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Emotional Freedom Technique
A real cure for sexual and physical abuse?
May 23, 2009
Joël
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Ever since its inception in 2005, this site has been talking about important yet increasingly depressing topics. With this last update I want to break with that a little bit and talk about something that I think is actually quite fun. This update has been inspired by the following passage in an article about the latest child abuse scandal from Ireland:
"Over 35,000 children from the 1940s onwards were condemned to live under a regime of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect,” said Ms Lewis.
"While these institutions no longer exist people who are now aged 30 to 80 live by day with the impact their experiences had on their lives."
Well, I thought, maybe there's a solution for these people for whom medicine and traditional psychotherapy have proven to be slow and very inefficient tools. In the past couple of weeks I've been studying Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) a little bit. This can be explained as a simplified, modern and Western version of acupressure (acupuncture without the needles). Whether you choose to believe in it or not, the idea behind acupressure and acupuncture is that it works with the meridian system of the body. This system directs the flow of chi, qi, ki, prana, orgone, bioplasm, or whatever you want to call this energy. It was mapped by the Chinese more than 5000 years ago.
Both acupressure and acupuncture are quite complex art forms with many different points spread out over 14 main meridians that can be worked on. Especially acupuncturists need to know exactly which points to treat, how to treat them and how long.
EFT has simplified this process; it just hits all meridians at once. The idea here is to bring up a certain emotional issue and make it as strong as possible. This will cause one or more meridian systems to "short-circuit". This can often be felt as an uncomfortable feeling somewhere in the body. At this point a series of specific acupressure points is tapped that are located either at the beginning or ending of a meridian. These points are said to have the best ability to transfer energy to clean out the whole meridian. They are also the closest to the surface. In any case, when the emotions are strong, several rounds of tapping often appears to be enough to take all the emotions from the memory - which is the cause of the hurting, or even disease or physical pain.
This is a nice theory, of course, but know that there are a HUGE amount of positive testimonies out there. Some things are easier to do than others, but when applied correctly it seems to be extremely effective against a whole range of phobias, including spiders, needles, water, heights, exams, small or crowded spaces, maybe black shoes, etc., etc. It helps against addictions. It can take away the pain from having lost a loved one. It has been very effective against the most severe traumatic disorders as post traumatic stress syndrome and memories of sexual and physical abuse. Even more amazing, more than a few instances have been reported and/or recorded that EFT was able to relieve very severe physical pains; diseases as diabetes, psoriasis, allergies and asthma; and sometimes even cancer and multiple sclerosis. The theory behind this, of course, is that long term, conscious or subconscious negative emotions cause physical symptoms. Take the emotion away and recovery ensues. It is, however, more complex than just "positive thinking".
A full discussion of how this is all supposed to work is not possible here (and don't think I can explain it). Below I've linked to several You Tube videos from EFT practitioner Robert Smith and one from Gary Craig, the founder of EFT. It includes a number of recoveries from sexual and physical abuse. A lot more videos and material is available.
All other videos from Robert Smith can be found here. Gary Craig's website is emofree.com . Here you can download a free manual. And whatever you do, don't forget to read up on the term "psychological reversal" and the set-up phase.
As a last tip, most advanced practitioners of EFT use shortcuts when they do their tapping, as experience tells them which points they can skip. I recommend beginners - like me - always do the full sequence, which actually is longer than most EFT manuals show. Google for the "Under the nipple" point, which targets the liver meridian; "Under the arm" points, which targets the spleen meridian; the "top of the head" point, which targets the main yang meridians; and maybe also the wrist point, which quickly targets the heart, pericardium and lung meridians. Below I made a manual available, which is a quick reference guide that I had missed. It shows how each point targets one of the main meridians. Do the full sequence and you hit them all, which actually is the whole idea behind EFT.

Click on the image to download a quick EFT reference guide created by ISGP. Meridians are symetrical in the body. Hit one side and you hit both, although some believe it's about 15% more effective to hit both sides at once.
Although I can somewhat vouch for the effectivity of acupressure, I cannot do the same (yet?) for EFT. The only reason I discuss it here before having tested it extensively is that it seems a very good solution for victims of sexual abuse, a topic this site has been dealing with for the last two years. Knowing about all the evils in the world is one thing, but finding constructive solutions is something just as important - and EFT may well prove to be a big chunk of this solution.
Don't ask me for instructions (it's up to you from here), but if you get any positive results from this EFT technique I wouldn't mind hearing about it via email. And if you didn't know that, this email address has been "hidden" in the how you can help section.
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