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Your
Mind! with EFT
Emotional Freedom Techniques
The Ultimate
Level 1 Workshop
Workbook
by Lindsay Kenny
EFTMaster, AAMET Certified Trainer, Life Coach
www.LKCoaching.com
Change
Your
Mind! with EFT
The Emotional Freedom Techniques
The Ultimate
Level 1 Workshop
Workbook
by Lindsay Kenny
EFT Master, AAMET Certified Trainer, Life Coach
Change Your Mind! with EFT
The Ultimate
Level 1 Workshop
Workbook
by EFT Master Lindsay Kenny
© Lindsay Kenny 2005
All rights reserved: protected by international copyright law.
Table of Contents
Page Chapter
6 Introduction
8 The Body’s Energy System
10 Exploring EFT’s Effect on the Body’s Energy
12 Quiz 1 - General Knowledge
14 Muscle Testing
19 Quiz 2 - Muscle Testing
20 EFT Basic Recipe
34 Quiz 3 - The Basic Sequence
36 Helpful Tips for Successful Sessions
40 Nine Stumbling Blocks
62 The Movie Technique
65 Choice Statements
71 FAQs reference
73 FAQs about EFT
90 Answers to Quizzes 1, 2 & 3
94 Abbreviations of Tapping Points Reminder
95 Personal Peace Procedure
100 Dr. Carol Look’s Tapping Tips
107 Complex Issues
121 FAQs about Lindsay Kenny
126 Recommended Practitioners
127 Lindsay Kenny’s Bio
Acknowledgments
♥ First I would like to thank my friend and colleague, Angela Treat Lyon
for her beautiful illustrations, design and construction of this workbook. She
brings the pages to life like turning a tune into a rhapsody. Additionally,
without her inspiration, guidance, and creative genius, this book would still be
a goal rather than a reality.
I also thank Angela for the privilege of letting me piggyback onto her clever
name of Change your Mind! with EFT, the title of her first EFT book. Read
more about Angela and her EFT books (one in Spanish!) at EFTbooks.com;
contact her at realperson@EFTbooks.com.
♥ Hugs and gratitude to all who are reading this labor of love
in an effort to further their experience with the remarkable
Emotional Freedom Techniques.
Introduction
The purpose of this workbook is to guide you, the workshop participant/
reader through the entire process of EFT. Using narratives, processes,
visuals, and quizzes, we hope to stimulate your learning skills in a way that
will lead you to a comprehensive understanding of EFT.
Our objective is that by the end of this workbook you will be able to use
it confidently on yourself and even others. EFT can be used on hundreds
of issues from hiccups to headaches and from shallow breathing to shame.
While EFT is a fairly simple process, it actually contains many complex
elements and subtle nuances, many of which we will cover in this book.
EFT is more of an art than a science. So while you can learn the basics
from this book or in the workshop, there’s still nothing as powerful as
experiencing EFT yourself. Then practicing what you’ve learned on yourself
and with others will help you to improve your skills.
Years ago I learned to sky dive (what was I thinking?). I was surprised to
realize that in the 4-hour class leading up to the actual first dive, only about
20 minutes were spent on “how to sky dive.” The last three and a half hours
were spent on what to do if it didn’t work. How to untangle the cord, what to
do if the chute didn’t open properly, and how to steer away from telephone
poles and rooftops, were just some of the life-saving lessons we needed to
learn. We all paid close attention to these lessons.
Learning EFT is a little like sky diving. The basics are pretty easy. It only takes
a few minutes to learn the tapping points and the basic setup statements.
But in actuality it takes much longer, genuine effort and a lot of practice to
learn the art of EFT. For instance we could build a whole workshop just
around “What to do when EFT appears not to be working.” We guide you
through some of those challenges in our 9 Stumbling Blocks to EFT in this
workbook.
Even though this is a comprehensive workbook, you still won’t learn each and
everything you need to know about EFT in it. That’s why we offer Levels 2
and 3 as well. By practicing between each workshop, then practicing some
more you will eventually hone your skills and confidence into a competent
EFTer.
If you are reading this workbook on your own rather than in the workshop, I
recommend that you do the quizzes and practice the exercises with others as
they come up.
Just reading this book, without participating in it, won’t teach you EFT. You
need to practice what you’ll be learning to develop your EFT skills. So dive into
this process, and tap into your learning potential.
Session One
The Body’s
Energy System
During the past couple of decades, it has become widely accepted that
our emotional health plays an important role in our physical well-being. We
recognize that our hearts pound when we are frightened, our faces turn
red when we are embarrassed, our palms become sweaty when we are
anxious, and, most commonly, our heads ache when we are stressed.
Left untreated, negative emotions can have a profound impact on our physical
well-being. Asthma, migraines, ulcers, and hypertension are just some of
the physical ramifications from ignored emotional issues. Research has
also proven that negative emotions play a significant role in more complex
ailments, such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, cancer and other
serious illnesses.
Just as blood moves through our veins, breath through our lungs and food
through our digestive tract, energy moves through our meridians. If our
electrical system were to be completely disrupted (such as a severe jolt from
a live electrical wire, or other types of shocks) we would die, just as we would
die without oxygen, food or a blood supply.
Several sciences and alternative medical practices are based on the energy
system. Acupuncture, acupressure, EFT, EMDR, Reiki, and BASF are just a
few. And while acupuncture has become much more recognized in the past
10 years, it’s still considered a “way out there” practice to many in the medical
field. EFT, or Emotional Freedom Techniques, still relatively new to the
healing arts, is also considered “weird” or “way out there” to those who have
yet to experience it.
It’s that jolt, or disruption, that causes the emotion of fright or anger (or
both)…not the fact that the person is screaming at you.
The disruption in the flow of energy through our system is not unlike the
interruption in the flow of water in a hose that has been kinked. Un-kink the
hose, and the water flows freely again. Likewise, in our meridian system,
“un-kinking” the disruption caused by a traumatic event, or negative thought,
dissipates the negative emotion.
Quiz 1:
General Knowledge
Answers are found at the end of this book.
4. What is another name for the energy pathways throughout our bodies?
Muscle Testing
Experiencing is believing—so we are going to demonstrate a simple, yet
powerful, way to show how our body responds to negative thoughts or
emotions through muscle testing. If you have never done muscle testing, you
might want to try it, just for fun, with a friend (let’s call your friend “Bob”, so we
don’t have to deal with gender-proper pronouns).
To test Bob’s resistance strength, put four fingers of your non-dominant hand
on his wrist. Then, ask him to resist when you try to pull his arm down. (Don’t
bounce his arm up and down. Rather, simply push down steadily for 2 or 3
seconds until you feel his resistance).
You’re doing this to test his general resistance and to see how hard you
need to push to get his arm to move, not to see how strong he is. This is not
a muscle contest, but a resistance test. Make sure Bob isn’t forcing his arm
up, in order to keep you from pulling it down. Everyone has different strength
levels, so you will need to practice with
each person to establish a baseline of
his or her strength before beginning
the actual experiment.
Then have him turn the hand on his head, palm up. Pull down again on his
outstretched arm (while telling him to resist). This time, his arm should go
down fairly easily, or at least several inches.
Many things can disrupt the flow of energy throughout the body’s meridian
system—some temporary, some that last.
When his hand is palm-down on his head (where a “contact” or meridian point
resides) his “batteries” are in correctly.
With the palm up, the connection is broken and his strength will wane.
Therefore, palm down on his head = arm strong: palm up = arm weak.
If, however, Bob’s arm does not go down when the hand on the head is palm-up,
then Bob has some form of General Polarity Reversal (GPR). This is rare,
but it does happen. (More on Reversals later.)
FIXING GPR
Here’s a quick way to fix GPR:
Have Bob do the Karate Chop (KC) for about 10 seconds. (That’s bumping
the little-finger-side of his hands against each other, karate chop style.) Test
him again the same way, and the arm should be weak when the palm is up. If
it’s still strong with the palm up, he is still reversed and may be dehydrated or
have one of the other causes listed previously. (See the section on Polarity
Reversals for more information on GPR)
Now ask Ann to resist, with her arm out, while saying “My name is Ann”. As
she’s doing that, you pull down on her arm. If her name is really Ann, her arm
should be strong. Next, ask Ann to say, “My name is Roger”, (or Clyde, Frank,
Suzy, anything other than her real name).
Ask her to resist while saying the false name statement and her arm should
go down fairly easily as you push on it.
This simple little test, along with the palm-up/down test, is usually surprising
and fun for most people who have never experienced muscle testing before.
Using this, along with the other examples below, is how I build the bridge to
EFT that Gary often talks about. Of course, muscle testing with everyone
you meet or talking about EFT is not practical. But in a one-on-one session,
or workshop, muscle testing is both fun and, at the same time, functional in
describing the “zzzzztt” effect that Gary refers to regarding negative emotions.
It can also help determine the validity of true or false statements while doing
EFT, for example: checking for Polarity Reversals, having the subject say,
“I really do want to get rid of this issue,” or asking the subconscious, “is this
issue fully resolved?”
ALTERNATING TESTS
Have Ann say some alternating negative and positive words while resisting
you as you pull down on her arm with each word (see examples next page).
For instance, have her say “butterflies” (arm should be strong when you test
it), then “September 11th” (arm will probably be weak), “sunshine” (strong)
“tsunami disaster” (weak) “beautiful flowers” (strong) “cancer” (weak), etc.
Think of positive and negative words or statements that might apply to you.
This simply demonstrates how sensitive our bodies are to negative thoughts,
words, or non-truths.
If you’re doing this workbook on your own and can’t muscle test with anyone,
use the thigh/forearm method to test yourself. You will see the way every
negative word or thought has a negative effect on your body.
Note: Remember that some seemingly benign words may have a negative
charge for some people. For instance ‘roses’ may remind someone of
a departed loved one, or birthday cake may bring up a wheat allergy.
Conversely ‘war’ may seem positive to some. The above words are just
examples. Make a list of your own!
Quiz 2:
Muscle Testing
1. Is muscle testing an integral part of EFT?
3. Why would you want to use muscle testing with a friend or client?
3. Reassessment:
Checking in with yourself to see where you are after a round or two of tapping
4. Fine Tuning:
Repeating 1,2 and 3 until the issue is resolved. If the issue gets stuck at a 2
or below, use the 9-point Gamut sequence (described below) to completely
eliminate the blockage while balancing the right and left hemispheres of the
brain.
5. Testing:
Make sure an issue is resolved by trying to get yourself upset about it. When
you try, if you still feel a charge on the issue, then you need to repeat the
steps above until the issue is completely neutralized.
In the beginning, while you are learning EFT, it is best to pick relatively
“simple” issues. Simple issues are ones that are current (not an old trauma,
betrayal, death, etc.) and, most likely, have only one component. We will learn
how to deal with more complex, or chronic, issues later. For now, choose a
current, simple issue or event with which you would like to deal.
* EFT has an incredibly positive record for alleviating complex issues as well.
Since complex issues often take longer to resolve and may involve multiple
aspects to get to the core issue, we will deal with them in Level 2. For now,
while you are learning and practicing, let’s work on simple issues such as a
craving, a physical pain, (tightness or discomfort) or a fear. Pick an issue that
is relatively recent and simple. (See an example of dealing with a complex
issue later in this workbook.)
If you are livid at someone for something they did or said to you, you might
assign it an 8, 9 or 10. Still smarting over someone calling you lazy recently,
might only be a 4.
You’ll learn much more about Set-up statements and their importance as we
go along.
For instance:
“Even though I have this pain on the back of my left hand,” instead of
just, “this pain.”
Or:
“Even though I have a fear of the ocean…” not just, “this fear of water.”
Or:
“Even though I’m frustrated and hurt at being passed over for the
promotion this week…”
Note: If you find it difficult to say “I love and accept myself”, change it to
“…I want to love and accept myself” or “…I’m open to loving and accepting
myself” or “…a part of me wants to accept who I am.”
More examples:
“Even though I have this fear of speaking to groups over five people,
I deeply and completely accept myself.”
“Even though I have this sinus headache, I deeply love and accept
who I am.”
“I deeply and completely accept myself, even though I have this anger
towards my father for yelling at me last night.”
“Even though I have this fear of snakes, I love and accept myself
anyway.”
“I deeply and profoundly accept myself, even though I’m really sad
over my breakup with ________.”
Note: With the reminder statement you don’t need to repeat the “Even
though…” part of the “I love and acceptance myself” statement—just a
short reminder phrase, as shown above.
