EFT Therapy: Pro or Con?

[dannybex]

Has anyone else tried EFT* therapy? I know it sounds woo-woo in the extreme, but I'm beginning to think it may be quite powerful in possibly helping to release pent up or suppressed emotions that may be blocking one's ability to heal. A controversial topic to be sure, however I'm kicking myself (with my good leg) for dismissing it years ago...I think it was back in 2002-2003 when my doc suggested I give it a go.

The gentleman that practiced on me just kind of rubbed me the wrong way (no, not that way)...or at least I thought so at the time.

He was very cheerful, really upbeat and excited about EFT, and at the time, that just suggested to me that he knew nothing about CFIDS, so I think no matter what he had said, or we had tapped on, I wouldn't have received any benefit.

But in hindsight, was it my pent up anger, or suppressed anger, that was getting in the way? He was happy (a little too happy), and I was bitter and angry, even though it was perhaps suppressed so much I didn't realize it.

Cut to 6 years later, with Gupta, and the increasing awareness that emotional issues/traumas/stresses may play a part in our illness, I watched a few youtube videos on EFT, and to make a long story short, thanks to a friend's help, I ended up seeing Alina Frank, a highly respected practitioner/teacher here in Wa state. The appt went really well, we tapped on many issues (a lot of dysfunctional family stuff, buried anger/grudges, etc) and all of them were lessened quite remarkably in just 90 minutes.

I haven't been great about practicing the EFT exercises since then, but when I have, I've definitely noted a clear improvement. In fact, the day after my appointment was the day the Blue Angels (those insanely loud advertisements for joining the air force) started their practice sessions, flying overhead with a deafening, unbelievably ear-shattering blast/roar that in years past would make me extremely tense and agitated. Not exactly CFS-friendly...

So this time, I decided to tap on my anger/etc., regarding the BA's. I did about 3 rounds, maybe 4...and the result was really surprising.

Not only did I not tense up very much, I left the windows open for the first time in at least 8 years. Sure, there were a couple of times when I flinched, but on a scale from 1 to 10, the overall anger-agitation reaction was down to a 2 or 3, from the usual 9 or 10.

Would love to hear others experiences/reactions. I think it may be a pretty powerful tool, if done correctly, and, yes, every day.

Dan

*EFT stands for "Emotional Freedom Technique", where one taps on specific acupuncture points while addressing specific emotional or other issues.

 

[Lisa]

Hi Dan!

I started a few weeks ago and have been finding it very helpful. Just watched some youtube videos, read some things on it and gave it a whirl.

I too was having a bit of a time letting myself accept it due to the woo wooness of it all, but I decided to tap on that feeling too. And it worked! lol I have seen improvements for a variety of things. When I do big emotion things, I end up with an amazing amount of physical symptoms from the release of all of that. Sometimes a lot of extra energy, but also sometimes a major headache (no not tapping to hard Jody!) that seems to be related to the energy moving. For a day or two after, if I try tapping anything the headache immediately comes back like my system is exhausted. Makes me think it must be tied into my health for sure.

I tend to do it at least once a day most days, but most often that is small things. Can't seem to handle the big stuff more than once every week because so much gets released that it takes some time for me to fully sort it all out. Saw one guy talking on youtube about the memories being like a seed planted when they occurred in the past. As new memories form, the seedling grows roots and branches to attach to them so many things are interconnected. I'm finding that when I address part of that main memory line, I have a bunch of the connected stuff start popping up all week. Odd what some of the connections are but after thinking about it they make some sense why the one event would effect how you reacted later in the next event.

I also find that contrary to what many practitioners say, in my case I don't need to take the stuff down to a zero before being done with it that day. Feels like just as my detox pathways (liver, lymph, etc) are slow moving and clogged, so are my emotional/energy detox pathways too. I seem to be able to get to a point I've learned to recognize where the feelings are not very strong but still there a bit, but if I leave be and sleep on it then they fully drop to zero. Even a nap will often be enough time to have that energy detox out. Yoga also helps me with this. The extra oxygen and movement of areas that were not tapping points. Considering we tap at the end of the meridians instead of all the points along it, I have noticed that all those other points on that meridian have some locked energy to release too.

So, short answer is - yup! Love it and use it everyday. lol

Lisa

 

[kolowesi]

EFT here I come

Great information, you guys.

A good friend gave me the book years ago, but I was resistant. It is so hard to read and learn something from a book. Now there's a belief that has to go!

Meanwhile, I can watch on youtube, that's the perfect answer.

Danny, that's a huge change with the noise from the flyovers. Wow.

And Lisa, thanks so much for your great descriptions. You have a lot of insight into what is going on. I got a huge headache from doing the 1 minute BodyTalk routine, which involves tapping (I don't know EFT, so I can't compare).

I got a killer detox headache. The next day I finally drank some green stuff, and it got better. Could not figure out why balancing right and left brain would cause me to detox. I've done it every day since then and been OK.

One of my favorite woo-woo doctors told me that some doctor had figured out that his patients had physical crashes after making a big emotional breakthroughs. He ran tests and they were dumping heavy metals.

