• Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/
  • Welcome to the new TMS Wiki server! Things aren't finished yet: email is not set up, so notification and password-reset emails don't go out, and new registrations are paused until email is installed. Details and updates are in this thread (click here). Locked out? Email tmswikisignups@gmail.com from the address where you receive TMS Wiki notifications.

EFT/Tapping

Yes, I practiced EFT with Tapping for a couple of months this summer. Mostly before and/or after road biking. I recited the sequence of affirmations outlined by Dr James Alexander while tapping on various acupressure points around my body. Also did some physical things like rolling my eyes around while simultaneously tapping on the heel of my hand. There were some intellectual exercises to be performed while tapping, intellectual exercises that included humming a few bars of a song followed by counting up to 7 and then humming the tune again. The idea was to activate the areas of the brain associated with the numerical and, then, the musical.

EFT with Tapping, it seemed to me, was a technique that might provide short-term relief from fear and anxiety but it wasn't powerful enough to resolve deeper traumas. It did calm me down before bicycling by making me more present, as Michael Brown might say. A good tool, but not really the solution. The whole ritual of performing the EFT with Tapping routine probably does distract you from obsessing about habitual fears and phobias by placing your attention on remembering all the complicated steps in the EFT ritual of affirmations punctuated by a progressive series of tapping points throughout your body. It does hold your attention like learning a complex dancing step, which should also distract you from obsessing about your pain symptoms.
 
Last edited:
I had a similar experience with EFT as @BruceMC accounts above. It didn't help me, but it can serve as a distraction and break the obsessive thoughts perhaps. But there are a lot of people who do seem to find it helpful. Hopefully, they will add a post here with their experience.
 
As others have said, another distraction from the TMS symptom defense mechanism distractors, to get you to focus on the TMS emotional/psychological thinking path. I remember about ten years ago, in yoga class one day, the teacher introduced the tapping and we did it for about 5-10 minutes. My thought was what the hell was that all about???--and that was the end of it. I realized later that was this new stuff called tapping. IMHO, more vood00--but, what ever works--I'll have a massage followed by a cocktail to get me relaxed so I can fooooocusssssss better instead.
 
I watched a yoga exercise video today and one small part of it was akin to tapping.
The host put two fingers of each hand onto the chin and moved them in a circular motion.
Then he did the same with the fingers on forehead, then the temples, then around the nose.
It was said to be a meditation technique and it reminded me of tapping. It did relax me.
Tapping seems to work for some people but not others. Maybe it's a belief thing.
 
Yes Boston, I've tried EFT and to my surprise found it very effective. I had first encountered EFT through a work colleague who had overcome a lifetime of pain and anguish through EFT. She had experienced great trauma after her mother had committed suicide and had carried around a truckload of grief, guilt and so on for many years. When she then found healing through EFT she excitedly introduced it to me, knowing I had chronic pain.

At that time I had not been introduced to TMS healing so found it hard to fathom how this strange and whacky ritual worked in healing someone of pain and grief on that sort of scale. It was only after I discovered Dr Sarno that I realised why it had worked. I had three sessions with an EFT therapist earlier this year, and found it incredibly cathartic. I was aware of my buried grief and guilt, but through the EFT technique I was able to confront and unburden myself of these very quickly. My TMS flare up passed shortly after these sessions.

I think it helps to do EFT with a qualified and recommended EFT therapist. I had done some EFT myself after her sessions but stopped when my pain had gone. Recently I tried it again when going through a stressful period at work.

Two TMS healing heroes of mine also endorse EFT: Dr Bruce Lipton and Dr James Alexander. Their endorsement of EFT only validated my own experience with this.

Dr James Alexander writes about EFT in his wonderful book 'The hidden psychology of pain'. I recommend his book as he delves into the psychology of how EFT works.

I think the key to EFT is repetition. If you practice EFT regularly the neural pathways will be stimulated with continuous positive affirmations to the point where a shift will take place where negative energy becomes outweighed by the accumulation of positive energy. Having said that, I found the effects of EFT immediate, so can only marvel at the effects it would have on me if I was to practice regularly...

Here's a link to one of my therapist's you tubes: http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/eft-therapist-jenny-johnson.5151/
 
Colly

Thx so much for your insight in this bizzar method of stress/pain relief I will dig deeper into it, so you would recommend doing a few session with a qualified person first before you do it on your own.
 
Hi. For me it worked at least twice on newly-appeared symptoms, I posted it here http://tmswiki.org/forum/threads/how-i-just-healed-my-shoulder-pain-with-eft-and-exercise.4224/.

I use EFT regularly on various things, but it seems to work best with less complex issues, not the ones with many aspects and dating back to early childhood. Probably need to see a specialist to resolve these. But hey, EFT is just a tool, and the success depends on the skills in dealing with psychological issues. Still good to tap calm myself down and get some clarity on an issue. One thing I know, it's not some voodoo make-belief, it uses the same principle as acupuncture and there is factual evidence for its efficacy as well as neuroscientific explanation. There is lots of youtube simple "chasing-the-pain" type guided EFT taps, so one can start there. But for chronic pain with psychological roots one needs to address those roots, there's no shortcuts. One of my favourite approaches is by Carol Look, an EFT founding master: http://tappingqanda.com/2010/11/tapping-for-physical-issues-w-carol-look-pod-48/
 
Yes, great resource. Nick and Jessica Ortners organize Tapping World Summits, next one due early 2015, which are also great for beginners interested in learning EFT (that's how I got into it in 2012). Can listen for free or purchase a package of recordings + bonuses. I read Nick's book Tapping Solution, based on a film with the same title. It's about various life areas which can be tapped on. He is soon about to issue a book specifically on EFT for pain, I think also in 2015.

You can practice deep breathing, but the best thing about EFT is that you don't have to do anything in particular other than tap and focus on an issue. The process is calming, so your breath should also normalize. Of course, if one works on a very charged issue this may not happen instantly, so pausing for a few deep breaths is recommended.
 
Hi, Ollin. I stopped doing Tapping for some time, but am going to get back into it, especially
following the videos of the Ortners. You keep it simple and I like that.
Tap and focus on an issue. Tapping sure has gotten some powerful endorsements lately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top