1 EB 2 SE 3 UE 4 UN
5 CH 6 CB 7 UA 8 LP
9 WR or 9 WR 10 CRH or 10 CRH
2. SE = Side of the eye, on the bone bordering the outside of the eye.
5. CH = Chin, in the center between the bottom lip and bottom of the chin.
7. UA = Under the arm, on the side of the body, approx. 4” below the armpit.
8. LP = Under the breast on the edge of the ribs to the side of the belly.
On men, straight down from the nipple on the edge of the rid cage.
10. CRH = Crown of the head toward the back, just before it goes vertical
Here are Zoe’s descriptions of the additional points we will use throughout
this book and the Level 1 course:
The Liver Point - (LP) or Liver 14 - This point is good for stress, depression,
cravings and anger.
Wrist - (WR) - The line at the base of the hand has 3 major meridians (find
these points on the inside of the wrist, where the hand bends to meet the
arm). These 3 points are: Heart 7, Pericardium 7, and Lung 9. The heart and
pericardium points are great for stress and anxiety and the lung point is good
for grief and sadness.
Crown of the Head - (CRH) or Du20 - This meridian is the meeting point of
all Yang meridians in the body and a powerful contact point for every issue.
Use these points, along with the other seven in the Basic Recipe, every time
you do the sequence, not just for the meridian-based issues mentioned.
Do the Sequence (also known as rounds) twice - from the eyebrow point
through the points down to the wrists, ending at the top of the head. Be sure
to repeat the reminder statement at each point. The order is not crucial - you
can start at the top of the head and/or end there.
III. Reassessment
Third: Check in with yourself to see how you are doing
Now that you’ve done the Set-up statement and a couple of rounds of
tapping, re-evaluate where you are on the SUDs rating.
If you’re not sure what your number is, guess. Or finish this sentence: ” I
don’t know what my distress number is right now, but if I did know, it would be
a ___ .” Don’t “think” about it too much; just guess if you’re not sure. If your
distress level did not change at all, don’t give up! Just try it again.
This time, make sure you are being specific about your issue and that you are
following the directions. If the rating is still the same after the second couple
of rounds, don’t despair.
(There are a few things that can impede the process of EFT. So stop here and
read the section called “The Nine Stumbling Blocks of EFT” later in this book.)
If you are like most people, your number will have gone down by two or more
points. A typical drop on the first two rounds might be from a 10 to a 7 or 8,
then to a 4 or 5 on the next two rounds.
After the issue has decreased in intensity, make a slight change in both
the Set-up statement and in the reminder phrase. Change the Set-up
statement to something like…
“Even though a part of me is still ... (fill in your issue) I love and accept
myself anyway.”
Keep repeating all of the above steps until your issue is completely
resolved.
Be patient with yourself, especially as you are learning. EFT is an art and
a skill, and, as with all skills, it takes practice to be successful. If you get
frustrated or impatient, just remember that EFT is one of the easiest, fastest
and most effective remedies of any kind available today.
What might take months or even years in talk therapy, you may be able to
handle in minutes with EFT. Traditional therapy hopes for a 50% success rate,
while EFT, even in the hands of a novice generally shows results over 80%.
So, your patience and persistence with EFT will pay off.
If you are still not at a zero on this issue after doing the above sequences
then complete the process with Fine Tuning.
Locate the gamut point on the back of your hand—between the little finger
and ring finger, and out towards the wrist about an inch.
Tap on the Gamut point continually while repeating the reminder phrase
and while doing the following sequence.
Close your eyes tightly, then open them wide. (Remembering to keep
tapping and saying the reminder phrase).
Keeping your head still and using your eyes only, look down to the
right, then down and to the left. (Keep your head straight and keep tapping
and repeating the reminder statement.)
Roll your eyes around in a big circle as if looking at each number on a
giant clock. (Keep your head straight ahead and keep tapping and
repeating the reminder phrase.)
Roll your eyes around in the opposite direction. (Keep tapping and saying
the reminder statement.)
Hum 2 seconds of a familiar song like “Happy Birthday” or “Jingle Bells”.
Count rapidly from 1 to 5.
Tap through each point again, starting with the eyebrow point, ending
at the top of the head, while saying the reminder statement.
By now, your issue may be resolved. After a few rounds, (3-5), about 80% of
all issues will be resolved with this simple process, even for beginners. (As
mentioned before, your success with EFT can be impeded by other aspects
that haven’t been addressed yet, like not locating the core issue, or a possible
reversal, and/or the skill of the practitioner—you, in this case.) The good
news, however, is that these impediments are usually easily overcome. If
you haven’t already done so, please read the section on the Nine Stumbling
Blocks of EFT if you still feel stuck.
If there still seems to be some discomfort at all, complete the sequence again
or do the 9-point Gamut as described above.
Remember:
Reminder: Before you begin, assess your level of distress (1-10), and
choose your set-up statement.
I. The Set-up: Rub the tender spot in a circular motion, while doing the
set-up statement “Even though I have this (insert your issue), I deeply love
and accept myself. Continue rubbing while saying the statement three
times.
II. The Sequence: Tap the following points 5-7 times while saying the
reminder statement. For example, “this fear of snakes,” “my anger at
mother,” “the pain in my back,” etc.
III. Reassess: Check your intensity level and perform subsequent rounds.
Once you have completed the first round of tapping, change the set-up set
statement to something like: “Even though there is still some (whatever
the issue is ...), I deeply and completely accept myself.” Repeat three
times while rubbing. Then, repeat the tapping sequence with an altered
reminder statement like, “...still some of this…” or, “remaining issue.”
Keep repeating this step until you’re at a zero of intensity.
Test yourself by thinking about the issue or incident to see if there’s still
something there, i.e. your number goes up to a 1 or more. If it does go
up, complete the sequence again or proceed to the next point.
IV. Fine Tune: Fine tune by doing the 9-point Gamut: tapping, eye rolls,
humming, counting, humming, another round.
V. Test your results: Test your results by trying to get yourself upset. If
there’s still a charge, then you need to repeat the above steps.
1 EB 2 SE 3 UE 4 UN
5 CH 6 CB 7 UA 8 LP
9 WR 9 WR 10 CRH 10 CRH
Quiz 3:
The Basic Sequence
Now, let’s see how well you’re doing!
Answer the following questions without referring back to
the workbook, unless you really get stuck.
1. What is the FIRST thing you need to do before starting the EFT process?
6. If, after tapping for two rounds, your intensity level has decreased from a
10 to a 7, how do you proceed? And, what would you use as your reminder
statement?
7. If you get stuck at a 1 SUDs or less, or if the intensity goes back up when
you test yourself, what other options might you consider?
9. What would you do if your SUDs stayed at a 10, or the same as when you
started?
First Layer or Scene: “Dad came in the door with a bad look on his
face….”
Then: “I was scared when Dad crossed the room, yelled at me and
hit me for no reason.”
Then: “I was sad and hurt after Dad hit me and stormed out.”
This is much more effective than tapping on, “the day Dad hit me.”
Separate scenes such as these, of the “movie” of your incident, require
separate tapping sessions for the most effective treatment. Treat all the
separate incidents or “aspects” you can find, and with persistence, the
negativity surrounding your central issue will come tumbling down. Be
persistent on those “tail enders” until all aspects of the problem have
vanished, then the problem will be gone for good.
Make sure you’ve found the core issue. If you have a sore, aching back
and you just can’t seem to get the pain to subside with tapping, consider what
emotional issues could be causing your sore back (blame, guilt, anger).
Are you working too hard, stressed at home, fearful of failing, scared
of being found out about something? Find the core emotional issue, and
often the physical symptom will disappear. It works the same for unresolved
emotional issues.
If you are afraid of water, for instance, and tapping hasn’t eliminated the
fear completely, consider what past event or childhood trauma might have
caused this fear and tap on THAT issue.
Also be specific about the type of water fear. Maybe ocean waves are
intimidating but lake water is fine. Or perhaps rivers or swimming pools are
the real issues.
Ask yourself, “When did this issue or pain start?” “If my sore back is
trying to tell me something, what would it be (or tight shoulders, upset
stomach, etc.)?”
More about core issues is discussed in the Nine Stumbling Blocks of EFT
later on in this notebook.
For the best tapping results use the index, middle and ring fingers, or all
four fingers when possible (like on the top of the head or under the arms).
Tap on both sides of your body when possible. Unilateral tapping works
fine, but in my opinion, bilateral tapping is better.
Do EFT while undisturbed (turn off your cell phone or TV and make sure
the kids are busy elsewhere.)
Read and Master the things that get in the way of successful EFT
treatments (the 9 Stumbling Blocks article.)
Learn from your mistakes. If you try something a few times, and it’s not
working, do it differently.
Use EFT every day. Do it at a set time every day, just before going to
bed, or in the shower, or when you first wake up. More than anything else,
practicing EFT daily can make an enormous difference in your happiness and
peace of mind.
Nine Stumbling
Blocks That Keep EFT
from Working
And How To Remedy Them
By Lindsay Kenny, EFT Master Practitioner
It has been my experience that one of the primary reasons EFT appears
not to be working resides in the skill of the practitioner (who is often the
person treating him or herself).
EFT is more of an art than a science, and we’re still learning how it works.
We do, however, know these things for certain: In the right hands, EFT can
produce miraculous results.
Simple issues, such as fears, stress, (recent) anger, pain, frustration, and
hundreds of other non-complex problems can often be eradicated in a few
minutes with EFT.
Even someone new to EFT can often get amazing results 70% of the time—
which is an extraordinary percentage (that the medical profession would love
to have!).
There are certain things that can stop EFT in its tracks - which is the basis of
this article.
Reversals
Reversals, often called Psychological Reversals or Polarity Reversals (PR),
are what I believe to be the most overlooked obstruction to successful EFT
treatments. There is so much more to this phenomenon than we originally
thought. When it appears that EFT is not working, a primary key to rapid and
effective treatment often lies in identifying the different types of Reversals and
in knowing how to neutralize them.
Dealing with Reversals up front is perhaps more important than any of the
other impediments to EFT.
In fact, if Reversals are unrecognized and untreated they can stop EFT in
its tracks, or at best, make it dramatically more difficult and time consuming
to resolve an issue.
The good news is, once discovered, the solutions for correcting Reversals
are amazingly simple and highly effective. My experience is that when dealing
with simple issues, Reversals are usually not a problem. But for chronic or
long-lasting problems, complex issues, and even serious illnesses, Reversals
are all too common.
For those who have a Reversal, its discovery and elimination are paramount
to a successful resolution of the problem. A good clue as to whether or not
someone has a Reversal is if their SUD level remains the same after a couple
of rounds of tapping. A SUD (or subjective unit of distress) level is a way to
gage the intensity of an issue on a scale of 0-10. There are other reasons
why your SUD level may stay the same—other stumbling blocks—which will
be addressed later on in this article. I break Reversals down into two basic
types, each with several sub-categories.
Performing the standard set-up procedure (rubbing the sore spot or karate
chop point while saying the set-up statement) will often fix negativity or
electrical GPRs. Addiction or depression caused GPRs, however, are not
usually eliminated just by doing the set-up statement and require additional
work, as detailed in the next section on SBS.
Think of the experiment in grade school where you used a magnet to attract
tiny particles of metal on a piece of paper. The positive end of the magnet
pulled the particles toward it, aligning them up neatly, all going in the
same direction. Then, when the negative end of the magnet was directed
toward the metal shavings, it caused the particles to repel from the magnet,
scattering and separating them in all different directions. In a sense, that’s
what happens to our body’s energy when a negative force (e.g. those listed
above) is introduced into the system.
Since your body has its own “electrical system” your “batteries” need to be
positioned correctly in order for you to function properly. If your polarity is
“scrambled,” you have a GPR Reversal, and it is likely EFT will not work for
you until the Reversal is corrected.
SBS is seldom a conscious choice, so most people will initially disagree with
you if you tell them that subconsciously they don’t actually want to get rid
of their problem or issue. Of course, most people don’t consciously want
to stay emotionally upset or physically in pain. But the subconscious is a
powerful entity, usually exhibiting dominance over our conscious desires.
For someone who has carried around a trauma, chronic pain, phobia, or
some other issue for many years, the emotion becomes a part of his or her
personality or even his or her identity.
