What if the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system and fixing that disruption could eliminate the negative emotion? That is the underlying belief of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).
Background of EFT
Gary Craig was a Stanford-trained engineer who was more interested in psychology than engineering, leading him to read hundreds of books, spend thousands of dollars on seminars and tapes, and talk to psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists of every kind to find the most effective tool for personal improvement.
Craig's research led him to Dr. Roger Callahan, a psychologist who used energy tapping procedures that consisted of tapping with the fingertips at the end points of the body's energy meridians. (Callahan's technique is called Thought Field Therapy.) Craig took what he learned from Callahan and simplified it into Emotional Freedom Techniques.
What Causes Negative Emotions?
According to Craig and EFT, a distressing memory causes a disruption in the body's energy system that causes a negative emotion. The goal of EFT is to clear the disruption. The memory is still present, but without the disruption in the energy system, the memory no longer causes a negative emotion.
Some people are bothered by their memories and others are not because some people's energy systems become imbalanced from a memory, while other people's energy systems do not. Craig has documented successful use of EFT for many conditions and situations, including post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans.
Eliminating the Cause of Negative Emotions
While it is possible to detect specific energy disruptions using muscle testing techniques, the simplicity of EFT is that knowing the specific disruption (or diagnosis) is not required. According to Craig, EFT creates an effective end run around diagnosis with what he calls the 100% overhaul concept.
The 100% overhaul concept requires tapping near the end points of numerous energy meridians without knowing which of them may be disrupted. Even though some energy meridians that are flowing normally are tapped, it does no harm.
The EFT Basic Recipe
The 100% overhaul concept uses a memorized process called the "Basic Recipe," which uses enough tapping procedures to overhaul the whole energy system. This way, the odds of fixing the specific energy imbalance are greatly enhanced.
Using the "Basic Recipe," a person begins by tuning into her problem with a statement along the lines of, "Even though I am (stressed, sad, fill in the emotion), I deeply and completely love and accept myself." Then maintaining focus on that emotion, the person taps specific points in a specific order. While the exact tapping procedure is beyond the scope of this article, it is available in the free Introductory EFT Manual.
Trying EFT on Everything
Craig acknowledges that people are often skeptical of EFT because it seems like a quick fix or it violates their beliefs about self improvement. He suggests trying it.
Craig suggests memorizing the "Basic Recipe" and using it for any emotional or physical problem. Be as specific as possible and, where necessary, be persistent until all aspects of the problem have vanished.
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