Unlocking the Power of EFT: A Modern Acupressure Technique
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has gained popularity in medical and psychological therapy settings since the turn of the century. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique and is a powerful method that blends the elements of contemporary psychology with traditional Chinese acupressure. It works similarly to acupuncture but without the needles! It’s based on the concept that by stimulating certain meridian points on the body it will release any trapped emotions and ease pain. Tens of millions of people utilise it annually as self-help.
EFT is sometimes referred to as tapping or EFT tapping as it entails tapping gently, with your fingers, on a number of acupuncture areas on the body while focusing on a distressing symptom or emotion. These tapping points correspond to acupressure points located along the body’s meridians. Tapping, while at the same time focusing on your thoughts and feelings, helps soothe the body and sends peaceful signals to the brain to help you relax and restore calm. The overall effect is to decrease the brain’s stress response so that you can release tension within the body, let of stress and restore the body back to a state of equilibrium.
The tapping points are located along the body’s meridians. Meridians are found in pairs on both sides of the body and each meridian contains a number of acupuncture spots along its pathway. Meridians allow the flow of energy within the body. You can think of them as energetic motorways or highways. Their main purpose is to allow Qi, (which is pronounced “chee”) to flow and circulate throughout the body. When these pathways become blocked our vital life force energy can no longer flow properly, resulting in pain or disease.
Even though studies demonstrate that EFT has helped tens of thousands of people find relief, and in some cases fully recover, from anxiety, pain, depression, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and many other conditions, it is frequently dismissed as pseudoscience among the healthcare professions. There are many scientific articles and case studies to prove its effectiveness. I have listed some below for easy reference. Thankfully, EFT is beginning to gain some popularity, a development made possible by MRI scans that demonstrate its neurological effects.
When performing EFT on yourself it is helpful to express affirmations of self-acceptance while acknowledging the pain or trauma. Tapping on these acupuncture points helps bridge the gap between your mind and body. You can use EFT for a multitude of physiological and psychological symptoms, as mentioned above. Other conditions that EFT has proved helpful for include panic attacks, phobias and insomnia. Furthermore, EFT has been found to help reduce food cravings and aid in weight loss goals. You can tap with either hand on whatever side of the body feels most comfortable to you since the same meridians run along both sides of the body.
EFT Tapping Points
Karate Chop Point: corresponds to the small intestine meridian
Eyebrow Point: corresponds to the bladder meridian
Side of Eye: corresponds to the gallbladder meridian
Under the Eye: corresponds to the stomach meridian
Under Nose: corresponds to the Governing Vessel meridian
Chin Point: corresponds to the Central meridian
Collarbone Point: corresponds to the kidney meridian
Under Arm Point: corresponds to the spleen meridian
Top of Head Point: corresponds to many meridians
EFT Tapping Points: Guiding Your Way to Emotional Release
Step 1: Choose what you want to focus on (e.g. a stressful situation, feeling angry or upset, a panic attack etc.) and think of a brief reminder phrase that can keep you on track as you tap through the points. Example reminder phrases could be, “This anger I’m feeling…” or “This anxiety…” or “This feeling of overwhelm…” etc.
Step 2: Rate the intensity of the feeling or situation on a scale from zero to 10, where 10 is the most stressful feeling you can imagine and 0 is you feel nothing at all. (This step allows you to see if there has been any improvement after tapping).
Step 3: Establish a setup statement from your tapping focus. For instance, if you are feeling angry, your statement could be “Even though I’m feeling so angry, I accept these feelings and I know I will be ok.” Another example for anxiety may be, “Even though I feel so anxious, I choose to feel calm and restored.” Choose your own example to suit your feelings and focus. You could start with, “Even though I’m feeling [fill in the blank], I love and accept myself anyway”. Whatever statement feels the most comfortable for you is the one you should go with.
Step 4: Repeat your setup statement three times while tapping on the karate chop point (see Tapping Points Guide).
Step 5: After tapping on the karate chop point start tapping through the main tapping points of the body. Start with the Eyebrow Point, and work your way through the rest of the points in sequence (see Tapping Points Guide). As you tap through each point, keep saying or thinking about the feelings and emotions you are feeling. An example for anxiety might be, “I feel so anxious right now”, “My heart is racing”, “I can’t breathe”, “I hate feeling this way”, “My body is trembling”, “ I feel sweaty” etc. Keep working your way through the points while you bring up the negative or anxious feelings until you start to feel some relief.
Step 6: Once you start to feel better, you can change the negative statements into more positive affirmations while still tapping through the points. Gong on our example above it could be something like this, “I’m starting to feel better”, “My breathing is slowing down”, “I feel calmer”, “I’ve had anxiety attacks before and I was ok afterwards”, “I know I am always ok”, “I can handle this”.
Step 7: At the end of the tapping sequence, take a few deep breaths and feel inside your body. Think back to your rating of emotional intensity from zero to 10 and feel if there has been some improvement? Usually you will find the number has decreased. The trick is to keep going until you get the emotion or feeling down to zero.
Next Steps
An excellent resource that I have found very helpful to guide me through EFT is ‘The Tapping Solution App’ where you will find lots of free guided meditations to help with various emotions/conditions as you tap through the points. There are both male and female voice recordings to choose from, with example statements to declare as you tap through the sequence. It’s a great way to familiarise yourself with the technique, especially as you first start putting it into practice. I highly recommend you take a look. What do you have to lose? You can find the link here: https://www.thetappingsolution.com/blog/tapping-solution-app/
I have also recorded a YouTube video showing an example of how to tap through the points. You can watch the video on my personal channel by following the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIwHgYaBcqIGV7GIDrBS9nw
Happy Tapping!
References/Research Articles
Church, Dawson et al. (2028). Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD Using Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Healthcare, 6(4), pp.146-160. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6040146
Church, D., Stapleton, P., & Sabot, D. (2020). App-Based Delivery of Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques: Cross-Sectional Study of App User Self-Ratings. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(10), e18545. https://doi.org/10.2196/18545
Church, D., Stapleton, P., Vasudevan, A., & O’Keefe, T. (2022). Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions: A systematic review. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 951451. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.951451
- Ortner. (2014). The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss & Body Confidence. Hay House. Cornwall.
D.R. Hamilton. (2021). Why Woo-Woo Works. The Surprising Science Behind Meditation, Reiki, Crystals, and other Alternative Practices. Hay House. Croydon.
For More Information
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