How often have you heard phrases, like “He’s an angry young man” or
“She’s just such an anxious person”? Overcoming, or losing, that “identity”
can be very threatening to the non-rational subconscious mind.
If someone has been trying to lose weight for a long time, for instance,
and hasn’t been successful, they are almost certainly reversed on it.
Consciously they want to lose weight, but their big, stubborn subconscious
may be saying, “Wait a minute here. If I lose weight my clothes won’t fit and
I’ll be deprived of the foods I love. And what if I lose that 40 pounds and I
still don’t get that promotion I need, the guy I’m lusting after, or the friends
I want? Maybe if I lose that weight I’ll be so attractive that I’ll be abused or
harassed again. Or, what if my chubby friends abandon me; or what if I get
skinny but am still not pretty? Gee, losing weight is just not worth it, so I’ll
just stay fat.”
Once again, remember, this is the subconscious mind wielding control over
what we consciously want.
When I hear someone say “I’ve had this ________ for years, and have tried
everything” the word Reversal comes to mind immediately. Personally, I like
to use muscle testing to demonstrate this phenomenon.
I have the client make a positive statement such as “I really want to let go
of this anger at dad.” When I muscle test them as they they are saying this,
their arm will test weak. They protest, of course, saying, “But I really DO
want to get over it!” And they do at the conscious level….
RESOLVING SBS
The good news is, that it is very easy to fix an SBS reversal - so easy
that people find it hard to believe.
This is how it is done: Simply tap on the karate chop point (KC= base of little
finger against base of the other little finger) using a reversal phrase such as:
“Even though:
“I don’t really want to get over this depression (trauma, chronic pain,
etc.) I deeply and completely accept myself.”
“It may not be safe to get over my issues…. (use your actual
problem, not the word ‘issue’)…”
I almost always use at least the first and last of these choices, which usually
catch everything in between. “Not deserving” to get over something is also
a “biggie”, so try it, if it fits, along with any of the others. You’ll know the
Reversal neutralization worked when you start doing EFT again and you
start to get results. Reversals can be a huge stumbling block, but they are
so easily remedied that we needn’t let them stand in the way.
You still need to do EFT after fixing a Reversal—i.e., the Set-up and tapping
sequences.
I do pro-bono work for a drug and alcohol rehab center in my area and I’d say
dehydration is common with over 90% of the people there. I don’t know why
but “addicts” seem to drink very little water, by their own admission. Thus,
before I start a workshop at the clinic I have everyone drink a big glassful of
water.
When I was new at EFT several years ago, I had a difficult client, “Reuben.”
He really had me stumped. His was a relatively simple issue, yet we just
weren’t getting anywhere. I had asked a zillion questions, and was seriously
considering getting frustrated (tap-tap-tap).
Then, out of the blue, I asked him how much water he had drunk that day
and he replied, “None.” Yikes! Being a big water-holic myself I just couldn’t
imagine not having any all day. I made him drink a big glass before we
continued.
Being dehydrated is fairly common, but so easy to fix. It just takes thinking of
the right question to ask when you get stumped and having the subject drink
a glass of water before continuing. It’s all part of the “art of EFT”.
Being too vague, general, or global about an issue is to deny the body
an opportunity to remedy the problem. Gary Craig discovered early
on, that it is imperative to be as specific as possible about circumstances
surrounding any challenge. To dig even deeper, I often ask a client probing
questions, have them envision the situation or issue, and have them get in
touch with smells, sounds, sights, or colors, if necessary.
For example, instead of saying, “This pain in my leg” you might say “This
pain in the calf of my right leg.” Or “…the time my brother embarrassed
I asked her to tell me exactly what had happened, how she fell, and
what she saw. It became clear that it was tumbling backwards that
she was afraid of, not just tumbling. So we got more specific in the
set-up by saying “Even though I’m afraid to tumble backwards…”
However, that only helped a little. I asked her to relive the maneuver
in her mind and describe her feelings. She said that, in her mind’s
eye, she could complete the backward flip if a spotter was there for
her, but she couldn’t “see” herself trying it alone.
As tempted as I was to see her perform, I had her wait until it was
safe to try it…at her gym. She left a happy little girl, eager to get
back at it.
Her mom e-mailed me that night and said that, at gym practice
that afternoon, Terri had done back-flips several times—without a
spotter—and did an excellent job. Mom, the coach, and Terri were all
jubilant. As was I!
Another client, “Vinnie” was complaining about his sore right foot.
We were able to get his SUD level of 9 down to a 4 fairly quickly, but
then, the progress stopped. I asked him to touch the exact spot of
the pain, and we changed the focus and statement to, “Even though
I have this pain in my right ankle on the outside, under the bone….”
and it worked. His pain stopped completely with one more round.
Had that not worked, I would have gone to the event that had
caused his accident, but just being specific about the exact location
did the trick. I saw him two months later and he was still pain-free.
If so, read how to handle sensitive issues, using the Tearless Trauma
Technique or the Movie Technique on how to “sneak up” on an issue, using
the Search field at Gary’s site emofree.com. After decreasing the sensitivity
level to a lower SUDs (under 5), you can usually be specific without inflicting
unnecessary emotional pain.
If you’re stuck, ask questions such as, “When did the problem start?”, or
“What was going on when it started?” Oftentimes, I discover that someone’s
allergy, asthma or migraines started coincidentally about the same time as
divorce, death, or some other traumatic accident in the family.
This isn’t a coincidence, of course, but the core reason for many problems.
Our bodies can find unusual, creative and seemingly ridiculous ways to deal
with difficult situations.
A more obvious correlation between the core issue and symptoms occurred
in a case with a client who kept waking up with anxiety attacks for what she
said was over “nothing”. After probing, we discovered that her drunken father
used to come home in the middle of the night and find it funny to wake the
children up by blowing an air horn in their ears. It seems to me, that would
cause anxiety in a rock.
Like not being specific, there are times when we don’t want to get to the
bottom of an issue. Thank God for the Tearless Trauma Technique and the
Movie Technique. Often these are processes that need to be done with the
help of a practitioner, as doing it yourself, might be like a dentist trying to pull
his or her own teeth.
Other probing, core-issue-finding questions are, “If you had your life to live
over, what person or event would you just as soon skip?” and, “What else
does this (your problem) remind you of?” These questions often will bring
up an issue that is seemingly unrelated to a client’s symptoms. Here is an
example of finding the core issue:
A few years ago a client, “Tim” (age 73) still had hurt feelings and
sadness over his mother inexplicably hitting him in the face during a
family dinner when he was just 6 years old. He had terrible feelings of
inadequacy, humiliation, and unworthiness over that event, even after
all these years. We weren’t getting anywhere with tapping, so I had
him describe what he was wearing, what his mother was wearing, and
describe anyone else he could think of. He had amazing clarity about
everything from so many years ago.
He had looked at her, hoping to get sympathy, but instead saw anger
and disapproval of how he handled getting smacked in the face (or so
he interpreted it as a little boy). Regardless, the CORE issue was the
grandmother’s reaction, rather than his mother hitting him. That was the
Core issues are different than being specific about an issue in that they are
often hidden, or not as obvious. Nonetheless, finding a root cause is equally
critical to solving tough-to-solve cases. It’s not always easy to do this on your
own, since we have a tendency to block out unpleasant events or connections
to events. Seeing a qualified practitioner can be very beneficial when you’re
stuck on a challenging problem.
Shifting Aspects
Shifting aspects are a little like different branches on the same tree. The
trunk of the tree may represent the core issue, e.g. a horrific car accident. But
different branches are separate issues, such as the guilt someone might feel
for causing the accident, or the anger at the other driver for being intoxicated.
Another aspect on the same tree might be the trauma of seeing a loved one
die, or hearing the screams of someone in pain.
Complex issues often have multiple aspects, which become apparent when
the intensity level is lowered on the main issue, thus revealing a lesser issue.
It would be similar to you falling off your bike and breaking your arm, scraping
your knee badly, and cutting your little finger.
You may not even notice the scraped knee until the doctor had numbed the
pain in your broken arm and set the bone. Only then would you notice the
scraped knee, and once that was taken care of, you’d notice the cut finger.
Likewise, a client may not notice an underlying issue until the more painful
one has been reduced in intensity. Often, when the intensity has dropped
from a SUDs level of 10 to a 3, a client will say, “You know, the real problem
is …”
However, the REAL problem is usually the one that was most noticeable in
the beginning. Generally, it is better to get that down to a zero before moving
to any other newly noticed aspect.
“Dr. Dave” came to see me about the grief of his brother’s death
twelve years earlier. His brother had been killed in a tragic avalanche,
and the trauma still haunted Dave as if it were yesterday. He was
getting stuck on the issue and unable to get it to a SUDs level of zero.
When the intensity got to a four, Dave shifted aspects to his mother’s
suicide many years before his brother’s death.
It turned out that neither he nor his brother or father knew that the
mother was having an affair, and was so depressed by it that she was
suicidal. In this case, we left the brother issue and worked on the
mother issue for a while. It turned out that Dave had vowed never to be
so insensitive to his future wife’s situation or to his children’s feelings as
to be unaware that they were hurting.
Once we dealt with his mother’s suicide, (which included guilt, anger,
betrayal and grief), we were able to go back to his brother’s death and
quickly dispatch the long-term grief on that issue. We did a Reversal on
the grief as well, since Dave’s subconscious didn’t want to let go of the
grief. A combination of these two impediments helped clear Dr. Dave’s
long-term issues.
Now, over two years later, he’s completely free of the grief and can
speak of his brother without sadness or pain.
Again, with Shifting Aspects you should usually stay with the original
problem until it’s at a SUDS level of zero, before tackling the new aspect. Let
judgment, intuition and circumstances be your guide.
Part of the art of using EFT is knowing when to swing with the client and
when to finish the original issue first. Either way, just make sure you get all
aspects of an issue to a zero before going on to a different issue.
If you have been tapping alone on yourself, it may just be that you need
someone else’s energy and focus to help you get clear. Also, having another
person’s perspective is priceless. Even the best dentist or surgeon in the
world would never consider operating on themselves! They just wouldn’t
be able to “see” around obstacles in their way, just as an individual may not
be able to see an obvious impediment to their own problem. Their psyche
may be trying to protect them from emotional pain by blocking a road they
should be going down, but just can’t see on their own.
I had a client named “Sheila” who was having a hard time focusing,
tapping and talking at the same time. Consequently, we weren’t
getting anywhere at a reasonable speed. We had some progress, but
not much. So, I started tapping on her, while she concentrated on the
words she was saying, which immediately began to quickly dissolve
her issues. Once in a while, I would ask her to try and tap on herself,
but every time she did, her progress slowed down or stopped.
There are times when a person just needs the personal assistance of
others. Most of the practitioners I know, including myself, trade sessions and
time with each other to work on their own issues. Often, an outsider is able
to see what you can’t see on your own, and provide insights you might have
missed. You’ll understand what I mean if you’ve ever tried to cut your own
hair by looking in the mirror, especially behind your head. The perspective
you see, when looking at yourself in the mirror, is different from the way the
rest of the world sees you. It often works the same when doing EFT on
yourself, particularly with difficult or complex issues.
If you get stuck, seek the assistance of a friend, or better yet, an experienced
practitioner. You can find one under “resources” on my website, the National
Alliance for Emotional Health NAFEH.org, or on Gary’s site emofree.com.
For those who learned EFT by watching the videos, it is important to watch all
of them…and in order. Many people skip around on the videos to find “their”
issue. This often results in taking the EFT course out of order, or missing
valuable lessons in the course altogether. When this happens, many of the
above elements go unnoticed or are ineffectively used. That’s when people
erroneously say, “EFT just isn’t working for me.”
You can learn The Basic Recipe from reading the manual and watching the
first EFT videotape. That’s how many of us “old-timers” started. From there,
many people go out into the world and apply the techniques to clients, friends
and family—often with superb results (including some “one minute wonders”).
However, if they don’t study the rest of the EFT course in proper order, these
practitioners are certain to scratch their heads in some instances, and say,
“It doesn’t work.” I’ve actually known practitioners who have said, “EFT is
great for my clients but it doesn’t work for me”—to which I reply, “Then you’re
missing something.” EFT is not going to work on millions of people, and not
work for you!
The EFT course not only teaches The Basic Recipe in great detail, but
Gary also goes on to display the “art of delivery” with over 80 people in live
sessions. The more fine points you pick up, the more masterful you will be
and the less likely you’ll ever say, “EFT isn’t working for me.” The videos
allow you to watch in the comfort of your own home or office, replay sections
over and over and learn at your own pace. These videos are how I and,
many of my colleagues, initially learned EFT. (To order the video series, click
HERE.
