Emotional Freedom Technique

EFT is a Mind/ Body tool, its’ centuries old and it works by clearing physical and emotional blockages from the energy system.

EFT is gentle, non- invasive and has no side effects.

If that sounds a bit too ‘WOO’ for you, I completely understand but energy medicine has been around for Eons, long before Westerners were treating illnesses with a ‘one size fits all’ approach of pharmaceutical drugs*. Energy medicine was brought to the West in the 1990’s by Roger Callahan who developed a system called Thought Field Therapy® which Gary Craig later developed into EFT.

I was first introduced to EFT by a therapist of mine a number of years back and what I really like about it is that it is really effective when used to heal the effects of trauma. As a therapist who works with people who have had traumatic experiences, what’s even better is that clients don’t need to recall the trauma (which can be re traumatizing) in order to use EFT to heal from it.

This is also especially helpful if a client is unable to recount the memory of their trauma.

A traumatic event is defined as any psychological or emotional response to an event(s) or experience(s) that is (are) deeply disturbing or distressing. We typically think of rape, a serious accident or natural disaster when we are talking about trauma.

Bessel Van Der Kolk states that “Trauma is specifically an event that overwhelms the central nervous system, altering the way we process and recall memories. Trauma is the current imprint of that pain, horror, and fear living inside”.

It could be one incident or many over a prolonged period of time. It could have happened recently or a long time ago.

Many people are unaware that they have experienced trauma but are living with stress responses and bodily reactions in day to day life nevertheless. You might feel ‘out of control’, unsure of what’s happening to you or why, and you may be locked into a vicious cycle of self-medication with food, sex, shopping, gambling, alcohol, drugs or anything that brings temporary relief.

If you have been unable to form close satisfying relationships, you’re having terrifying memories, nightmares, flashbacks, avoiding situations that cause you dis- ease, emotional numbness, a feeling of disconnect from yourself and others, or you’re self-medicating with drugs, alcohol, other risky behaviours, or you have no memory at all of pockets of time or parts of your life, it may be linked to trauma.

The effects of having experienced trauma can be far reaching and long lasting without help to overcome it. It can really negatively impact on relationships with partners and children. You might feel depressed, you might feel irritable, angry and struggle to know what to do with those feelings, finding that you ‘snap’ at the people you most care about with little or no warning. You might withdraw yourself from others, feel debilitating shame, or fear certain situations, you’re not sure why and you feel uneasy. You feel as though the pieces of the puzzle just don’t fit together properly.

Trauma really impacts on confidence and resilience and it holds people back in life. It’s impossible to explain to others what’s happening if you don’t understand it yourself. Anyone close to you may want to help and support you but your behaviour may push them away. It can feel very difficult to admit that you’re struggling.

It is possible to heal from the effects of trauma.

EFT can be used to relieve the effects of trauma and PTSD. It is also helpful with a multitude of other issues like pain, anxiety, stress and phobias. It is simple, effective and quick and it works by calming the Amygdala, which is the part of the brain that is fired up when the body experiences trauma.

EFT interrupts the neural pathways in the brain, it decreases blood flow to the Amygdala and increases Endorphins. Encouraging coherent thought and balanced brain activity and therefore restores a sense of calm.

I have found EFT to be a very helpful tool when used with Psychotherapy and Counselling and if you would like to know more about EFT please email me: talktodialogues@gmail.com and we can arrange a chat.