That stored emotion has a lot of energy. Somehow, changing/releasing that energy releases toxins. I think this idea has a lot of merit.

Thank you both so much! I'll go look right now.

Kelly

 

[susan]

Whee

I am enjoying this discussion. Have you heard of Dr Daniel Benor...a healer.

http://www.wholistichealingresearch.com/selfhealingwheeandother.html

He was a psychiatrist, MD before he turned to natural healer. He has created WHEE....a short cut EFT practice...an EMDR practice and another arm slapping parctice.

He found these therapies very worthwhile in treating anxieties, phobias, depression and all emotional issues. Got me thru one bad night of nausea. I believe he does consultations on Skype. He seems a very devoted guy to this kind of craft.

I wrote to him once about Gupta and he wrote back to me.

 

[Lisa]

I am enjoying this discussion. Have you heard of Dr Daniel Benor...a healer.

...

I wrote to him once about Gupta and he wrote back to me.

What did he say?

I have not heard of him. My EFT is very ghetto. lol I'll take a peek at the link you gave a bit later when I can think clearer.

Lisa

 

[dannybex]

Hi all...

...and thanks for your replies.

I haven't heard of Dr. Benor either, but he sounds interesting Susan. I'll have to google him (if he doesn't mind!).

There are definitely many different forms of EFT, or maybe I should say practitioners have different techniques or styles. Some are simplified to only 4 or 5 points, some involve tapping on like 10-12 points...like one of the guys on youtube (Magnus).

Kelly...yeah, I was pretty shocked by those results. Maybe things do happen for a reason?

Lisa: "My EFT is very ghetto."

LOL.

Here's one of the main things I learned from Alina: She is very adamant that EFT is most effective when you get as specific as possible about what, when or who is making you angry, or fearful, or whatever. She may start out with general questions, but then says "give me an example"...and then we start tapping on that. Besides family and friend issues, and also anger towards myself, she also had me tapping on fears: was I afraid of getting worse, or was I more afraid of getting well?

I think 70% the former, 30% latter...but not sure.

???

 

[Zuzu]

Yes, Ive tried E.F.T.

Hi,
I tried E.F.T. and I found that (surprisingly) it seems to work. I learned it after downloading the free manual at emofree. It eliminated my knee pain that I've had for 33 years(!)
Zuzu

 

[_Kim_]

EFT doesn't get my vote

Glad to hear that others have had success with EFT. I was trained to use EFT in conjunction with NST (NeuroStructural Integration Technique). I tried it for a while with my massage therapy clients and on myself with very little success.

Not long after, I had a client in my practice who is one of the big-name teachers/promoters in the EFT world. She had a bucketful of problems (health, relationships, financial) and I kept wondering, "why isn't EFT helping? Why is she coming to me if she has this amazing technique that she claims to be a remedy for all sorts of problems?"

But....EFT is out there for free, takes nothing to practice it and certainly can't make things worse. My 2cents.

 

[Dreambirdie]

EFT was ineffective for me

I have tried EFT many times for both physical and emotional issues, and it just did not work for me. I really wanted it to, because it sounds so great to be able to relieve so many kinds of problems with tapping. But it wasn't effective at all.

 

[dannybex]

Good points....

I too have had bad results in the past, as hinted above.

A couple things to consider: I think it's very important to find a good (objective) practitioner with a lot of experience, one that has been recommended by a friend, or has tons of referrals online (although they can be faked I suppose). The first one I went to was just almost inept, while the second one years later, really made a distinct difference.

(But just as with other professions, like for example, doctors, there are good ones and 'not so good' ones. I had an experience with an RN recently, who specializes in CFS and fibro, and even though she claims to have recovered by about 75-80%, she was in incredible discomfort, extremely obese...and her list of complaints went on and on.)

After one has seen a practitioner maybe 2 or 3 times, then they can learn to do it on their own at home. I've been terrible about practicing it...I do it maybe twice a week, when it should be done every day.

I think, at least according to Frank, that it makes a huge difference if one can get as specific as possible regarding the emotional issue they're trying to tackle.

She's actually going to be speaking to our CFS Group tomorrow...and said she's been having great success with a recent client, and also mentioned the XMRV virus, which is curious...so I'll try and get there, and report back.

thanks for your replies,

d.

 

[Lisa]

I've got the opposite experience from most of you it sounds like. Completely self taught off a few youtube videos and reading that free download from emofree.com.

Finding it is helping tremendously with things. I don't worry about doing it everyday unless there is something bugging me. Small stuff is pretty easy to take care of anytime it pops up. Large stuff, like really emotionally charged things from the past, those I can only work on once or twice a week.

Its seems to be having a trickle down effect. Been finding that things I haven't tapped on specifically, but that are related to other things I have, are also much less toxic emotionally than they used to be. Really been surprising to see how it is changing the way I think, the way I talk, and even my dreams.

Things I used to have nightmares about a couple times a month are turning into just plain old dreams with nothing but me being annoyed about what used to be really terrible.

