EFT
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a self-help technique and a therapeutic tool, sometimes known as "acupuncture without needles" or "tapping therapy". It is one of the family of the so-called Meridian Therapies, and combines stimulation of a series of acupressure points with cognitive restructuring (specially worded affirmations) that typically lead to rapid positive shifts in thinking patterns and emotional issues.
The basics of EFT can be learnt in minutes, and the technique can be applied to provide relief from a wide variety of emotional, mental and physical symptoms, including:
- Addictive cravings
- Fears and anxiety
- Phobias
- Trauma & PTSD
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Limiting beliefs
- Aches, pains & tensions
- Insomnia
and others.
Emotional Freedom Technique was developed in the 1990s in the US by Gary Craig and is based on the principles of Dr Roger Callahan's TFT (Thought Field Therapy). The main EFT website contains a vast amount of free information, hundrends of cases studies and a downloadable 79 page manual for self-help.
The numerous case studies and a number of research papers provide evidence of EFT's efficacy, in particular for treatment of PTSD and other anxiety-related disorders as well as in relieving addictive cravings, and more research is under way to test this innovative approach in different therapeutic contexts. This approach is compared by some practitioners to that of EMDR in its effectiveness and typically rapid results, in comparison with most conventional psychotherapeutic approaches.
Below is a seven-minute video introducing some of the benefits of EFT - you may find that some of the claims in it may appear extraordinary, however in our experience, whilst not everyone gets the "miraculous" results in minutes, this approach does help to significantly improve and speed up the effectiveness of treatment. The examples in the video are not directly addiction-related, but the general principles are still applicable.
