Tried & tested – January 2008 (<back to article archive)
By Nikki Dake

Emotional Freedom Technique – a remarkably effective healing therapy

Back in October last year, I heard UK-based EFT trainer Irene Lambert explaining how she uses this technique to access and heal not only physical pain, but also release mental and emotional problems. I wrote briefly about her training course at Lorna Firth’s Anarita practice and resolved to try the therapy myself.

Lorna is a highly qualified Hypnopsychotherapist, a Reiki Master and a Master of Krhem (formerly Sekhem), so I felt comfortable with allowing her access to my frail post-Christmas self.

What is it supposed to do?
EFT is a simple, powerful therapeutic tool that uses acupressure points and simple words; the technique uses the body’s meridians which are the major pathways of energy as mapped in traditional oriental medicine. The results are fast and generally permanent. Phobias, emotions and addictive behaviour dissolve into clear thinking and new behaviour patterns, enabling a new perspective and a move forward in life.

The principals behind EFT were discovered by Dr Roger Callaghan, a clinical psychologist of over 40 years experience; his aim was to cure people of unfounded fears, phobias and anxieties, using tapping sequences on the meridians at specific points and in specific sequences – algorithms. One of Dr Callaghan’s students, Garry Craig, took the therapy one step further with a technique incorporating all 13 meridian tapping points, so whichever point was actually the cornerstone to relieve a specific problem, all were covered. This was in 1991. Craig has since written: ‘Who would have thought that this simple procedure of tapping on various energy meridian points would allow healing where everything else has failed … that years of healing sessions for specific traumas, phobias, anger, guilt and grief could be reduced to a few minutes … that reducing one’s emotional load so easily would have profound effects on physical ailments such as pain, headaches and breathing problems?’

What benefits does it claim?
According to a seminal manual by EFT practitioner Silvia Hartmann, it may be used to counter almost any mental or emotional problem; as many physical symptoms - like acne, migraine, IBS and eating disorders – are triggered by mental crises, these too may be addressed through EFT. Hartmann explains that often it’s only a small part of the unconscious mind that holds certain fears, angers, sadnesses and griefs and it is this part that requires the healing and balancing of EFT; in fact many people would say that their outward symptoms have no relevance to their past physical or emotional history.

Having experienced the technique at the hands of a most professional therapist, to me EFT is like an unwrapping of belief systems and history to finally arrive at a place where the problem can be identified and ‘tapped away’ via the meridians.

Is there any science behind it?
Any therapy based on knowledge as old as the Tibetan map of the meridians does not rely on western conventional science to prove its efficacy, despite the fact that meridians have been mapped by modern technology. It’s impossible to give ‘scientific’ explanations for a discipline that derives from oriental teachings from 6000 years ago.

Medical doctor Eric Robins has written of his EFT experience: "Some day the medical profession will wake up and realize that unresolved emotional issues are the main cause of 85% of all illnesses. When they do, EFT will be one of their primary healing tools .... as it is for me."

What’s it like?
After discussion, the client chooses the area for work; a phobia, a physical symptom, a lifestyle choice now obsolete: this is addressed in the Opening Statements. Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUDs) are set, as a measurement device to the progress of the therapy. Using the statements in all or part of their content, spoken out loud, the complex tapping round of all 13 points begins. It’s impossible to say where the initial release begins; I had three statements, three SUDs ranging from 3 to 9, and by the end of the first round my thoughts were already clearer. By the end of three rounds of tapping, two SUDs were zero and I could see the last one dissolving. Quite, quite amazing – and humbling. You could say that, having had a long and close relationship with alcohol all my life, I tapped my way to voluntary temperance in less than an hour. And, a week later, that first initial treatment is still working although I am renewing the therapeutic input myself for support.

Where and how much?
Lorna practises between Limassol, Pissouri and Anarita; contact her on 9947 9426. Irene and Lorna will both be attending Health & Wellbeing at Venus Beach Hotel on Sunday 10th February. A session of EFT costs between 30€ for 1/2 an hour to 50€ for 1 -1 1/2 hours session (usually the first session to get to the root cause); this includes a personal algorithm/emergency stop to work with at home.

For further help and suggestions contact: Lorna Firth tel: 99 47 94 26 or e-mail: lfirth@cytanet.com.cy for stress management. Nikki Dake tel: 99 17 04 06 or e-mail: cnndake@spidernet.com.cy for nutritional advice.