Back before becoming ill, I went to an alternative style college - The Evergreen State College. They didn't have grades like A, B, C, etc. Instead they had evaluations of your work for the quarter. These were based solely on your own work, nothing in comparison to other students and were written both by yourself and also by your teacher. Some students came to TESC and floundered because the style was made for people who could motivate themselves. Some people just did mediocre because they only did what was needed to pass.

Me and others like me, flourished in that environment. It was a learning environment with no boundaries or limits to what you could do, it was all up to you and your imagination to determine where you would take your learning.

EFT is a lot like that. You have to want it, you have to be ready to put the work into it, and you have to be creative with how you apply it. Otherwise, I can easily see not having very good results form it. And most of all, you have to be very patient.

Take the time to really tackle a problem, don't expect it to all happen in five minutes or less. Really huge stuff for me can take over a hour of solid work. It is both tiring and exhilarating. Some things have taken as much as two hours, and that's just to get them to the point where I can put it aside for a few weeks knowing I'm not fully done with it yet.

So patience when doing it and allowing the time for it. But also patience in seeing results. They like to show all those flashy things on those videos, and sure maybe it works like that for these flashy practitioners. But I'm not one of them, I'm just an average person who picked it up for free off the internet. Takes me a lot longer to do it - and part of that is because of my health. Were I a fully healthy person, would likely get bigger and faster results.

Anyways. That's just my way about it. Dan is very right that you need to be as specific as possible. Sometimes that means having to admit you feel a certain way that you really don't want to look at. Admit your part in things so that you can then tap on the feelings that brings up. Having denial about stuff seems to put a break on it working to tap it out. Also, if you are not fully ready to let something go, then that can have an impact too.

When its right, its right. I don't think this would have worked for me a year ago but at this time and place it feels like it is bringing me back to the person I once was before all the ravages of illness and loss. Also feel like a better person in some ways because I'm actually letting go of some stuff I've carried around like a noose round my neck for twenty years.

Ghetto style... works for me!

Lisa

 

[Marylib]

I have found it helpful too. Takes time to get through the protocol, but I have had good results.

 

[Lisa]

I'm glad to hear that Marylib!

 

[willow]

Isn't it great when something free works. Seems to help people I know too, but personally I didn't like it... Sadly. I know it shouldn't be problematic, it's only tapping on meridans, but OTOH I guess anything can have a bad effect in someone. I felt my cellular signals, bioresonance or similar messed up by it, confirmed later that day by a visit to my regular supermarket when i set the alarms off going into the store and when leaving it. Took 2-3 days to re-establish my equilibrium.

 

[rwinsmom528]

...
http://www.wholistichealingresearch.com/selfhealingwheeandother.html...WHEE....a short cut EFT practice...an EMDR practice and another arm slapping parctice.

My MD taught me WHEE. It helped me get through my brother's death. I was especially close to him because he was developmentally diabled and I was involved in his daily care until my ME/CFS relapse hit. At the time he died I was too diabled to allow myself to greive-I was already bedridden and hardly had the energy to breathe most days. WHEE helped a lot, but I modified it a bit. Instead of saying "even though...I completely and unconditionally love myself," I said, "even though......God loves me completely and uncontionally". I was suprised at how the pain of missing my brother was so diminshed even until now.

 

[awesomeannie47]

EFT

:Sign Help:

I have always been fascinated by the mind/body connection. I was brought up as a Christian Scientist.

I ran into a friend the other day who told me about EFT and how it helped her migraine headaches.

I went to the following video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLtd8hYVs0

I was skeptical that tapping would emotionally help you. The first time after doing the exercises, I felt nothing. I was willing to stick it out for a week.

By the third day, I started to feel better. This continued and is still continuing.

I don't know if it is the placebo affect.

Does it really matter if it is as long as it is making me feel more calm?

Is there more to this than the tapping?

I am currently looking for some references including any youtube as seeing the technique helped.

The Lord's love to you.
Annie

 

[awesomeannie47]

Hi, I am finding it really mind boggeling that others seem to be having the same reaction as I have had. I have only been on this a week or so. The first three days, I felt nothing. Then it changed.

I have a lot of issues to deal with.

I got ideas from the posts.

I want to learn as much as I can.

Thanks.
May the lord's love be with you.
awesomeannie

 

[Sunday]

It may interest you to know that the places you tap in EFT are acupuncture points. Tapping them has physiological as well as psychological effects (Chinese medicine doesn't separate them).

Thanks for this reminder to use EFT more. It's not a cure, but it sure makes me feel better. If we feel it, why do we need to worry about if it's real? No bad side effects that I know of....:Retro wink:

 

[sleepy237]

Yes I do think it helps to relieve some. David Childerley off Youtube and his illuminati : Overcome the Fear collection has shown me some real truth into the power of EFT.

 

[helsbells]

It didn't help me at all but I had the same experience as Dannybex in that I thought the guy was a prat although I did continue the practise for a quite a while - Don't remember it doing anything bad just that it didn't do anything. I am open to removing subconscious blocks and anything that helps you unstick patterns just didn't personally hit lucky with this one.