It is, of course, not critical to know every single thing about EFT before using it
and getting results. Part of EFT’s magic lies in its simplicity.
But please - if you don’t take the time to learn it correctly, especially for more
complex issues, don’t assume that it is a shortcoming of EFT when you’re
not getting the results you want. It is not fair to blame EFT for not producing a
desired result, when in fact it is the shortcoming of the person applying it.
Lack of Motivation
(Not Really Wanting to Make A Change)
Once in a while, I come across a person who would rather stay stuck, than
change their life that is not working. It’s a sad choice, but too often true.
One particular client, “Ken,” comes to mind who had a strange sexual
fetish that he really didn’t want to let go of. He finally admitted he was only
seeing me at his wife’s insistence and that he didn’t want to change at all.
He liked his fetish and wasn’t about to give it up. Fine with me. So I sent
him home to deal with his wife.
The rest of the family very much wanted Jerry to get help, but when Jerry
first came to see me, he made it clear that he actually liked the attention
and feeling special, and that he didn’t want to get over his OCD.
When I asked if he might like to at least get over his fear of germs he
replied “No, no! Being afraid of germs keeps me safe and alive, so I don’t
want to let that fear go.”
“Betty,” one of my very first phone clients, had been a victim so long, it
had become a part of her identity. She had experienced a lot of sadness
in her life; she had survived breast cancer and a double mastectomy, her
brother was brutally murdered, her parents were holocaust survivors, her
husband left her for a younger woman, her son lost a leg in a car accident,
she was fired from her job, etc. It seemed her life was an endless tragedy
and, understandably, her attitude was extremely negative.
She actually whined when she talked and answered most questions with a
negative response, such as, “Okay, I’ll try, but it won’t work - nothing ever
does.” In our tapping, we just weren’t getting anywhere. I had already
tried finding the core issues, being specific, etc. Then, I asked her “Betty,
do you really want to feel better and have your life work?” She calmly said
“I’ve been this way so long, I don’t think I’d know how to act if things were
going right for me.”
I eventually asked her, “Do you want me to continue to try to help you?” To
which she said, “No, not really. I have all I need.”
When I asked her what that was, she said, “Sympathy and attention of
friends who feel sorry for me and want to help me”. She had been telling
me that in different ways for an hour. Finally, I got that she really meant it.
So, I wished her well and sent her on her way.
The point is that you can’t help someone if they really don’t want to be helped.
This is different than people who are Reversed or skeptical about EFT.
You don’t have to believe in or understand EFT for it to work.
Some of the biggest fans of EFT were skeptics at first (like me.) As long as
someone wants to change, EFT can work for them. If they are not motivated,
or ready for change, however, nothing you do will be effective.
Toxins can also be medications or drugs a person has been taking. In order
to eliminate a sensitivity, or toxin, you need to identify it, which can mean a lot
of work and detective duty. It can involve asking questions and be confirmed
with muscle testing.
Once during a workshop, Gary was experiencing a rare failure of EFT while
working with several people. In fact, it appeared that no one seemed to
be experiencing results. It was discovered that the hotel had installed new
carpeting over the weekend, which is toxic to many people.
Gary took the entire class outside to tap and started getting great results
immediately. Once discovered, clearing the sensitivity is usually simple. It’s
finding it, that can be a problem.
A few years ago I had a client, Denny, who seemed stuck on a simple
problem. I was pretty sure there wasn’t a core issue to be discovered, a
Reversal to overcome, or any other block, so, I was really stumped. Just
when I was about to pitch Denny out the window, his cell phone rang. He
pulled it out of his pocket, answered it, and a light went off in my little brain.
I muscle-tested Denny for sensitivity to his cell phone, and he tested positive
(that’s a yes!). So I had him turn it off and put it across the room. We then
tapped again on his issue, and it collapsed neatly in 2 or 3 rounds. Thank
God for that timely phone call!
Since then, I have discovered that many electronic devices can interfere with
the body’s electrical system - whether someone is sensitive to them or not,
thus impeding EFT. So, before tapping with someone, I ask that they remove
any pagers, phones, Game Boys, Blackberries, Palm Pilots, etc. from their
pockets. Even digital watches can sometimes cause interference. Problems
with electronic devices are easy to remedy, so, it is better to be safe than
sorry.
Please note that we are talking about sensitivities, not extreme, hive-
producing, breathing-constricted allergies. So, please be responsible with
this information. I highly recommend Sandi Radowski’s video on Substance
Sensitivities in Gary’s Specialty Series DVDs http://snipurl.com/n2io. (This
is a short link - the actual one is way too long to be easy to copy from a book.)
Many sensitivities can be cleared with EFT, and it is a fairly simple procedure.
You can do it by touching the object in question with one hand while tapping
with the other. This is how it is done:
Put one hand on the object and tap with the other. (If the problem is a filling
or metal plate in your body, put one hand on the approximate location of the
metal while tapping with the other. If the problem is a food sensitivity, put one
hand on the plate with the food—or even on the food itself—spaghetti can be
messy…and tap with the other).
The set-up would be “Even though I may be sensitive to this ______, I ask
my body to accept it as safe and healthy.” Do the set-up, as always, three
times. Then do one round, using the reminder of “this sensitivity to my cell
phone, food, (or whatever)”.
Do the second round saying, “I ask my body to accept these gold fillings
(or whatever) as safe and healthy.”
Again, substance sensitivities are less common than any of the other
stumbling blocks, so I don’t spend much time worrying about them.
Nevertheless, it’s good to be aware of them, just in case you get stuck.
However, cell phone sensitivity is actually rather common, or it just could be
the electrical interference. Either way, removal of the device from the body is
usually enough to remedy that problem.
These are the Nine Stumbling Blocks to EFT, yet there is one more
important thing that can help ensure successful EFT treatments. And that is
simply being persistent. Sometimes we just give up too soon. Often, just
being persistent can make the difference in reaching resolution with an issue.
I recently had a backache that just wouldn’t quit. I had tried tapping, gone to
see a chiropractor, more tapping, pain medications, yoga, rest and relaxation,
and more tapping. But nothing was giving me total relief. One night I was so
miserable that I just decided I would keep tapping until the pesky pain went
away.
Well, it turned out that the backache needed about 10 rounds of tapping in
one session to resolve it, instead of the 3 or 4 rounds I normally needed to
collapse an issue.
The only thing standing in the way of success was my not being persistent
with each session. I was spoiled by the one-minute miracles and was giving
up after a couple of rounds. With continual tapping for those 10 or so rounds
the pain disappeared and never returned. Lesson learned.
The bottom line is, whether you are a practitioner trying to perfect your
technique or an individual doing EFT for yourself, knowing and practicing the
Nine Stumbling Blocks to EFT is invaluable to your success.
Those of us who have been doing EFT for years know it works, so we’re
more likely to be persistent and look for any impediments. If we don’t get an
We simply ask “What’s in the way here?” So, if you’re not getting the results
you want or expect, become knowledgeable about these nine stumbling
blocks and how to remedy them, then practice, practice, practice, and your
success rate will improve considerably.
Before going any further, stop here and practice what you’ve learned so far.
Try EFT on yourself, your friends, your pets, or anyone. But don’t expect
perfection the first few tries. Persistence and Practice are key elements when
you are a beginner.
Note from Lindsay: Rather than reinventing the wheel on the Movie
Technique, I’m using Gary’s method pulled right from his website, with his
permission. It tells it all, so I don’t need to add a thing.
Fortunately, there is a tool that greatly simplifies this important task. I call
it the “movie technique,” and it’s clearly demonstrated with both Rich and
Robert on our 6 Days at the VA tape (EFT Course: http://snipurl.com/n2io
see the 3rd tape).
Simply stated, if the client can make a mental movie of the event then it is
automatically specific. A movie has a specific beginning and a specific end
in time. It has a specific plot and specific characters. It has specific words
& specific actions and generates specific feelings. In fact, if the client can’t
make a specific movie of their problem then the problem is too globally stated.
Here’s an example. Suppose the client states their problem as, “My father
always abused me.” This is too global, of course, because that abuse is likely
comprised of numerous specific instances (events) of abuse.
If you ask the client to make a specific movie of this abuse, YOU TEND TO
FORCE THEM IN THE DIRECTION OF A SPECIFIC EVENT. Once in awhile
the client will make a vague generalization of the issue instead of a specific
movie. In such cases, you will need to guide them in the proper direction.To
give you some guidelines for stepping through this movie technique, I submit
the following procedures that I have refined over time.....
First, ask the client, “If it was a movie, how long would it last?”
Next, ask the client, “What would the title be?” This also tends to force
specificity. In most cases, they will give you a specific title such as, “Fight in
the Kitchen” or “My accident in Mom’s car.” If they give you a more general
title, be sure to check out how specific they are being.
Next, ask them to run the movie in their mind and evaluate the intensity
they are having NOW (as they imagine it) on a scale of 0-10. Alternatively,
you can ask them to GUESS what their intensity would be IF they vividly
imagined it. I usually find their guesses to be reasonably accurate AND
guessing tends to save the clients some emotional pain.
Next, ask them to verbally narrate the movie to you, starting with
an easy-to-discuss segment, BUT STOP WHENEVER THEY FEEL ANY
INTENSITY. You will usually need to emphasize the importance of stopping
because most clients are conditioned to believe that, in order to be rid of their
problem, they must be brave and feel the pain while going through it. This is
now ancient thinking. With EFT, these stopping points provide opportunities
for tapping.
Next, use EFT on each stopping point until there is no more intensity on
that segment (aspect) of the movie.
Next, ask the client to run the movie in their mind in vivid detail and
report on any intensity that comes up.
Next, repeat EFT on any leftover intensity and re-run the movie. Keep
doing this EFT/movie cycle until the movie no longer has a charge on it.
Properly done, this procedure should neatly remove a negative tree from
the client’s emotional forest. Then you can remove another tree...and then
another...and then another...until 5 or 10 of them have been thoroughly
uprooted.
Since most of these trees have some commonality among them, there is
usually a “generalization effect” that spreads throughout the whole forest,
thereby toppling the rest of the trees.
Thus, the client’s problem of “My father always abused me,” even though it
may have several hundred events (trees) contributing to it, is often handled
after 5 or 10 specific events have been neutralized.
As indicated above, both the “movie technique” and the “generalization effect”
are shown in glowing detail in the 6 Days at the VA tape (get it here:
http://snipurl.com/n2io).
Dedicated students will want to watch this tape repeatedly (particularly the
segment with Rich). It is loaded with useful language and will enhance almost
anyone’s skills with EFT.
Hugs, Gary
Choice Statements
How and when to use them
Even though…..
I bite my fingernails, I deeply love and accept myself anyway
I drink too much and make a fool of myself when we go out with friends,
I totally accept and respect myself as a good husband and father.
I wet the bed last night, I’m really a good kid and I know mommy and
daddy love me
In other words, if it is a very personal issue for you, then loving, accepting,
forgiving, trusting and respecting yourself are essential for healing and
growth. Therefore, one or more should always be included in the Set-up
statement.
If you find it difficult to say, “I love and accept myself” or any of the other
positive affirmations, then buffer the statement with, “I really want to love
and accept myself,” or, “I’m truly working toward self acceptance,” or, “I
choose to start trusting and forgiving myself.”
Some might think that all issues we deal with are personal, and indeed many
are. That’s why the most common Set-up phrases include the words “love
and accept.”
However, there are many cases where the issues aren’t as personal and
“choice statements” work as well, or better than, acceptance statements.
Issues such as being stressed about being stuck in traffic, having a
headache, or getting over a traumatic event or memory, work great with
choice statements.
Even though….
There’s still some remaining anger about being mugged on the way
home from church, I choose to let it go completely and begin feeling
comfortable going out again.
I have this pain in my right shoulder, and I ask my body to eliminate it. I
choose to be able to move my arm easily and comfortably.
I’m still a little anxious about going into this meeting, I choose to
overcome my jitters and be completely confident, strong and certain
speaking to this group.
I have dirty, filthy rats in my basement and have to clean up their mess,
and even though it gives me the willies, I choose to overcome being
squeamish and nauseated and deal with it calmly and confidently.
I may still have some sensitivity to wheat (or any food, or benign
substance) I choose to have my body accept it as safe and healthy.
