Janey does level one EFT ....'a sceptic is converted'
I'll come out and admit that although I am queen of reccomendations on alternative therapies and holistic treatments I don't personally 'buy' them all, thats not to say that I don't beleive they can work but I suppose I figure some just don't suit me. When it comes to EFT emotional freedom technique I've known about it for years, I expereinced it a few times but only in conjunction with another treatment so my assumption was that it was the Shamanic healing that was working (I saw the incredible Dawn Paul www.liberate-online.co.uk ) and I have worked the excellent Linda Thursby of Bodytalk but again assumed it was her intuitive knowledge and massage etc that did the trick. Peter Donn of www.london-eft.co.uk is an eft consultant and trainer and uses only eft (well I say only!) but has amazing results with his clients.
This was a one day AAMET accredited workshop level 1 and we started by understanding the background of eft and how its works. Basically it was developed by a counsellor Gary Craig who was looking for a way to help people in emotional distress to process their feelings, he had trained in Thought Field Therapy but EFT simplifies that process. It works (if I've got the drift !) because energy flows through our bodies along meridians that connect to each other and to our organs resembling an electrical circuit, when we're under stress of any sort, physical or emotional then that energy meridian can become blocked or even shut down, Peter used then analogy of a battery being inserted the wrong way, the radio simply doesn't get power ! Its thought that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the bodys energy system, and if we can clear the blockage, energy can flow once more. EFT has amazing results with trauma, allergies, fears, anxieties, anger, healing relationships, addictions and can be used to help you achieve your goals.
Sound a bit to good t be true ? Well yes, I thought it was all a bit far fetched until I was randomly selected to be the 'demo client' I picked an old 'trauma' an incident from my childhood, but didn't want to reveal it as it was too personal, we simply called it 'Being five' he tapped away on my forehead, under my eye, above my lip etc and repeated 'being five' after each series of tappings he asked me to rate the intensity of the emotion or sensation and rate it 1 to 5 (I'd given it a 10 to start with) bizarrely after each series of tappings the intensity came down and I gave it lower numbers but figured hey ho thats just him 'calming me down' but here's the interesting bit, what I hadn't said is that the incident was only one in a chain of incidents which all make up a pretty serious phobia - sorry to be so secretive - but interestingly it didn't seem to matter that i wouldn't share the story, Peter asked what other emotion I might be feeling and within a few minutes he'd uncovered other emotions that he 'tapped on' When he asked me to rate the intensity of feeling about the initial incident it had gone down to 0, he asked me to rate the bigger issue - phobia -that had gone down to about 2 ! Now 2 days on - I'm still feeling quite calm about this issue which usually I can't even think about for one second - a confusing testimonial but powerful nevertheless.
Even more revealing for me was when working with a partner on her issue, she had an eating disorder which she'd had from childhood, after only a few minutes her panic about food changed and she suddenly admitted she'd felt loneliness as a child, so perhaps unconsiously she'd chosen to be 'left out' of mealtimes and social situations around food. After only 10 minutes we had 'tapped this out' and she was shocked and amazed to find that she felt hungry and felt she could eat in a social situation - something she hadn't done for 20 years !
EFT is powerful, I left the one day course feeling totally inspired and motivated with a whole host of skills and tools to use in everyday life, come on down to my fan page on facebook by the way, http://bit.ly/janeyfans some lovely posts there on eft, including one from Barry who intends to tap away his hatred for DIY - he later said its OK its stands for Don't involve yourself ! On a serious note though this works on children and you even tap on behal of someone else - surrogate tapping.
For goodness sake don't tell Wrighty - he'll be accusing me of secretive tapping !
Theres loads of free info at www.emofree.com
and if you fancy doing the course I can't recommend this highly enough, Peter offers consultations in Herts and London.
www.london-eft.co.uk
email peter@donn.biz
To find someone close to you go to www.aamet.org
Hi Janey,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the wonderful world of EFT. There are many people who have been sceptical who have an experience with EFT and are then "converted". For many people it is a physical problem that convinces them it really works. Traumatic memories and phobias are also great convincers. I've helped many clients with anxiety and panic attacks who can now live their life without the limitations these conditions put on them. Wishing you lots of fun with your tapping.
Louise Woods
EFT Practitioner
As a neurofeedback practitioner, I can add to your explanation of how EFT is working on a physiological level. When we monitor our clients on EEG as they tap, we see they raise 12-15hz activity across the sensory motor strip of the brain (the area that runs ear-to-ear). They are engaging a brain state characterized by a calm body and an alert mind - in other words they are engaging the parasympathetic nervous system and disengaging the flight-or-fight response. At which time, we can help them reframe the memory, applying the resources they have now to resolve the conflict the younger person felt at the time. Your "five year old" did not have the resources necessary to handle the situation. As an adult, you would do a much better job of handling the same situation. It's interesting that our body-mind will retain a troubling experience and offer us repeated opportunities to resolve it (our therapists call this re-enactment). EFT brings the memory to the surface, provides a calm and resourced state to deal with it, and once it's resolved and we have learned and articulated the lessons inherent in that memory, it is relegated to the past and seems to stay there at last! There are no meds that can accomplish this feat. However, EFT seems to accomplish it easily, without a great deal of trauma or angst, and sets people right on old events permanently. If that package were disguised as a pill, we could sell it all day...as it is, we continue to quietly use it on our clients and watch the amazing results. Thanks for helping to further the use of EFT on the planet.
ReplyDeleteJan Harr
Rocky Mtn. NeuroAdvantage
214 8th Street, #307
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
970-384-2880
jan.harr@mailcolorado.net