Gary Craig with Gwyneth Moss

at the EFT Masters exam workshop Barton-on-Humber, September 2005

Emotional Freedom Techniques

Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT effectively forms the bridge between talk therapies and body therapies, from the premise that negative emotions are the conscious experience of a disturbance of body-mind "energy".

EFT is a simple and powerful therapeutic tool that uses words to tune into an emotional disturbance which is then balanced and cleared using acupressure tapping.

The results are fast and generally lasting. Strong emotions such as fear, anger, shame and sadness dissolve into clear thinking, enabling a fresh perspective and forward movement.

EFT is a permissive technique that can be used with a therapist/coach or by yourself to empower self help. Derived from Thought Field Therapy, EFT uses a unified approach that does not require diagnosis.

This simple tool for emotional healing was developed in the early nineties by Gary Craig, a personal performance coach with a fascination for the human potential, a clear spiritual calling, a background in business and a university education in engineering.

EFT is now used worldwide by therapists, health care professionals, teachers, parents and individuals. Gary Craig's intention is to share EFT with the world and he makes EFT easily available through free instructional material, and low cost EFT training DVDs via his extensive website.

If you are new to EFT you may be as sceptical as I was when I first heard about it: I thought that tapping on someone's face to clear emotional problems was just too weird, too implausible and I almost dismissed it. I am so glad I listened because now, five years later, I wouldn't be without EFT both for myself and for my therapy practice.

My first NLP teacher Wilf Proudfoot said "don't give 'em an explanation, give 'em an experience" and if you are reading these pages having already had an EFT experience then what you read will not seem weird or far-fetched and you'll know that emotions and tensions can dissolve in seconds. If you have not yet experienced EFT for yourself then I hope you'll understand that EFT has to be experienced to be accepted and no words I could say or write can be a substitute for that convincing experience. You don't have to believe in EFT to tap and achieve change in your emotional state or a reduction in body tension, though it does help that you are not over invested in disbelieving or debunking this simple and easily learned technique.

My experience of using EFT is now with over a thousand people and at least 90% get some sort of result. So I am not asking you to believe in anything and I would like you to keep hold of your healthy skepticism and draw your own conclusions from the evidence of your senses.

I can not tell you how EFT works because I do not know. Modern science has not yet caught up with EFT. There are differing schools of thought regarding possible explanations. One school offers the Energy Psychology meridian based explanation derived from the relationship of "energy" and emotions and the study of accupuncture and kinesiology. The other school dismisses Energy Psychology as bunkum and offers a neuro-physiological explanation based on the mini-REM state that results from continual firing of the brain's orientation response to the physical stimulus of tapping.

From my experience in practice (and my Cambridge Physics degree) I think that both explanations are valid and that the answer lies in a quantum mechanical (rather than Newtonian) understanding of what it is to be human.  But for now all that is conjecture and I will wait for established science to catch up, therefore in my EFT Workshops and Trainings I don't teach 'how it works', I teach 'how to do it'.

EFT Examples

So, EFT is a therapeutic tool whereby someone taps on their face and body and repeats a form of words about their problem and the problem is no longer a problem?

Yes that's about it, that's what happens time and time again. Here are some stories:

Peter had such bad lower back pain that he often had to lie on the floor and his weekly visits to an osteopath were helping but not enough. After an hour of EFT with me the pain dissolved and has not returned.

June was terrified to drive on a motorway. She did 15 minutes of EFT with another beginner and two weeks later drove on the motorways from Yorkshire to Devon with confidence.

Susan had escaped a violent marriage but could not escape the memories and was unable to relax with her new partner. Afer two EFT sessions Susan feels like a new woman and describes her relationship as bliss.

John was angry and shouting at his elderly mother whenever she cried; it was an automatic and uncontrollable reaction that made John feel guilty and fearful. After an hour of EFT with me he is now as calm as any other carer of an elderly parent.

Liz could was compelled to buy and guzzle chocolate every time she filled up the car. Since learning EFT at an introductory evening with a group she has not even noticed chocolate for 6 months.

Andy was consoling himself with drink to suppress the memories of separation from his daughter. After three sessions of EFT he enjoys an occasional glass of wine and no longer needs to finish the whole bottle.

An experienced Psychotherapist says:

"I have learnt from using EFT that it is an excellent therapeutic tool as it’s possibilities for the healing of emotional and physical problems are endless.  I cannot think of any other therapy tool that offers such a gift.  As an already practising Psychotherapist, I have learnt that EFT has a big advantage over conventional counselling methods.  If I have a client with deep rooted problems which they find difficult to talk about, or to do so would cause them great distress, using one or more of the EFT techniques such as the Movie Technique or Creeping Up for example, enables me to get to the root of their problem and eliminate the intensity associated with this problem gently and without invading their privacy or causing any additional pressure or distress. 

The very fact that a person can physically participate in healing their own issues I have found is another advantage. It helps to boost their confidence and self esteem as they feel they are actually ‘doing’ something for themselves.  They are able to take something away from the session to carry on with at home between sessions. Not forgetting also that as I can use EFT on myself to clear up old issues from my own past, it could help me to become a better therapist.  I cannot wait to see more of the magic of EFT as I use it on my clients, family and friends and myself."

You can go to the what they say page and read the words of those who have come to me for help; much of their change was achieved through EFT.

If you'd like to learn more then you can study at home with the EFT Workshops on DVD or you can attend my small group training EFT Workshops.