Overcoming Fears and Phobias with EFT
The initial eureka moment in the birthing of EFT (emotional freedom techniques, tapping on energy meridian points to release energy blocks) in 1980 for Roger Callaghan was when Mary overcame her lifelong water phobia simply by tapping on the stomach meridian which is under the eye. After years of therapy and no improvement of her fear and associated headaches and nightmares it was gone. Just like that. Fears and phobias don’t always clear up this fast, but EFT has given us a new approach which is easy to learn and use yourself at any time that you need it. Several of my clients with intense fear of flying have managed to board the plane, get to the destination in a calm manner and get back using my EFT calm flight video as shown here:
So why does EFT help in this way? Well, firstly, within seconds of tapping the amygdala comes into play, the part of the brain that deals with fight or flight, and people start to feel calmer. When we are calm everything seems better, whether it is relationship problems, self-esteem or a fear of spiders. It is for this reason I always introduce EFT to my counselling clients that are interested, for it gives them a really useful tool to use in between sessions. Next there is the energy component. The EFT supposition is that when our energy is blocked we experience symptoms of not feeling good. A good way to measure is to use Silvia Hartmann’s SUE scale, which stands for Subjective Units of Experience. Looking at this scale, where are you on it just now? Minus ten is the worst you can possibly feel, and plus ten is over the moon brilliant. Zero is just neither feeling good or bad.
So if you have a fear or phobia you would like to overcome start by looking at the scale and tune in to where you are at when you think about it right now. Got a number? Ask yourself, how do I get one or two places up the scale and what would that feel like? Sometimes if you have been struggling with something for a long time it’s hard to imagine living life completely without it, although possible. So if that’s the case think about a small improvement first. So if you are so terrified of heights that you can’t go on a ladder try to imagine stepping up the first rung or two of a ladder, rather than perhaps bungee jumping off Niagara Falls.
Traditionally in therapy one of the main approaches would be to go back into the past to identify where the fear came from first and try to work out of it that way. In EFT we can still do this if it is relevant. In a non-traumatising way we can tap with the aspect (former you) to clear the energy of the traumatic time. However it is not necessary to go delving into the past every time, and working with the here and now has been found just as, if not more effective. If you would like to try an EFT session to work with a fear or phobia, please get in touch.
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