I’m allergic to cats, I realize that it’s safe for me to be around them and I
choose to allow my body to remain allergy-free when I am around cats.
After doing the Set-up statement three times while rubbing the sore
spot, use the reminder statements as you go through the points in this
way (doing three rounds for every one setup statement):
Do one round, using the negative reminder, such as, “this fear of
spiders,” “this pain in my shoulder,” “this sensitivity to soy.”
Then start again at the eyebrow point doing a round on only the positive,
or choice statement, such as, “I choose to be confident,” “Choosing to let
this anger go,” “Choosing to overcome this fear,” “I choose to accept
cats as safe and healthy for me.”
I often alternate the lettig-go statement with the positive desired result—i.e.:
It doesn’t matter if you get the order “wrong” - just make sure you end
with the positive. It only matters that you keep doing it until your symptoms or
issues are completely alleviated.
If, after three or four rounds of doing the choice statement you haven’t
eradicated the issue, change the Set-up statement, or change the choice
statement, or be more specific about the issue until you get the results you
want.
It’s important that you don’t stop just because you start to “feel better.”
Keep tapping until you’re feeling great and the issue has
been completely put to rest.
How do you measure or test that? I use what we call an Ultimate Truth
Statement. Here’s how.
Develop a sentence that would represent the most positive outcome you
would want to achieve. For instance, “I always do things in a timely way,
never put things off, and always keep commitments with myself and
others.”
Use a 1-10 scale. This time, have 10 be the goal for 100% confidence in the
truth of the positive statement. That is, if you absolutely believed that you
always do things on time and never procrastinate, you’d be at a 10. Most
likely you’ll start this process at a 5 or less.
On the third round, start saying things on consecutive points like, “I’d
really like to get rid of this procrastination….I’d like to do things on
Now check yourself with the Ultimate Truth Statement. You should have
moved up a few notches on the scale (remember you’re going toward the 10
this time).
Keep repeating the above process until you’re within 3 of your goal (that
would be a 7 or greater).
Then go back to the set-up point and switch to a choice statement. It would
be something like this: “Even though a part of me tends to put things
off, a bigger part of me would like to do things on a timely basis. So, I
choose to let the bigger part of me win. I choose to find the resources
within me to eliminate this nasty habit of procrastination. And, I choose
to do things on time.”
Now, on the first round of points, say, “My remaining habit of being late”
(or whatever the issue), at each point.
On the third round, alternate the negative and the choices, i.e. “Remaining
procrastination….I choose to eliminate it….remaining procrastination…I
choose to be on time with projects….remaining procrastination….I
choose to be proud of myself for doing things on time…remaining
procrastination….I choose to break and eliminate that habit”…etc.
Now check yourself with the Ultimate Truth Statement. You may be at
a 10 by now. If you’re at a 9 or 9.5, do the 9-point Gamut to balance you off
and complete the process. Use the phrase, “remaining procrastination” while
tapping on the Gamut point and doing the eye rolls, humming and counting.
At each consecutive point, put in a different positive affirmation, such as: “I’m
always on time … I’m confident in my abilities… I’m clear about what
needs to be done and when… I always do things in a timely manner …
I’m proud of myself for completing projects on time … I see what needs
to be done, and I DO IT…People respect me for keeping my word…I
keep my commitments to myself and others…I’m a responsible, on-time
person,” etc. This feels SO good to do and is a great way to finish up the
process.
In our Level 2 EFT Course you’ll learn how to get the most out of your
Choice Statements and how to use Choices for getting what you want in
life, using the “Perfecting Choice Statements” process.
How does EFT deal with a person’s need to understand the problem?
How does EFT help with sports performance?
Why does EFT give surprisingly good relief from physical problems?
How does EFT deal with stress and anxiety?
Note: If there are any questions not answered here please email me at
LKcoaching-info@yahoo.com and I’ll try to answer them for you. If it’s a
frequent question, I’ll add it to the answers here. I don’t do consultations
by e-mail. So if you have an issue that needs clearing, please set up an
appointment with me or another practitioner.
Answers to FAQs
About EFT
1. Q. Why do I have to say negative statements?
By saying the negative but true statement while stimulating the meridians, you
are sending tiny vibrations or shock waves throughout your energy pathways.
By doing so you are gently nudging away the blockage or disruption that
causes the negative emotion.
If you stated a positive affirmation instead, such as, “Even though I was just
robbed and beaten, that’s OK, I feel safe and secure now,” your system
would surely rebel. There would be a giant “tail ender” saying, “What?! Are
you kidding me? I don’t feel secure or safe at all!”
Your subconscious (or even conscious) would have the same reaction if you
left off the negative occurrence, as well, and made only a positive statement.
Believe me, many have tried this approach to no avail. It’s true that when we
tell ourselves “It’s OK, I’ll be alright” we can sometimes calm ourselves down.
But calming ourselves is not the purpose of EFT. Using EFT can completely
eliminate the negative emotion, pain or issue.
That said, however, once the intensity is at a lower SUDs level (3 or less) you
can then switch to a more positive choice statement.
Read more about the Choice Method elsewhere in this book or at Lindsay’s
Website LKCoaching.com.
A. These points are virtually the same when it comes to effective set-up
statements. However, I use the sore spot on the chest for two reasons.
One, because the points on the chest are two of the body’s lymphatic
drainage system points. These points are sometime sore because they can
be congested. Rubbing them consistently helps disperse the accumulated
toxins, dispersing them to be diluted and flushed out.
And two, because I use the Karate Chop point to do Reversal Neutralizations,
thus distinguishing that from the set-up statements on the chest. In reality you
can use either points for both objectives.
A. The body has 14 meridians spread throughout the body. These energy
pathways come to the surface in several places throughout the body;
the face, head, upper torso, spine, ankles, wrists, etc. When Gary Craig
developed EFT, one of his objectives was to make it simple. You can keep
EFT effective and simple by just doing the basic “shortcut” points outlined in
Gary’s 79 page manual; EB, OE, UE, UN, CH, CB, UA. However, by adding
a few more points, the inside of the wrists, the liver spot (over the liver on
the right side), and the crown of the head, you are again increasing your
effectiveness rate.
We tend to do what works best for us. And for me using the 10 points
mentioned above brings extraordinary results. For awhile I left out the Liver
Spot, just for convenience. But with the encouragement of my colleague,
acupuncturist Zoe Walton, I added it back in. And maybe it’s just my
imagination, but I tell the difference with better results.
A. Yes, EFT can be used on virtually anyone (including pets) with good
results. For babies, pets, the elderly and those unable to tap themselves you
can use surrogate tapping, which is tapping on yourself, for them. To learn
more about this phenomenon search for articles on Gary’s site here for Pets,
Children or the Elderly.
A. The short answer is: Until you get the result you want. I want to
expand on that a bit though. Normally you can resolve an issue in 3-4 rounds,
which only takes a few minutes. Simple issues are particularly quick and easy
to deal with.
Sometimes it may take 5-6 rounds, or even 10-12 to resolve a difficult issue.
You may need to go through several “doors”, look at many different aspects,
and dig for the core issue, to get the optimal end result of complete resolution.
That takes time. But hey, that could be an hour, or maybe two at the most to
completely resolve a painful, lifelong issue.
Traditional therapy could take months or years to resolve the same problem.
We often get spoiled with “one-minute-miracles” getting impatient when
something is taking too long. But we must keep it in perspective and realize
that even the most difficult or complex cases can be resolved to completion
in a fraction of the time any other therapy might hope to offer. Patience and
I want to point out that it’s also important to make sure an issue is completely
resolved before leaving it. Some people say, “Gee, I feel better now,” and stop
at that. Later when they feel a negative charge again about the same issue,
they will think that EFT didn’t work. If you truly get all of the aspects resolved
and get an issue to a zero on the SUDs scale, then it’s likely gone for good.
That’s not to say that at some point an aspect that was missed might not
pop up for you. But resolving that should be very easy, since the bigger
components have already been collapsed.
So, stay with it until you’re sure an issue is completely resolved. Test yourself
by trying to get upset about it again. If you just can’t find a charge, then you’re
likely done. That’s how long it takes.
A. SUDs stands for Subjective Unit of Distress. The ‘s’ at the end is
superfluous, but is commonly used anyway. It’s important to know your
intensity level so you’ll know where you are and where you need to go.
If you simply say, “I’m really upset” that doesn’t give you much information.
If you can put a number to it, say a 9, even if it’s subjective, at least you have
a guesstimate of a starting point. Then as you tap and get in touch with your
decreasing SUD level, and get to a 6 on the second round, you know you’re
making progress but still have more to work on.
Likewise if you get down to a 2, you’ll know you’re close but not ready to stop
tapping. You want to keep going until you can say for certain that you’re at
a zero. I love using the SUD rating and check it several times (usually after
every 2 rounds of tapping) during the course of eliminating an issue.
A. It’s not always easy to figure out, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much your
shoulder hurts, or how angry you are at your brother-in-law, or how afraid of
spiders you are. At best it’s a subjective guess.
While many people come up with their SUD level right away, many others
struggle with this little aspect of EFT. I ask clients to guess what their number
would be.
Try saying this sentence out loud rather fast, without pausing at the
end. Just say what comes to you. “Even though I don’t know what my
intensity level is, if I had to guess I’d say it was at a…..”
This simple little trick bypasses the conscious mind and allows the
subconscious to provide the answer. Good practitioners generally know
where someone stands as they talk about their issues. So if a client’s number
is far off from the estimate of the practitioner, he or she would have occasion
to question the client’s answer.
When working with yourself, you can only guess and do your best. Odds are
if you don’t analyze it too much and just go with your gut feeling, you’ll be just
fine.
As stated in the above question and answer, it is important to get the SUD
rating so you’ll know where you are and where you need to go.
A. One of the most common questions EFT Practitioners hear is “Can EFT
help with…. diabetes, hepatitis, Multiple Sclerosis, pimples, etc?”
It’s safe to say EFT has been tried on just about every issue, problem or
physical ailment you can image. So we know EFT can bring miraculous
results to virtually anything…especially in the hands of an accomplished
practitioner. And since EFT has never been known to harm anyone, it’s
painless, and it works when nothing else has, go ahead and try it on your
issue.
In experienced hands, EFT delivers significant relief over 90% of the time (the
medical profession would love to have those results). Many cases, however,
especially if complex, require more than just applying the basic sequence. So
if you’ve already tried EFT and aren’t getting the results you want, it’s unlikely
any shortcoming of EFT, but rather that you’re missing some important
element.
There is an art to EFT that goes far beyond what you can learn in the 79-
page manual—or even by watching all of Gary’s wonderful videos—that
only comes with experience and practice. For instance there are several
obstacles that can impede EFT’s progress. I suggest you read my article The
Nine Stumbling Blocks of EFT, which you can find at LKCoaching.com.
From there click on the Free Stuff page.
A. There’s so much to EFT that you should take several routes. EFT is
beautiful in its simplicity, however there is SO much more to it than meets
the eye. EFT is effective for hundreds of simple issues and can be self
applied, however, for more complex issues I suggest that you work with an
experienced practitioner.
Another way to learn EFT is by seeing a practitioner for your own issues and
learn as you go.
One of the best ways to learn EFT is by doing an approved EFT workshop.
Level 1 is for beginners, even those who have watched the videos and read
the manual.
Take Level 3 when you feel ready to take your knowledge to the next level.
While Level 3 is not exclusively for aspiring practitioners, it’s often the serious
student who will take that course. See the next question for where to find
one.
A. One of the best ways to learn EFT is by doing an approved EFT workshop
(start with Level 1 and move up from there to 2 and 3). Visit my workshop
site at eftworkshops.org or for a workshop in your area check out at Gary’s
site http://snipurl.com/n1m8. Go to the “Learn EFT” section.
12. Q. I’ve tried EFT, but it’s just not working for ME. What
do I do now?
A. When people try EFT for “old” problems or complex issues and aren’t
getting the results they want, some may think EFT just isn’t working for them.
Some people might think that the testimonials they’ve heard aren’t real.
Actually, neither is true.
As wonderful as EFT is, there are several impediments that can get in the
way of its success. Beginners should only try using EFT on “simple” issues,
leaving more complex problems to experienced practitioners.
Please read my article about the Nine Stumbling Blocks of EFT, which you
can download at LKCoaching.com. You’ll find this article on the Free Stuff
page. You can also purchase an audio series about the same topic.
