even though I have this sore shoulder, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
This fear of spiders:
“Even though I have this fear of spiders, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
This humiliation at my eighth grade graduation:
“Even though I have this humiliation at my eighth grade graduation, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
This difficulty falling asleep:
“Even though I have this difficulty falling asleep, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
Not all of the issues will fit neatly into “Even though I have this ____________,” so you can use some flexibility when designing your Setup phrase. For example, instead of “this sore shoulder” you could say “Even though my shoulder hurts, I deeply and completely accept myself”. Or instead of “this humiliation at my eighth grade graduation” you could say “Even though my dad humiliated me at my eighth grade graduation.”
We do not want to use EFT on someone else’s problem. For example, rather than, “Even though my son is addicted to drugs, I deeply and completely accept myself,” it’s better to focus on your own reaction which might be, “Even though I’m frustrated by my son’s drug addiction.” Or instead of “Even though my husband works too much…,” better to try something like, “Even though I feel alone when my husband stays late at the office…” We want to aim EFT at our part of the problem rather than trying to fix someone else’s problem.
Important, Important, Important:
The language that we use always aims at the negative. This is essential because it is the negative that creates the energy that The EFT Tapping clears. This allows our natural positives to bubble up to the top.
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The Sequence:
This is the workhorse part of The EFT Tapping that stimulates/balances the body’s energy pathways. To perform it, you tap each of the points shown in the Sequence Points diagram (see above or below) while saying a Reminder Phrase that keeps your system tuned into the issue. Listed below are the points followed by a description of the Reminder Phrase:
- Top of the Head (TOH)
- Beginning of the Eyebrow (EB)
- Side of the Eye (SE)
- Under the Eye (UE)
- Under the Nose (UN)
- Chin Point (CH)
- Beginning of the Collarbone (CB)
- Under the Arm (UA)
The Reminder Phrase is quite simple as you need only identify the issue with some brief wording. Depending on your issue, you might say the following at each tapping point….
“This sore shoulder”,
“My father embarrassed me”,
“This difficulty in falling asleep”
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Test the Intensity Again:
Finally, you establish an “after” level of the issue’s intensity by assigning a number to it on a 0-10 scale. You compare this with the before level to see how much progress you have made. If you are not down to zero then repeat the process until you either achieve zero or plateau at some level.
EFT restores awareness and trust in the natural healing abilities of our mind, body and spirit, providing ground-breaking opportunities to achieving physical and emotional well-being in a faster time frame.
Because the techniques are so simple, they can be used effectively as a self-help tool, which empowers people to actively contribute to their own healing and development process. This facilitates a much faster relief process, previously believed impossible by healthcare professionals who advocated lengthy (& often painful) hours in psychotherapeutic or medical care, often with limited results. These techniques do not discredit the medical and psychotherapeutic professions, but rather serve to contribute to a holistic healing process.
Author:
Bobbi (Barbara) Kolonay RN BSN MS CCM
PITTSBURGH PA
Fellow of the Leadership Academy Aging Life Care Association
Past Board of Directors Aging Life Care Association
President of:
HOLISTIC AGING & OPTIONS FOR ELDER CARE
4284 Route 8 Ste #103
Allison Park PA 15101
P: 412-486-6677
www.HolisticAging.com
www.OptionsForElderCare.com
⇒References:
The ETF Manual, Gary Craig, Energy Psychology Press, 2011-03-15. 2nd.