Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), often called ‘tapping’, is a mind–body technique that combines gentle tapping on specific acupuncture points, combined with both mental and verbal methods too. EFT is used to reduce emotional intensity around issues such as anxiety, trauma, stress, phobias, limiting beliefs, chronic pain, and emotional blocks, and sits at the intersection of energy psychology, somatic therapy, and cognitive reframing.

During an EFT session, the person focuses on a specific problem that may have brought them to the session. They will be encouraged to begin repeating positive statements regarding their worry or situation, whilst they then begin tapping on a sequence of acupuncture points (face, upper body, hands) using their fingertips. The EFT practitioner will guide their client through these rounds of ‘tapping’, and will assist their journey between and within these physical, mental and verbal techniques.

The EFT technique addresses a range of calming techniques such as nervous system regulation, memory reconsolidation (accessing memories within a calm state), somatic processing (helps release emotions stored in the physical body), body meridian work (through accessing acupuncture points).

In the early 1980s, psychologist Dr Roger Callahan developed ‘Thought Field Therapy (TFT)’ after discovering that tapping on specific meridian points reduced phobias and emotional distress. Gary Craig, a trained engineer and personal development coach who studied under Callahan, noticed that clients improved even when the tapping was carried out in the wrong order. He then went on to simplify the process into one universal tapping sequence which he called the ‘Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)’.

Since EFT’s invention, it has since been refined, researched, and adapted into clinical settings, with newer methods such as ‘Clinical EFT’, ‘Matrix Reimprinting’, and ‘Tapping-based trauma therapies’ being invented too. 

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