If, after reading the article, you’re still having problems, then you may
need assistance from a professional. The article explains why that is true.
Sometimes even experienced practitioners need the eyes, ears and intuition
of others to get to the heart of the matter…especially for complex issues.
A. First: simple issues broadly defined. There are no hard and fast rules, but
typically, simple issues are problems that are usually:
Single faceted, like the hiccups, or your boss embarrassed you at the sales
meeting, or you’re disappointed that you didn’t get the promotion you wanted,
or you’re stressed after a tough day at work.
Not chronic, not a persistent problem like chronic pain, anger or grief.
Ones you can generally work on and resolved yourself, with some basic
knowledge of EFT
I believe there are Two Tiers of complex issues, which almost always
involve more than one aspect.
Tier One issues include things like grief, chronic pain, “minor” traumas,
allergies, some abuse issues, weight issues, food addictions, stuttering,
and most non life-threatening illnesses. Many of the examples used in
my Nine Stumbling Blocks article (available in the Free Stuff section of
LKCoaching.com) are examples of Tier One complex issues. Some of these
you can work on yourself. If you’re not getting resolution, I suggest that you
contact an experienced practitioner.
The second, more difficult to work with Tier Two, includes child abuse,
sexual or ritual abuse, traumatic or life-altering accidents or deaths, severe
and sustained physical or emotional abuse, drug addictions, morbid obesity,
and so on. Tier Two complex issues are usually highly charged emotionally
or often a result of very traumatic occurrences. Also included in these
A. This is a simple, yet complex question and one of the most frequently
asked.
The easy answer is to use this simple formula: add an acceptance affirmation
to your problem, such as, “Even though I have this __________ (fill in your
issue), I deeply and completely accept myself.” However, there is a bit
more to it than that. What’s important to remember is you can’t do it “wrong”,
but some phrases are more effective than others. Try it different ways until
you get the result you want.
To learn about doing set-up phrases and what’s important about them, read
my article on the “9 Stumbling Blocks of EFT”, which is downloadable at
my Free Stuff page at LKCoaching.com. Being specific, finding the core
issue, and getting rid of Reversals are imperative to successful EFTing.
Even though I have this sinus headache above my eyes, I deeply love
and accept who I am.
Even though I have this fear of snakes, I love and accept myself anyway.
I deeply and profoundly accept myself, even though I’m really sad over
my breakup with ________.
Take a live workshop where you can actually practice EFT, work on your own
issues, and get your questions answered. You’ll learn even more in a live
workshop than in the initial videos. To really learn how to do EFT effectively,
it’s great to do both.
A. The label “quick fix” carries with it a negative connotation and is often
used to label the questionable healing techniques of hucksters and cheats.
The term goes hand in hand with the term “con man,” and when used, often
brings about thoughts of suspicion and caution.
EFT offers rapid relief from numerous emotional and physical ailments without
meriting the negative label of being a “quick fix.”
This is obvious to any observer of the case histories in this course and is
even more obvious to those students who have experienced the results first
hand. I use the term rapid relief instead of “quick fix” to put across the same
idea, but without the negative connotation.
Polio is a case in point. Until the Salk vaccine was discovered, Poliomyelitis
was considered incurable and all manners of medications and therapies
(including the Iron Lung) were employed to help the sufferers. They were the
best at the time, but did help ease some of the discomfort, and limited some
of the long term damage caused by the disease, but that was about it.
And then came the Salk vaccine. It did away with all the antiquated, inefficient
attempts at curing Polio and replaced them with a true remedy. It was, indeed,
a “quick fix” without the negative connotation.
The examples go on and on, of course, but the point is that EFT and energy
therapies are replacing inefficient techniques used to attain emotional health.
The fact that EFT and energy therapies allow rapid relief to seemingly-difficult
emotional problems is impressive evidence that they represent true remedies.
If they took forever to do very little, then they should simply take their places
among the other ho-hum techniques of the past. But they don’t. They hit the
bull’s eye and perform as true remedies should…quickly, easily, permanently.
Q. Does it last?
Not so. EFT results are usually permanent. The case histories in this course
are filled with people who have had lasting results, even though the problem
was relieved in moments.
This is still more evidence that EFT is addressing the true cause of the
problem. Otherwise, the remedy would not be so long-lasting.
If an issue wasn’t taken all the way to zero, it might reappear. That’s why
it’s important to get every issue to a zero. And you can test that with probing
questions or by trying to get yourself upset again.
If the intensity goes up, you’ll know there’s still more work to do, often on
a different aspect. For more information on that read my Nine Stumbling
Blocks of EFT at LKCoaching.com, then click on the Free Stuff button.
The experienced student will also break the problem down into specific
events and apply EFT to those underlying causes. In time, after all aspects
and specific events have been addressed, the problem usually goes away
completely and does not return.
A. The same way we handle every other emotional problem. Using EFT,
the intensity of a problem or how long it has been around is immaterial. The
cause is always a disrupted energy system. Employing The Basic Recipe to
balance it gives relief, regardless of the severity.
If a reversal is in place, and it often is with old or serious issues, you’ll need
to neutralize it before EFT will work. To learn how to do that read my article
on Reversals at LKCoaching.com. Then click on the Free Stuff page to
download it.
This question usually comes about because of the belief that intense and/or
chronic problems are more deeply ingrained than other problems. Therefore it
should take more effort to relieve them. This seems very logical when viewed
through conventional approaches because conventional approaches don’t
directly address the true cause.
The notion of aspects is covered repeatedly in this manual, the videos and
the audios.
Important Note: The above comments may or may not apply to serious
mental illness. The application of EFT to serious mental illness
disorders has proven helpful, but it should only be applied by a skilled
professional.
People who use EFT for relief from guilt no longer take blame for whatever
event gave rise to the guilt. Anger turns to objectivity. Grief turns to a healthy,
more peaceful perspective about the death of a loved one. Notice how you
and others respond to your former problem and you will see what I mean.
Your understanding shifts right along with the relief.
A. In EFT, stress and anxiety have the same cause as all other negative
emotions—a disruption in the body’s energy system. Accordingly, they are
addressed with The Basic Recipe the same as any other emotional issue.
After a while, you should notice that your responses to difficult events is much
calmer. Things just don’t get to you like they used to. You smile more. Your
health improves and life seems easier.
A. Ask any accomplished athlete and they will tell you emphatically that their
mental set is critical to their performance.
The difference between good days and bad days for the athlete is almost
always due to emotional causes. Barring sickness, the athlete always brings
the same highly skilled body into the field of battle. The only thing that
changes is the effect that emotions have on the body.
Athletes are well aware of this problem and many hire sports psychologists to
help them in this regard. Any negative emotion—even the mild ones and the
One of the most common responses to experiencing EFT is that people feel
relaxed—which, by the way, is another way of saying that tension has left
their muscles. This is ideal for the athlete because using EFT neutralizes
any unnecessary emotional tension in the muscles without affecting the rest
of their athletic ability. It allows their potential to flow through without being
hindered by any resistance in the muscles.
But the evidence goes even deeper than this. Applying EFT for emotional
issues often brings on the cessation of physical problems. Breathing
problems go away. Headaches vanish. Joint pains subside. Multiple Sclerosis
symptoms improve. I have witnessed this phenomenon for years. The list of
physical improvements brought about by EFT is endless.
The logical inference from this is that EFT effectively addresses any
emotional contributors to one’s physical symptoms. Once the emotional
contributors are out of the way the symptom subsides. There are those, of
course, who believe that one’s emotions or mental processes are the only
cause of their physical diseases. I don’t know how to prove or disprove that
notion but I offer here the rather obvious fact that emotions, at the very least,
substantially contribute to one’s physical health. And EFT is an efficient tool
for relief in this regard.
One final note on this. You might wonder what is happening “behind the
emotional scenes” when you apply The Basic Recipe directly to a physical
symptom (such as a headache) without zeroing in on a specific emotion.
We don’t know for sure. There is much to learn about these techniques and
the future, I’m sure, will bring us some exciting revelations on many fronts.
For now, I believe that the subconscious mind brings up whatever emotional
issue is contributing to the cause of the physical symptom. Applying The
Basic Recipe automatically addresses that emotion.
If you have questions that were not answered above, feel free to email me at
lkcoaching-linz@yahoo.com and I will try to answer your question.
Answers to the
Quizzes throughout
this workbook
Quiz 1:
General Knowledge (answers in italics)
1. Name at least five physical symptoms that are the result of an
emotional response, such as sweaty palms when nervous.
The movement of blood, pumped by the heart throughout the body via
the veins and arteries
Meridians
Chi
Quiz 2:
Muscle Testing
1. Is muscle testing an integral part of EFT?
3) Why would you want to use muscle testing with a friend or client?
Also, later on, when testing for Reversals, or whether or not an issue has
been completely resolved, muscle testing allows a “True of False” litmus
test with the subconscious.
Quiz 3:
Let’s see how well you’re doing!
Answer the following questions without referring back to the workbook,
unless you really get stuck.
1. What is the FIRST thing you need to do before starting the EFT
process?
The Sore Spots on the chest—the two tender places on either side of
the upper chest, and alternately, the KC point
6. If, after tapping for two rounds, your intensity level (SUD) has
decreased from a 10 to a 7, how do you proceed? And, what would
you use as your reminder statement?
Perform the 9-point Gamut, or do more rounds being more specific about
the issue. Other options we will explore in the next section are how to be
more specific, looking for other aspects you might have missed, checking
for reversals, and making sure you’ve found and dealt with the core issue.
Test and reassess yourself by reliving the moment or trying to get yourself
upset. If you discover any remaining charge, repeat the steps until the
issue is completely resolved.
Abbreviations of the
tapping points:
1. EB = Eyebrow point at the beginning of the eyebrow over the nose.
2. SE = Side of the Eye, on the bone bordering the outside of the eye.
3. UE = Under the Eye, on the bone directly under the eye.
4. UN = Under Nose, in the center of the area between the nose and top lip.
5. CH = Chin, in the center between the bottom lip and bottom of the chin.
6. CB = Collarbone, right under your collarbone, about 3” from the center.
7. UA = Under the Arm, on the side of the body about 4”s below the armpit.
8. LV = Liver point = LP = a few inches under the nipple slightly to the side
9. WR = Bump your wrists together, at the place where your hand bends
to meet the arm.
10. CRH = Crown of the head—toward the back of head.
KC = Karate Chop point—can also be used as the set-up point, but is
primarily used for reversals.
Sore Spot = for set-up points on the chest.
Personal Peace
Procedure
The Direct Path Toward Inner
Peace and Joy of Life
By diligently doing this, we can pull out every negative tree from our
emotional forests and thus eliminate major causes of emotional and physical
ailments.
This, of course, propels each individual toward personal peace, which, in turn,
contributes mightily toward their own happiness, and all those who come in
contact with them. Here are some uses....
Our unresolved specific events are nearer the foundational cause for illness
than anything else. Thus they deserve our primary attention.
Initially, we have focused our efforts on those negative specific events that
underlie a given ailment, such as a phobia, headache or traumatic incident.
This is good, and we should continue doing so.
Self-image…Anxiety…Depression…Insomnia…Addictions…Fears and
Phobias…Compulsions....
As you eliminate the emotional baggage from your specific events, you will,
of course, have less and less internal conflict for your system to deal with.
Less internal conflict translates into a higher level of personal peace and less
emotional and physical suffering. For many, this procedure will likely result
in the complete cessation of lifelong issues that other methods have not
touched.
It is becoming more widely accepted that our physical maladies are caused
(or contributed to) by unresolved anger, trauma, guilt, grief and the like.
The method here is simple, assuming you already know how to apply EFT:
While making your list, you may find that some events don’t cause you
any current discomfort. That’s OK. List them anyway. The fact that you
remember them means there’s a need for resolution.
3. Give each issue an intensity rating, 1-10. This is to make sure you
reduce every one to a zero.
4. When your list is complete, rate how you feel overall, on a scale of
1-10. Then, rate your energy, health, peace of mind, joy, confidence,
clarity of thinking, vitality, and sense of purpose… all on the 1-10 scale.
You will want to use this later for comparison (see #9).
5. When the list is complete, pick out the biggest “Redwoods” in your
negative forest and apply EFT to each of them until you either laugh about
it or “can’t think about it any more.” Be sure to notice any aspects that
may come up and consider them separate trees in your negative forest.
