Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), nicknamed “tapping”, has grown in popularity throughout this new millenium as an effective way to neutralize negative emotional states. EFT is based on the premise that our mind, body, and spirit are all part of the emotional problem and they are all essential to the solution. EFT utilizes cognitive statements, addressing the mental aspects of change like many other psychological tools. However, as a technique of Energy Psychology, it also accesses the vital body, specifically meridians, and does so through a physical protocol, in this case tapping on specific meridian points, as in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Think of it as acupuncture without the needles that you can do for yourself.
The Origin of Emotional Freedom Technique
Using meridians to release emotions has been explored for some time in the west. An American psychologist, Dr. Roger Callahan, began to develop Thought Field Therapy (TFT), in the 1980s. He outlined specific tapping techniques or algorithms to treat emotional symptoms. He combined the use of ‘tapping’ for emotional problems with simultaneous focusing on the problem at hand. Callahan had discovered that if a person is focusing on a specific fear of their own at the time they tap; this fear can be removed, often permanently.
One of Dr. Callahan’s students was a personal performance coach by the name of Gary Craig who had studied TFT intensively with Roger Callahan. He decided to separate his work from that of Callahan in order to be able to use his own approach. Gary Craig began teaching Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) in the 1990s, but rather than limit it to the clinical field, he opened it up to life coaches, energy practitioners, and anyone, for that matter, who sought relief.
His philosophy was that the discovery was too good to keep quiet and everyone could benefit, so everyone should be able to learn it and use it. I began Gary Craig’s formal EFT training in 2003, finally convinced that this “invisible” medicine was the answer for emotional healing. I discovered it worked unlike anything I learned in graduate level, or even more advanced therapy techniques. It did more for the e-motional state – aka energy in motion – because it was designed for the energy body, or vital body.
The Origin of The Complete EFT Method
Over a ten year period, using Emotional Freedom Technique with hundreds of clients, I developed and refined the process. With additional training and intuitive adjustments, a complete method was designed. In 2015 I named it The Complete EFT Method and have kept the technique the same since that time. In 2018 I published the method in what became the training manual for the practitioner certification program. In the fall of 2020, I received accreditation from the International Association of Complementary Therapists and trained the first EFT Practitioners.
The Complete EFT Method has four parts: first, addressing energetic alignment; second, the tapping component; third, reprogramming neural pathways and; fourth, anchoring positive programs. The method is designed to be used both as a complete four-step process, but also for any one of the four parts to be used alone.
Learn more about The Complete EFT Method in the e-book 4 Bodies: 4 Medicines along with my own study comparing the method to advanced therapy techniques like EMDR. You might want to try an EFT session to see for yourself how it works. A private session is included with the full Liberation Training.
Details on upcoming EFT Certification