EFT

            When stress becomes a part of your life, how will you handle it? To be quite honest, stress will never be completely gone, but it can definitely be something that can be managed. There are ways to handle stress in ways like exercising and meditation, but there is a certain technique that can be forgotten about. Well, people are most likely thinking, “what is that technique?” It is called Emotional Freedom Techniques, also known as “EFT.” I was introduced to Emotional Freedom Techniques by a former baseball coach that I played for. When I had first heard about this, I was kind of confused to be quite honest wondering how can this really help concentration and reduce stress levels. It also can help pain subside and help with implementing positive goals. Since our main topic is stress, this would be a great subtopic when dealing with stress.

            What is Emotional Freedom Technique? According to Gary Craig, it “Is a universal healing aid that rebalances the body’s energy system with respect to unresolved emotional issues. Energy meridians that run through our body can be blocked or disrupted by unresolved emotional issues, thereby compromising our natural healing potential. Re-aligning the energy meridians while focusing on an unresolved emotional issue can often provide increased personal peace and relief from many physical symptoms.” Gary Craig is considered the founder of Emotional Freedom Techniques. Dr. Roger Callahan, whom of which was a psychologist, served as a mentor to Craig when Craig was a student of his. There is a legend behind how EFT may have broken in. Apparently a patient of Dr. Callahan had a phobia of water. She wouldn’t take a shower, swim, or the most bizarre one which is she would not even go outside if there was going to be rain. The woman had been a patient of Callahan for about year and a half, and he was trying different techniques on her such as hypnosis and rational- emotive therapy. Then during one of their sessions, Dr. Callahan had told her to try tapping under her eyes, surprisingly the woman had tension relieved and the phobia appeared to have vanished. To make sure it was gone, Dr. Callahan took her by a pool and she wanted to jump in. Ever since that day, it has now evolved into a task that people can use on the daily. “The theory behind EFT is that negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body’s energy field” (Brattberg, 2008)

            Now as far as how to use Emotional Freedom Techniques, there are multiple ways of how someone can use it: Tapping the top of the head making sure the fingers are back-to-back down the middle of the skull, above the eye brow, side of the eyes (temple area), under the eye, arm, and nose, chine, collar bone, and on the inside of the wrists (Mercola, 2013). When tapping, the person must tap hard enough, but obviously not hard enough to cause an injury and even if you are not tapping in the exact area that is alright. As long as you are in the right vicinity, that is more than efficient.  “This treatment is effective with most anxiety or trauma based issues, has remarkable effect with pain by treating remembered pain that contributes to chronic pain, is extremely safe, easy to teach, and is a natural self-help treatment intervention” (Gary A. Flint, 2001).

            After giving a brief background and how to perform Emotional Freedom Techniques, now it is time to put these techniques to the test. As far as students using this technique in school, the workforce, or in their careers, look at it this way, it can only help you. Stress is something that can’t really be avoided, it can only be maintained. There is always going to be those rough days where there is a lot going on and your head will be going in fifty different directions, so why not try techniques like Emotional Freedom Techniques to help control the mind and get back to solid mental state. Maybe it can be the difference someday when helping a student with an exam, or getting a task done at your job. After doing more research on Emotional Freedom Techniques, it seems that it is off to the races and will continue to become more popular throughout the world. The way these techniques are growing, it can become the leading way when dealing with mental and emotional issues.

-Anthony Capaldi

Sources

Brattberg, G. (2008). Self-administered EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) in individuals with fibromyalgia: a randomized trial. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal.

Flint, G. A., Lammers, W., & Mitnick, D. G. (2006). Emotional freedom techniques. Journal of aggression, maltreatment & trauma, 12(1-2), 125-150.

Mercola, Joseph. (n.d.). Basic Steps to Your Emotional Freedom. In Emotional Freedom Technique. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from http://eft.mercola.com/.