Any success using EFT? Emotional Freedom Technique

[Starsister]

A non CFS friend suggested using EFT for pain, as she found it very helpful. I know a little about it and have been skeptical, but wanted to see if anyone on here has found it helpful. I just now tried it, maybe did it wrong, but made my arms tired.

 

[Mary]

@Starsister - I tried EFT many years ago for emotional issues. It was a little helpful but a bit complicated to do, lots of steps.

A few years ago I found "faster EFT" (yes, that's what it's called!) It's much simpler, has fewer steps, is easier to do and probably wouldn't make your arms tired. And I found it more effective than regular EFT.

I haven't used it for pain as I don't deal with pain.

There are a ton of videos on you tube about it, here are a couple of links:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=faster+eft
https://fastereft.com/

 

[caledonia]

I had the same issue with my arms getting tired. But I discovered that once you have the different tapping points memorized, you don't actually need to use your arms. You can just imagine yourself tapping on the points and it works just as well.

The setup statement is actually the most important thing to get good results.

Anyway, it works well for me for anxiety and it depends on the type of pain. I get multi day headaches from barometer changes. The EFT works for a few minutes, then the headache comes back, and I have to keep repeating it. Healing touch therapy works better for me for this long term kind of pain.

On the other hand, I did have a "one minute wonder" one time. I barked my shin tripping up the stairs. I had a big swelled area that hurt like heck and I figured I would have a big bruise from it. I did some EFT, and the pain went away. I forgot about my shin, but when I looked down about 20 minutes later, the swelling was gone, and I never did get a bruise from it!

 

[Starsister]

@caledonia and @Mary Thanks for sharing your experiences. I will study the youtubes more. It looked like elements of guided imagery, meridian work that I get from my Chinese medicine practitioner, and I see how EMDR borrows from it. My main pain comes from my spine, and muscle spasms so wasn't sure how that would work. The demonstration videos and articles I've read so far all seem to be a bit different. And then I'm also suspicious of new terms that are getting marketed when they are just remix of the same mind body techniques I've been exposed to for 40 yrs.

And with all the claims of EFT on the internet claiming that it cures CFS, Lupus, fibro and everything but the kitchen sink...and the creator of it building on the idea that all pain is caused by negative emotions..which trips triggers for mynCFS self feeling like here we go again with someone claiming to fix us because of unresolved past trauma...just sounded suspicious and like a marketing ploy. But I'm a therapist who absolutely believes in the mind body connection and that lots of variables contribute to illness, I can see I should take another look at it. I'm also certified in hypnotherapy and some if it is rather similar to that, so we'll see! Thanks!

 

[blueberry]

@Starsister I've used EFT on-and -off for years, with mixed results. Went straight back to it when I relapsed just over a year ago. But found that leading almost to a state of "self-blame"........"oh, if only I'd cleared all my emotional issues, I wouldn't be stuck in bed again......my bad!" this wasn't helpful for me at all! I was exhausting myself trying to tap through each and every trauma of my life! (I believe this is referred to as the Personal Peace Procedure on Gary Craig's website). Strangely,I've had really good results when practising EFT on friends, for their emotional/physical problems, to the point that I was once approached by a friend of a friend in a bar, pleading "fix me too, please!" I'm not tapping at all at the moment, and have stopped beating myself up about being sick. Watching "Unrest" did that for me, allowing me to release the idea that I ws somehow "responsible" for having ME. I suppose any technique that makes us fel better mentally and spiritually will contribute to our overall wellbeing (I had a major surge of energy yesterday after a particularly good meditation session!) but we must avoid the doing/not doing of these techiniques ending up as another stick to beat ourselves with. ME already has that one covered!

 

[Mary]

with all the claims of EFT on the internet claiming that it cures CFS, Lupus, fibro and everything but the kitchen sink...and the creator of it building on the idea that all pain is caused by negative emotions..which trips triggers for mynCFS self feeling like here we go again with someone claiming to fix us because of unresolved past trauma..

I agree it's a very slippery slope. Neither faster EFT nor regular EFT did anything for my physical symptoms (PEM, immune dysfunction, sleep) and I can see how the way these have been promoted could lead to self-blame. The only thing they have done for me, and particularly faster EFT (again, much quicker and easier to use than the regular), is dealing with stress, which is no small matter. But they have not improved my physical health.

BTW, I did find EMDR extremely helpful almost 20 years ago in dealing with childhood trauma, which regular talk therapy really could not address. I think all therapists should be trained in EMDR.

 

[Starsister]

@Mary and @blueberry Thanks so much for sharing. I'm trying not to let how EFT is being promoted get in the way of the truth behind meridian work. I could see myself being a bit defensive that she was minimizing the cause of my symptoms. If it is meridian work, great..that is a real, energy facilitating healing process. I know it's helped me in a lot of ways over the last 25 years but not helped with my back or CFS.
But I don't like that they are mixing it it with the concept if " negative emotions are the cause of all pain". Totally different message and not related to meridians.

I'm not sexual abuse survivor but was in intensive therapy for 25 years for my own development, and I specialize in treating abuse. It's good to know EMDR has been helpful to some, I had a client in the hospital recently and they used EMDR and he found it very helpful, so I will make a point in bringing those techniques into my work more.

The great thing is if these are things we can do on our own, in the moment, and also not have to pay anyone else! I've got tons of tapes for different trademarked mind body techniques to work with pain, but they only help in the moment and when I stop and try to do anything else,the pain comes back. Most of Mine is from severe spinal stenosis and nerve pain from compressed discs so it may be a different animal altogether.