An Example EFT Session
This example will illustrate how to perform EFT on yourself. I suggest you print out a copy of the EFT Basic Recipe as a reference for the tapping points used below.
This is a fictitious example of a session between myself (AM) and "Julie", who is having some problems with low self-esteem.
The Setup
Remember that EFT works best when you deal with a specific event, instead of a global issue such as low self-esteem. In conversation with Julie she recalls an incident when she was about 12 where boys were teasing her because she was the first girl in her class to start to develop breasts. This is a specific incident so I asked Julie to formulate a setup statement for this incident.
Julie: Even though the boys teased me when my breasts began to develop, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Although there were probably several occasions where this teasing took place, the purpose of the Setup statement is to remove any polarity reversal that might be in place. This statement will automatically focus Julie's attention on the teasing event(s) that caused her the most distress.
AM: Julie, think back to this incident and give me a number between 0 and 10 for how distressed you feel, where 0 means no reaction and 10 means the worst it could possibly feel.
Julie: I'd say it's a 7.
The Sequence
Julie taps on her Karate Chop point (KC) while repeating her setup statement 3 times. I ask her to give me a reminder phrase that we will use to keep her attention on the problem while we are tapping; she chooses "teasing boys".
AM: Tap the top of your head (HD) and say "teasing boys".
Julie: (tapping HD) "teasing boys".
AM: (Tapping the eyebrow point EB) "teasing boys".
Julie: (Tapping EB)"teasing boys".
AM: (Tapping the side of the eye point SE) "teasing boys".
Julie: (Tapping SE) "teasing boys".
AM: (Tapping the under the eye point UE) "teasing boys".
Julie: (Tapping UE) "teasing boys".
AM: (Tapping the under the nose point UN) "teasing boys".
Julie: (Tapping UN) "teasing boys".
AM: (Tapping the chin point CH) "teasing boys".
Julie: (Tapping CH) "teasing boys".
AM: Now make a fist and lightly thump on the collar bone point (CB), which is where the knot of a man's tie would be. Repeat your reminder phrase "teasing boys".
Julie: (lightly thumping CB) "teasing boys".
AM: (Tapping the under the arm point UA) "teasing boys".
Julie: (Tapping UA) "teasing boys".
The 9 Gamut
AM: Julie, look at the back of your left hand (she is right-handed) and locate your gamut point. It is about 1" behind the knuckles of your ring finger and little finger, in the little depression you find there. Tap there repeatedly while doing these actions:
- Close your eyes.
- Open them.
- Without moving your head, look hard down to the right.
- Now look hard down to the left.
- Without moving your head, move your eyes in a circle, clockwise.
- Now roll them counter clockwise.
- Hum the first line of "Happy Birthday".
- Count aloud: one, two, three, four, five.
- Hum the first line of "Happy Birthday" again.
Repeat the sequence
We run through the sequence exactly as before. When we're finished I ask:
AM: Julie, think back to the time when those boys were teasing you about developing breasts. initially you rated the intensity of the feeling as a 7; what number between 0 and 10 would you give it now?
Julie: (looking shocked) I don't believe it, the feeling's gone. It's kind of like it happened to someone else…that's incredible!
When it Doesn't Disappear in One Round
Not all issues are going to disappear by doing one complete round of EFT. If you make progress after the first round, then do a second round using a modified setup phrase:
"Even though I STILL HAVE SOME OF THIS _______________, I deeply and completely accept myself."
and use a modified reminder phrase of:
"remaining _______________".
Continue to perform additional rounds of EFT using these modified phrases as long as you are making progress (i.e. the intensity rating is getting lower).
If you reach a plateau where the level of intensity remains the same then try:
- either using the modified setup phrase again but saying it more emphatically; or
- adding the remaining tapping points—thumb (TH), index finger (IF), middle finger (MF), little finger (LF) and karate chop (KC)—into your sequence.
Aspects
Some issues will be relatively straightforward like the one described above, while others may be more complex and be comprised of many parts. These parts are called "aspects" and represent different facets of the problem. Each aspect may show up as a distinct feeling. Using our example above, there may have been several aspects to this problem, each evoking different feelings:
- Being teased (embarrassment, shame)
- Being different from the others (anger, confusion)
- The leering stares on the faces of the boys (embarrassment, fear, anger)
- The jeering voices (fear, rage)
When there are multiple aspects to an issue it is important to separate them out as distinct entities to be tapped on. Make sure that an aspect is down to zero intensity before moving on to the next aspect. Once all aspects have been dealt with then the issue is completely resolved and the event can be recalled without any emotional response.