Apply EFT to them accordingly. Be sure to keep after each event until it
is resolved. If you cannot get a 0-10 intensity level on a particular movie
then assume you are repressing it and apply 10 full rounds of EFT on
it from every angle you can think of. This gives you a high possibility for
resolving it.
6. After the big Redwoods have been removed, go to the next biggest
trees.
It only takes minutes per day. At this rate, at the end of a month, you will
have resolved 90 specific events, many more if you continue past one
month.
You’ll start to notice how you have more energy, think more clearly, and
how your “threshold for getting upset” is much lower.
Your relationships should get better, and many of your life-long issues just
aren’t there any more. Note any improvements in your blood pressure,
I ask you to consciously notice these things (and get a little notebook in
which to write them down) because, unless you do, the quality healing
you will have undergone will seem so subtle that you may not notice it.
You may even dismiss it, saying, “Oh well, it was never much of a problem
anyway.” This happens repeatedly with EFT, which is why we are bringing
it up.
Without this comparative rating system your changes may be so gradual that
you hardly notice—similar to the way an aunt or uncle can see great changes
in a niece or nephew after an 8-month absence, yet a parent can’t see those
changes in their child on a daily basis.
This could be one of the most important things you could ever
do for yourself. So don’t short-change yourself, and don’t stop
just because you start feeling better!
Tapping Tips
By Dr. Carol Look, EFT Master
CarolLook.com
(Note from Lindsay: Many thanks to Carol, my friend and colleague, for
allowing me to include this wonderful collection of Tapping Tips in this
workbook. In the past, I always used both hands to tap. But now I use many
of Carol’s ideas as well…and with great success. I highly recommend every
technique, and suggest you try them for yourself.
For a treasure trove of ideas, audio tapes, books and more visit Carol’s
website and by all means get in on some of her tele-classes. I’m grateful for
all I have learned from her and am pleased to be able to share some of her
wisdom with you. Again, thank you Carol.)
You could also alternate from round to round of EFT. In my personal opinion,
alternating in this way is very helpful because it allows you to more fully
integrate the emotional material that you are working on.
Cross-Over Tapping:
Cross your hands over each other when you tap---so your right hand is tapping
on your left side of your face and body, and your left hand is tapping on the
right…at the same time.
Also, consider tapping while in different positions. Aren’t you always sitting
down while tapping?
Notice if any new material surfaces. Our bodies are brilliant, and have stored
so much information for us.
2. Argument Tapping:
I love using this process with clients in a group setting, because most
people find it surprising and amusing and seem to get something of
value out of it.
When you are tapping, voice both sides of an argument with another person
around an issue of self-esteem or conflict about yourself. For instance, let’s
say your mother or father said, “you wouldn’t amount to anything”…(or
that “people like you can’t get wealthy”…or that “people like you are
never satisfied”…etc.).
Take both sides and argue the points while you tap, alternating the sides
with each consecutive point.
For instance, start with the karate chop point, and say, Even though he said
I was no good and wouldn’t amount to anything, I choose to accept
myself now anyway…
Then move to the regular sequence of points and tap as if you are
arguing with another person as follows:
a. Eyebrow: You won’t amount to anything…
b. Side of Eye: Yes, I will…
c. Under Eye: No you won’t…
The Argument Tapping technique is wonderful for the brain, for the emotional
release, and I expect that the absurdity of it all will surface for many of you
and feel quite relieving.
This is also useful for getting the tail-enders into your tapping.
Use whatever tail-enders that come up for you in your current round of EFT.
So again, you are arguing, but this time with yourself…it would sound like
this:
a. Eyebrow: I have what it takes to be successful…
b. Side of Eye: No I don’t…
c. Under Eye: I am smart enough to figure this out…
d. Under Nose: No I’m not!
e. Chin: Yes I am!
f. Collarbone: No I’m not…
g. Under Arm: I accept my feelings…
h. Top of Head: I appreciate who I am…
3. Refusal Tapping:
When you are using EFT, do one full round of Refusal Tapping to get
over the issue you have selected.
We have all been told what to do, controlled on a regular basis, influenced
by others and manipulated all our lives, and when trying to change, it is very
natural to experience an enormous amount of emotional resistance.
Part of us believes the change is threatening to our survival. Try giving this
part of you a voice for a change, and feel the relief of saying, “No!” Don’t be
surprised when this technique speeds up the change you were intending.
(I highly recommend using this Refusal Tapping technique with chronic
illnesses.) Your round from the eyebrow point to the top of the head would
proceed as follows:
a. Eyebrow: I refuse to give this up…
b. Side of Eye: Don’t even try to make me…
c. Under Eye: I am so happy I don’t have to get rid of this…
d. Under Nose: I refuse to change…
e. Chin: You can’t make me…
f. Collarbone: Ha ha, I’m keeping this problem…
g. Under the Arm: You can’t make me get over this…
h. Top of the Head: I REFUSE TO LET GO OF THIS ISSUE.
(b) It will help you when you need to use visualization instead of regular
tapping if you are in a public place and don’t feel free to tap on your face and
body. You will now have a picture and corresponding memory of what you
look like when you tap.
c. This technique will allow you to see the subtle changes that occur in
muscle tone, color and energy in your face and body as you tap. Definitely
make use of these clues.
As usual, I do the first round focusing on the “problem” and often switch
during a second round (before doing setup phrases again) to more positive
statements (such as Pat Carrington’s CHOICES), goals, and intentions.
So during this second round, sing your affirmations instead of speaking them.
This helps activate the right brain (which is why we use humming in the 9-
gamut procedure) and any time we are doing something to promote balance
between our two hemispheres of the brain, we are moving towards emotional
and physical health.
7. Guest Tapping:
When you are tapping at home alone, wouldn’t you like some extra help?
Choose your favorite EFT practitioner, someone you want to give a test run,
or Gary Craig, and pretend he or she is tapping for and with you. Picture it,
feel it, hear their voice (you might have this in your head from a class or some
of the videos).
This will help those of you who don’t think you’re good enough at tapping
(even though you are…) and opens up your treatment options tremendously.
Allow your intuition to choose someone. And don’t be surprised when the
“guest tapper” comes up with profoundly brilliant ideas!
8. Photo Tapping:
Take out old family photos and identify feelings, themes, incidents and
thoughts that were going on when the pictures were taken.
You might even take out your high school yearbook (since High School
seems to be so fraught with conflicted feelings for many people) and tap a
few rounds while you are looking at yourself. You may be shocked at how
effective this is for bringing up emotions you thought had been “handled.”
b. Use the first person singular… Even though I was miserable during
this time because of that incident, I deeply and completely love and
accept myself…Even though I was feeling so sad because of the
rejection…Even though I was confused…Even though I didn’t realize I
was such a geek…
c. Do the same for family members when you see them in the photos:
Even though he was angry and said that hurtful thing to me…I deeply
and completely love and accept myself…Even though he was drunk in
that photo, and I remember the fight we had, I choose to release the pain
of it now and accept both of us.
Communicating to yourself this way is very effective. Really FEEL the relief
you feel now that it is over!! This is critical.
a. Eyebrow: I am so grateful I got over this problem…
b. Side of Eye: I’m so relieved this is over…
c. Under Eye: I am so happy I am free of this conflict…
d. Under Nose: It’s about time I got over that!
e. Chin: Finally, it is in my past where it belongs…
f. Collarbone: At last, relief and peace on this issue…
g. Under Arm: I so appreciate all the progress I have made…
h. Top of Head: Finally, I feel peace from that problem.
For example, set-up statements at the karate chop point would be:
Even though you made a mistake, you were trying to do it right and are
allowed not to be perfect…Even though you didn’t mean to hurt her,
consider accepting all of you and your feelings…Even though you don’t
want to forgive yourself, try accepting your feelings anyway.
Complex Issues
Recognizing and resolving them
If you feel you know the basics of EFT, the basic recipe and shortcuts,
how to find core issues, how to be specific and avoid shifting aspects,
how to recognize and neutralize Reversals, then you’re ready to learn
about more complex issues.
You still may not be ready to handle these more challenging issues,
however, but you should at least know how to recognize them.
The main difference between difficult and simple issues is that complex
issues, besides the root care issue, almost always have multiple aspects that
need to be discovered and examined. For that and other reasons, complex
issues are not generally for “newbies.”
Let me broadly define “Simple Issues.” There are no hard and fast rules for
this, but typically, simple issues are usually:
Single faceted: your boss embarrassed you at the sales meeting, you
can’t seem to shake your hiccups, or you’re disappointed that you didn’t get
the promotion, you’re upset over your relationship breakup.
Not chronic: that is, not a persistent problem like chronic pain, anger or grief
Broadly stated, simple issues are ones you can generally work on and
resolve yourself.
There are hundreds of simple issues that can be dealt with using basic EFT
knowledge.
Tier One Issues would include issues like grief, chronic pain, “minor”
traumas, some abuse issues, weight issues, food addictions, stuttering
and most non life-threatening illnesses.
Tier Two Issues are more difficult to work with and should not be
tackled by amateurs.
Tier Two cases include child abuse, sexual or ritual abuse, traumatic or life-
altering accidents or deaths, severe and sustained physical or emotional
abuse, drug addictions, morbid obesity, and depression.
My concern is always that people will try EFT on a complex issue, then
give up when it’s not working, blaming EFT for the failure. Yet it’s seldom a
shortcoming with EFT, but rather the lack of knowledge or experience with the
person applying it (usually the person with the issue).
That said, sometimes what seems to be a simple issue turns out to be quite
complicated, and you need to recognize it as such and know what to do when
that happens.
A volunteer “client” came to the front of the room and stated to the Master
Candidate “practitioner” that she wanted to work on her persistent chapped
lips. Well, knock me over with a teaspoon! I thought we were supposed to be
dealing with tough, complex cases in this course. So, I took the opportunity to
go to the ladies room.
When I got back, just a few minutes later, the same subject had taken on
the persona of a loud, foul-mouthed sailor. It turned out that this was only
one of her several “multiple personalities.” Chapped lips my foot! This was
a doozie. I shouldn’t have been surprised, since situations like this have
happened numerous times in my private sessions, or in workshops.
“Kim” came to me because she was having trouble sleeping. Initially, she
couldn’t think of any reason for it. After further investigation, and questions
such as, “When did this start?” and “What was going on at the time?” it was
brought to light that Kim had been physically and emotionally abused as a
child by her “evil stepmother.”
Kim was seldom able to sleep peacefully through the night, and, even though
she was in her fifties at the time of our session, I believe it was childhood
experiences that affected her sleep as an adult.
Kim claimed she had “dealt with all that” during traditional therapy and didn’t
think her step-mother issues were relevant now. Based on her current
insomnia problems, that wasn’t the case.
Kim rated her anger, resentment and hatred at a 9, even after all these
years! It was clear then, that this was more complex and needed some
serious attention.
Bundling
Since these are such closely related emotions, based on the same
events, we were able to clump them together.
But please note: you cannot successfully bundle together fear at being thrown
in the water by your cousin, anger at your dad for not protecting you and
hatred toward your real mother for leaving home.
If I don’t get the desired results when bundling emotions, then I go back and
deal with each issue, emotion or aspect separately. In Kim’s case, clumping
worked just fine.
I do this for the client’s benefit to demonstrate the power of the subconscious
mind, especially for old, chronic, or highly charged issues. I had Kim say, “I
really do want to get over this anger, resentment and hatred toward the
Step-bitch” (which is what she called her stepmother). I then tested her arm
strength, which was, not surprisingly, weak.
Using strong words like this often upsets or shocks clients a bit, causing them
to think that maybe they must consciously want to stay in this “uncomfortable”
or “negative” condition.
Clients often say, “But I really DO want to get over this!” I assure them that
Reversals are neither a conscious choice nor a character defect.
If someone has carried around pain, anger, frustration, grief or some other
emotion for many years, his or her body often adapts to, or even becomes
addicted to, the negative emotion. After awhile the negative state or emotion
becomes the norm.
Think about it. Haven’t you known someone who seems to be perpetually
angry? They may be grumpy most of the time and snap at everything. If you
ask them what they’re mad about they usually say “I’m not mad!” Their anger
has become so common to them that they don’t even notice it…until it’s gone.
Often clients will say they’re not sure how to act if their
anger or grief or other long-time emotion is gone.
But again, that doesn’t mean they are making a conscious choice to stay in
that mode, nor does it mean they are walking around in a state of anger all
the time.
