Learn EFT – EFT 102: Step One – Tune in and Rate – (One Thing at a Time)

This article is part of the EFT 102: How to do EFT, The Basics series.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a very powerful tool.  As you saw in EFT 101 there are many applications of the protocol.  But, if you are going to be effective using it, it is important that you understand its nature.  EFT is like a sharp knife.  It is not a sledgehammer.

Let’s pretend we are trying to break a table down.  Using the sledgehammer, we would just smash it to bits.  We wouldn’t have to give much thought to where we hit.  We could just have at it.

On the other hand, with the knife we would have to give it a little more thought.  We would have to consider how the table was put together and were its weakest points are.  More than likely, we would start with where the legs and the tabletop meet.

We can get rid of a table with both tools, but would do it very different ways.

When we use EFT we have to give the issues (both physical and emotional) some thought about how we are going to approach them.  We need to approach the issue at a very specific point and complete the work at that point before we move on.

I used the image of a table because it is an image Gary uses a lot when he is talking about emotional issues.  He states that general emotions are like the tabletop.  The feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, or loneliness would be examples of general emotions.  We can’t have these general emotions in our lives with out specific experiences/memory that support the general emotion, the table legs.

Let’s take frustration at my boss as an example.  The general feeling of frustration that rises in my chest when I think of my boss is the tabletop.  The specific memories (the table legs) are:

• Last week when my boss took credit for my work
• Thursday when my boss gave me an extra task right at the end of the day causing me to stay late
• Monday when my boss screwed something up with corporate causing me a bunch of extra work

Each of these specific memories contributes to create the general feeling of frustration at my boss.

When I am going to use EFT on this feeling of frustration it is important I remember I have a knife and not a sledgehammer.  I would really like to destroy the feeling of frustration, but I can’t do it all at once because of the tool I have.
To begin with I am going to choose one of the legs, being asked to stay late Thursday, and do work on that.  After, I have finished one leg, I move on to the next, and then the next.  Over time I will have taken out enough legs (and I don’t have to get them all) that there will no longer be enough legs to hold the table top up, cause the emotion to collapse.

It is also important that you finish one table leg before you move on to the next leg.  At first, it is very easy to jump from memory to memory, because they are all so frustrating.  But focus is rewarded.  Imagine it in terms of another analogy.  It is like cleaning your house.  You can’t start on the dishes, then jump to the laundry, then work on your bed, then move to the bathroom without finishing any of the tasks.  You will do a lot of work, but nothing will really get done.

When you pick a table leg to work on, stick with it until it is done.  Then move to the next one.  Just like cleaning the house, you don’t have to do it all at once.  But you do need to start somewhere.

It is critical that you keep these points in mind when working with EFT.  Be specific and stay focused on one part of one issue.  If you do this, you will easily make progress.

There are a number of articles that speak to how to do this in this series and on this web site.  If you have trouble with this, read on.

About Gene Monterastelli
Gene is a Baltimore, MD based EFT practitioner, the editor of Tapping Q & A, and the host of the Tapping Q & A Podcast (archive | iTunes). Learn more about Gene here or find out how to work with Gene here. You can connect with Gene on his personal twitter, his tapping twitter or on facebook.