EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, is an odd-looking therapy that has had amazing results with many people. Some people have dismissed its tapping as merely a distraction technique; yet, it gets results that mere distraction fails to achieve. EFT's best point is that it's simple and easy to "take home" with you.
The History of Emotional Freedom Technique
The Start – Thought Field Therapy (TFT)
In 1980, in a fortuitious discovery, Dr Roger Callahan discovered that tapping on certain points of the body (meridian points) could reduce or completely get rid of certain emotional problems. His first, stunning, success was with a woman, Mary Ford, who had had a long-term severe phobia of water.
Dr Callahan went on to develop a systematic procedure, which he called Thought Field Therapy, or TFT. He also added a new function that he called Voice Technology.
From TFT to EFT
One of Callahan's early students was an engineer, Gary Craig. Craig was extremely impressed by TFT. He decided to use his engineering training to find out how to both improve and simplify TFT.
The result was a hugely simplified version of TFT, which Craig called EFT. He has continued to simplify it over the years, and also added some NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) to make it faster and more effective.
Does EFT work?
The scientific community is dubious about EFT, mostly because of the claimed reason why EFT works. However, there is no doubt whatsoever that many, many people have benefited, some hugely, from the curious tapping of EFT.
EFT doesn't work on everyone, at least in my experience. But I have found it to work on nearly everyone. And most people find that they can use it effectively, at home, for themselves.
How does EFT work?
Callahan (TFT), Craig (EFT) and Donna Eden all claim that the tapping methods work because they use the body's meridian points. However, as even Craig admits, the meridian points don't seem to be the important thing.
In fact, no one knows for sure how EFT works. The most likely theory that I've come across has been that it's a form of self-hypnosis, and the tapping aids that process.
So, the jury is out as to how EFT works. But it works, and for now, that will do for me.