In Kim’s case I simply had her tap on the Karate Chop point while saying
“Even though, for some reason, I don’t really want to get over this
anger, resentment and frustration toward the Step-bitch (heretofore
referred to as the “S-B”), I do accept myself completely.” We did that three
times, adding the phrase “for WHATEVER reason…” into the sentence to
cover all possibilities.
After that I muscle tested Kim again, having her make the same initial
statement of wanting to get over the issues with the “S-B.” She tested very
strong this time and was pleased with herself.
Picking incidents
Next, I had Kim pick a particular incident or memory about her
stepmother that was the most troubling for her.
It was, not surprisingly, the first time the “step-bitch” terrorized her at night.
Kim was sound asleep when “Lorraine,” the “S-B,” came into her room drunk
and brandishing a bullhorn from the football game that night. She thought
it would be cute to blow into the sleeping child’s face. Naturally, it severely
traumatized Kim, causing her to cry and cower most of the night.
We started Kim’s treatment with this simple set-up statement while rubbing
the set-up spot on the chest* “Even though the evil Step-bitch scared
me to death by blowing a horn in my face that night, I love and accept
myself today.”
* I prefer to use the sore spots on the chest for the set-up statement, but Gary
and many others use the Karate Chop point, which works just as well.
“Even though I had done nothing to deserve it, my wicked “S-B,” blew a
horn in my face at night when I was just 7…..”
“Even though I was a good kid, and had done nothing wrong, the awful
“S-B” scared the ---- out of me…”.
“Even though the wicked “S-B” just laughed after scaring the bejeebers
out of me….”
Tapping
On the first round of tapping, on each point, I had her say, “The horn-
blowing terror” for the reminder statement.
On each tapping point you bring up a thought about the incident. This is often
about the unfairness of the situation, like, “it wasn’t my fault,” “I didn’t
mean to do it,” “I was just a kid,” “I didn’t even know what I had done
wrong,” etc.
At each consecutive point I had Kim repeat a different phrase such as:
This type of tapping is often highly effective and covers several closely related
aspects at one time.
I usually do two rounds back to back like this to really diffuse the situation. It’s
ok to repeat the same aspect or phrase more than once.
What is not OK is to veer off the initial issue, such as “Daddy should have
been there to protect me”…. “My new bicycle got stolen the next day too.”
These are completely different aspects of the same incident.
Rate it
I then asked Kim what her intensity level was (constant reassessing
helps you to know where you are, and therefore where you need to go).
“Even though I’m still upset at the memory of how the S-B treated me I
realize now that it wasn’t my fault and I completely accept who I am.”
Notice that on the first rounds we dealt with the “Horn Blowing Incident,” and
on this round we addressed the more specific emotions associated with the
incident and her stepmother.
Being flexible and creative comes with practice and experience, and is just
part of the “art of EFT.” Each practitioner does EFT slightly differently.
I do what I find works for my clients and often shift gears on the fly if
something isn’t working. However, that said, until you’re more experienced,
stay with the basics.
On the third round in this series I eased into more positive choices on each
point, such as:
After those rounds the next assessment brought us a 3 SUDs rating. I love
getting to a 3 or less, because I can then introduce the Choice Method
(developed by Dr. Pat Carrington) but with my own little spin on it.
“Even though I still have many bad feelings toward my step mother
(introducing the less inflammatory term of endearment, to which she did not
balk), I choose to ask my body to release and eliminate any remaining
anger, resentment or hatred toward her.
On the first tapping round of this sequence I had her use the simple reminder
statement on the points repeating the negative phrase of: “Remaining anger,
resentment and hatred.”
The second round was all positive phrases, alternating on each consecutive
point between an “letting go statement” and a “positive outcome
statement” like this:
On the third round we alternated the positive with the negative on the different
points, like this:
“remaining anger….”
“I choose to let it go…”
“remaining resentment and hatred….”
“I choose to eliminate these feelings….”
“remaining negative feelings about my stepmother…”
“I choose to overcome them completely ….”
“remaining negative emotions ….”
Almost gone
At this point Kim said she thought she was over it. That usually tells me that
it’s not quite gone but perhaps at a 1 or .5. I asked her to guess how much
charge might still be there and she said quickly, “about a .5.”
The Gamut
When an issue is almost gone (a 1 or less) I use the 9-point Gamut
sequence to polish it off.
Doing the Gamut (tapping on the back of the hand at the Gamut point, eye-
work, humming and counting, etc.) balances the right and left hemispheres
of the brain and usually finishes off a low SUD rating quite effectively. And it
worked for Kim.
Even though her stepmother had mistreated her physically and emotionally
for years, taking care of this first incident cleared up the charge from all of the
occasions her stepmother mistreated her. This is often the case with repetitive
abuse. Resolution is possible by clearing any of these experiences, whether
it’s the first time, the last, the worst, or even the time the other parent knew
what was going on but did nothing to stop it.
“I don’t want to call her that anymore,” she said. “Lorraine probably had
a terrible childhood herself and really didn’t know how to be a parent.
Besides, I can’t seem to even remember clearly the other things she did
to me. It all seems kind of fuzzy or something.”
If there had been a time when the stepmother had hurt Kim in some way
that not been cleared with previous work, we would have dealt with that
separately.
There were, in fact, many times that the stepmother embarrassed, hurt,
humiliated or taunted Kim. And even though there were several other
bullhorn incidences, dealing with the first trauma seemed to collapse the
whole enchilada.
Important note: This is not always the case. Often in cases of abuse we need
to deal with several aspects or incidences to clear the issue.
For real completion and icing on the cake, after finishing an issue, I like
to do a final round inputting only positive affirmations. In Kim’s case, I
started to address the sleep issue itself.
“Now that I’m over these issues with my stepmother, I want to start
sleeping through the night. So I ask my body to relax, be calm and
fall asleep easily. I also ask and allow my body to sleep deeply and
peacefully through the night.”
If you ask your body to stop a cold or virus, for instance, end lactose
intolerance, overcome a food sensitivity, heal an injury faster or whatever, the
body almost always complies.
It’s as if the body says “Oh, OK! I didn’t know you wanted me to do that. So
I’ll do it now and thanks for sharing.”
Try it yourself for whatever you want your body to do; run a faster race, heal
an aching joint, overcome an upset stomach, or become more confident or
brave.
sleep deeply and peacefully through the night….I ask my body to sleep
soundly and wake up in the morning refreshed and energetic.”
Kim loved these affirmations and was feeling really good about herself.
She was actually getting sleepy as we spoke. I sent her home with the
instructions to try this last sequence just before going to bed that night. She
agreed and did it.
The next day Kim called me with real excitement and joy in her voice. She
had not only slept soundly, but also felt that a 50-pound weight had been
lifted from her body. She felt rested, more energetic and most importantly, felt
optimistic about her life and her future for the first time since she was a little
girl. I love this job!
This example with Kim is just one way to handle a more complex case. The
point is, though, that sometimes you can say, “even though I don’t sleep
at night” or “even though I have arthritis,” but sometimes you need more
detailed work to get resolution.
You need to find the core issues and deal with them
completely as well as any Reversal. Often there are many
aspects to deal with as well.
As a beginner, it’s possible that you might encounter the same kind of blocks
that Kim did when you try to work with complex issues. It’s worth a try. Many
report that they at least feel better or more relaxed after tapping, even if they
didn’t get complete resolution.
But “feeling better” is not the purpose of EFT. So do try it for your simple
issues. Please seek the counsel of a competent EFT professional to help you
completely resolve complex problems.
Packaged Rates:
To encourage your continued growth and pursuit of happiness, I offer
discounted, pre-paid packages of:
I you prefer, you can choose which package works best for you at the end of
our first session.
You can even break a 90-minute session into two 45-minute sessions if you
like. I’m very flexible. :-)
For more information about what I do, classes, products and other offerings,
go to lifecoachingwithlindsay.com/Fees.html. The best way to reach me is
by e-mail at LKcoaching-info@yahoo.com
A. Yes, I do EFT by phone and in fact about 70% of my clients are by phone
and are from all over the world.
I personally feel that EFT is highly effective over the phone, but in-person and
phone sessions are pretty much the same.
We can’t see the client, of course, on the phone, so we may miss subtle
visual signals that might help read what’s going on with the client. Nor we can
we use muscle testing on the phone, which is often helpful in demonstrating
Reversals and “asking the subconscious” questions about what’s going on
and other situations. Otherwise in-person and phone sessions are pretty
much the same.
If you decide to work with me, I’ll e-mail you an intake form so I can collect
pertinent information about you and your issues before our call. You’re
welcome to write more about your history as well, which with help increase
our effectiveness together.
I’ll also send you tapping points ahead of time, and during the session I’ll
tell you exactly what to say and where to tap. After a few minutes you won’t
even notice that we’re not face to face.
For phone sessions, I’ll call you, (within the Continental U.S.) saving you
long distance charges.
Also, I’ll record the session for you and send you a link to listen to it
anytime on your own. Let me know if you’d like to schedule something, what
times of day generally work for you, and what time zone you’re in.
If you would like to schedule a phone (or live) session with me, read a little
about me at my website, NAFEH.org. Click on the FEE button for the best
arrangement for your needs.
If you want to learn more about EFT, I highly recommend Gary Craig’s EFT
videos at emofree.com, or read about and sign up for a live workshop at
Gary’s site, or at EFTworkshops.org.
A. Finding the right practitioner for your needs is very important. Virtually
all experienced practitioners do work by phone and get as good results as
in a face-to-face session. So unless you feel very strongly about a face-to-
face visit, I highly recommend you search for the best person for your needs,
rather than someone who works near you.
How long have they been in practice? Look for 2 or more years experience
as a coach or therapist.
How did they learn EFT? Having watched the videos and read the manual is
not good enough.
How many individual clients have they worked with using EFT? They
should have worked with at least 100.
What are their EFT credentials? The initials EFT-CC after their name is
good, but EFT-ADV, is better. This signifies s/he as taken and passed a series
of EFT tests. EFT Master is the highest credential, but don’t limit yourself to
that criterion.
You should have rapport (or a connection) with someone for the best
results. Trust your gut feeling. Still uncertain? Check out some of my
favorite Recommended Practitioners at http://snipurl.com/n1m8, or at
NAFEH.org.
A. This is a common question and a fair one. However, any practitioner worth
their salt can deal with virtually any “tappable” issue. All of us can easily
eradicate anger, frustration, grief, phobias, stress, anxiety, heartache and
much more.
However, for the more complex issues such as rape, trauma, addictions,
abuse, serious illnesses, and weight issues, you’ll either want a more
experienced practitioner, or someone that specializes in your problem.
They all have a ton of EFT experience. They are all bright, competent, caring
people who know EFT inside and out. Unless you’re completely set against
doing EFT by phone, don’t worry about their location.
Finding the right person for your needs is by far more important than
finding someone close to home.
NOTE: Please visit their websites first to see which ones you “click” with the
most, and to find answers to your questions such as “What are your fees?”
Recommended Practitioners
Angela Treat Lyon
realperson@eftbooks.com
EFTBooks.com & Rich-Radio.com
808-261-0941
Loretta Sparks
Lsparksma@aol.com
310 374-0440
Maggie Adkins
maggieadkins.com
505 250-3763
Zoe Walton
zoewalton@sbcglobal.net
ZoeWalton.com
415-456-8435
Lindsay Kenny
For over 30 years Lindsay has been helping people find their
life partners, to lose weight, decrease their stress and anxiety,
improve their self esteem, and become more effective in life.
Teaching her clients EFT helps them deal with life’s many
challenges and provides them with a gift and tool they can
use throughout their lifetime.
“My mission in life has always been to help other people. I knew when I was
12 years old that that’s what I wanted to do in life. Life Coaching gives me a
great opportunity to achieve that goal of helping others; and EFT has given
me a most powerful tool to accomplish it. For me, nothing is more rewarding
than to know that someone is a little better off as a result of my teaching them
how to use EFT.” Lindsay Kenny
Change
Your
Mind! with EFT
Emotional Freedom Techniques
The Ultimate
Level 1 Workshop
Workbook
For anyone seeking a solid foundation in EFT, this is the book! It is clear, concise, and
comprehensive. I highly recommend it to anyone learning EFT.
Sophia Cayer, EFT Master; SolacewithSofia.com
by Lindsay Kenny
EFT Master, AAMET Certified Trainer, Life Coach