“Tapping? How can that help?” I asked my boyfriend. This was about eight months ago right after he found an advertisement for EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques, on his favorite website.

“Well, hold on,” he said, “I’m reading about it now.” There was a website full of information and a free e-book for anyone wanting to learn how to do EFT. We dove right in and tried to get as much information about it as we could.

The e-book, written by EFT promoter Gary Craig, explained that we can be set free from emotional traumas by tapping on our energy meridians – the same ones used during acupuncture. With EFT we don’t use needles – just our fingers, tapping on the right places. This is supposed to eliminate energy blockages that occur along the meridians, and free us from emotional or physical pain. The e-book explains exactly where those places are – at the inner corner of our eyebrows, on the side of our eyes, under our eyes, under our noses, under our mouths, on our collarbone, at our sides, and various places on our fingers and the side of our hands. (You should read the free e-book before trying this as it explains exactly where to tap.)

To do EFT we start by using a ’setup phrase’ based on whatever we’ve experienced that’s causing us problems. It is better to focus on specific events than on generalities. For example if a childhood incident of abandonment is causing an adult to fear being alone, the setup phrase might go something like this: “Even though my father left me alone in the house when I was little, I deeply and completely accept myself.” In basic EFT, the setup phrases always start with “Even though…” and end with “…I deeply and completely accept myself.”

After saying the setup phrase three times while tapping on one of two places (these are explained in the e-book) the person needing help goes on to tap on the various energy meridians while repeating a phrase such as “abandoned” or “left alone”, or whatever the problem is.

Of course there’s many other reasons to seek relief using EFT — it isn’t just about feelings of abandonment. EFT can be used on almost anything including physical pains and ailments. Gary Craig encourages people to try it on everything. There may be things it doesn’t work for, but there’s no harm in trying, and many people have found relief for the following types of things: phobias, traumas, panic/anxiety attacks, chronic pain, headaches, backaches, toothaches, snoring, ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, weight loss, addictions, allergies, sports performance, hypertension, diabetes, and depression.

If you’re interested and want to try it, please look into getting the free e-book and reading some of Gary Craig’s articles.

I’ve been studying EFT - Emotional Freedom Techniques - for over six months. I originally bought Gary Craig’s DVDs so I could overcome some of my own emotional difficulties and my fear of heights. I love the program so much, I’m now studying to become an EFT practitioner. EFT consists of a method of tapping on energy meridians (the same ones used during acupuncture) to eliminate emotional reactions. EFT has been used for a multitude of problems including trauma, abuse, fears, depression, headaches, and other physical or emotional ailments. Most recently I used EFT to get through a difficult day at the local dental office.

It started right after Christmas. My right upper gum swelled up and the pain was intense. I tried everything I could to make the pain go away. Because of the holiday, the local dental office was closed. Because I live in a remote area of the Klamath National Forest, it is the only dental office within seventy miles.

My home treatments included bathing the area in golden seal extract, and gargling with hydrogen peroxide. I don’t know what worked best, but eventually the swelling went down and the pain went away, for the most part. I knew that side of my mouth was still swollen - but not enough to cause pain. Every now and then over the next few weeks the swelling and pain would increase, but I managed to keep it under control.

Finally I convinced myself that it was time for a trip to the dentist. I filled out the paperwork last Thursday and saw the local dentist on Monday. This was my first visit to the Karuk Dental Clinic, which is owned and run by the Karuk Tribe here in Northern California. All the employees there were friendly and helpful. The dentist is a black woman, not a Karuk Indian, as the other employees there are. I was deeply impressed with her kindness and her ability to do her job efficiently.

She told me I had a large cavity in one of my molars and a huge abscess. I could have either a root canal or an extraction. “I’d prefer to have it pulled out,” I told her. “I’ll never have trouble with that tooth again.” I recall the tooth in question had been filled, and re-filled. I was tired of having such a trouble-making tooth in my mouth. This pain was the last straw.

On Wednesday I went back for the extraction. She went through the normal procedures to numb my gums, and I felt myself tense up with negative expectations and fear. Every muscle in my body was tense by the time she’d given me two shots. Then she left me alone for a while so the medication could take effect.

While she was busy with another patient, I remembered my EFT training, and started tapping on my energy meridians. I used the setup phrase, “Even though I am tense, I deeply and completely accept myself.” Then I tapped on all the usual EFT points (eyebrow point, face, fingers, etc.) and before long, I was feeling much better. I had to do two rounds of EFT, and then I felt totally relaxed.

When the dentist came back a few minutes later she pulled the tooth as I relaxed and enjoyed the moment. There was no more pain. It occurred to me that every dental office could use the help of an EFT practitioner specializing in dental patient concerns. If I’d done the EFT first, I would have been much more relaxed from the beginning, rather than panicking when I got the injections.
EFT, according to Gary Craig, “often works where nothing else will.” It has been used for pain management, addictions, weight loss, allergies, children’s issues, vision, headaches, panic, anxiety, asthma, trauma, stress, abuse, depression, dyslexia, carpal tunnel, anger, ADD/AHDH, fears, phobias, eating disorders, ODC, blood pressure, diabetes, neuropathy, and sports performance. EFT practitioners are taught to try it on everything.

For more information about EFT, see Gary Craig’s Website: Emotional Freedom Techniques