Tapping is great for physical pain and physical issues. When most people are introduced to tapping they learn to deal with pain by tapping on “this pain in my knee…this pain in my knee…this pain in my knee”. In this interview with Carol Look we examine more advanced ways to look at the emotions associated with physical pain and how in many cases when we deal with the emotional issues we find our way to physical relief.
[Read more…] about Pod #48: EFT For Physical Issues w/ Carol Look
Archives for November 2010
Video: Tapping For Physical Issues w/ Carol Look
Round up – What lessons have you learned about healing from a client?
There is a wealth of information in the tapping community. From time to time I ask practitioners I respect their thoughts on tapping, healing, and their work. (I “round up” their opinions.) This happens about once a month. You can read past round-ups.
If you would like to check out my answer to this question (and more) you can download “Recovering Self: A Healing Manifesto“. (For free w/o having to sign up for anything.)
What lessons have you learned about healing from a client?
Especially when using Emotional Freedom Technique, I have learned that the real issue isn’t always what the conscious mind thinks it is. A client will often present themselves in my office and tell me all about “their issue” only to later discover that its really something quite different than what they thought. I have come to realize that the conscious mind often has little idea of what’s going on within the subconscious mind, which is where the actual issues reside.
Ted Robinson
I learn lessons from my clients all the time. The best ones are about new ways of seeing things. When I hear what their limiting beliefs are, it gives me new insight into helping others. The most important thing that I’ve learned from working with clients over and over is not to judge where we start, just to go with it. This for me is the core of energy work.
Pamela Bruner
Over the years I have had a few clients that completed the healing process only after I suggested they acknowledge that I am not their “healer”. They had gotten to a plateau and only after we worked on their ability to recognize that it was their own bodies that were doing the healing did they finish the process. The part of EFT that is so empowering is that much can be done on one’s own.
Alina Frank
I have learnt that rapport is key. When a client feels accepted and connected for who they are, great healing occurs.
Tania A Prince
I’ve learned much from working with EFT with children with cancer. Mostly how one can shift anything, from fear of needles to intense unsupportable pain, in a short period of time. That much laughter is involved in our sessions that makes the whole process more fun. For me, the time to suffer is over and that healing can be and is fun.
What I wasn’t expecting to learn, but these children taught me, is that sometimes the healing takes place but the body does not follow suit and get better. In fact, these children passed on, but with such a deep sense of love, joy and peace in their hearts. That was the healing. The children reaffirmed that life is in the moment and it is to be savored. Love yourself, others and life now.
Deborah D Miller
I’ve learned so many lessons from clients. A big one I’ve learned from many clients is that we can never predict the far-reaching good consequences of healing one issue. I worked with a 62-year-old who was almost illiterate, clearing the shame and anxiety that had blocked her from learning despite repeated attempts through the years. I got a call from her saying, “I feel like a grown-up for the first time in my life. Do you know how good that feels? I never realized that I had always felt like a little kid because I couldn’t read.” She said she trusts her judgment much more now because she feels like an adult. What a gift! And nobody could have predicted that outcome from working on inability to read.
Janet Hilts
Sometimes you need the courage to cry: I had been working with a client who had suffered emotional abuse from an OCD parent through all their schooling years. Everyday they would put on a brave face to cope with school and the scorn and judgment of teachers and students.
After a number of tapping session, the control required to get through each day was slipping but the old habit of holding on to the mask was still strong. Eventually, as we tapped on the fear of letting go and the courage it had taken to survive all those years the release of tension and shame resulted in a much-needed release of tears and stress from their whole body.
It takes great courage to let go and cry and we can help ourselves and others the courage required to do so within themselves.
Rod Sherwin
I used to think that anybody that said they wanted to heal would benefit from energy healing, but to heal, you must really be ready.
I’ve helped people who are skeptics or reluctant to use energy healing, but it doesn’t matter, they didn’t have to believe in the energy healing they just needed to be ready and willing to heal and I have helped them to heal and move on (often making rapid transformations in their lives). I’ve also helped others who believe it will work BUT it doesn’t work for them, because they are not ready. You can’t truly heal unless you are ready to let go – that is the one thing that is non-negotiable.
Mel
Perseverance.
A client comes to me after about a years worth of running from one doctor to another seeking relief for his Tinnitus. Researching on the Web he finds EFT and applies it immediately. Partial relief is obtained, but still no end of his Tinnitus in sight. So he digs deeper and finds out more about EFT on his own. After 4 months and no additional relief, he decided to consult a practitioner.
After 2 EFT sessions his Tinnitus has disappeared, the emotional link to his Mothers death via an accident where hindsight always is 20/20 is realized and a deep sigh brings relief of his Tinnitus.
What was admirable, was that this was a humble man from the countryside with barely an 7th grade education and scarce means to afford a practitioner. His desire to get rig of his Tinnitus made him go the distance and learn the basics about tapping for many other issues now as well.
Till Schilling
How would you answer this questions? Let us know!
Pod #47: Adding Creative Imagination To Tapping w/ Betty Moore-Hafter
One of the things I love about Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is how flexible the tool set is. Not only is it a great stand-alone tool, but it is something that can be used with lots of other tools. In this interview I talk with Betty Moore-Hafter about the lessons she has learned from other tool sets and how you can easily add them into your own tapping. This is easy stuff that anyone can do.
Betty Moore-Hafter |
Guest: Betty Moore-Hafter
Contact: web @ CreativeEFT.com; phone 802-860-7286; twitter @creativeeft
About Betty: Betty has been certified as a hypnotherapist through the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH) and certified as a regression therapist through the International Board of Regression Therapy (IBRT). She holds special certifications in Past Life Regression (from Dr. Brian Weiss), Medical Hypnotherapy, Emergency Hypnosis, Reiki, Psychosynthesis (Levels I & II), and Spirit Releasement Therapy. She has completed the extensive Training Videos for EFT proficiency and also has some unique EFT experiences in her credentials. She holds the EFT Cert-1 Certification. Betty is also part of the leadership team that manages EFT Free Net.
Pod #46: EFT Inner RePatterning w/ Tania A. Prince
One of the biggest hang-ups my clients have when tapping on their own is knowing what tune into and how to find past memories or core issues. Tania A Prince has developed a very easy process that only requires the person who is doing Emotional Freedom Techniques to tune into how they know they have the issue. It is really that easy. In this interview Tania explains EFT Inner RePatterning and how to do it.
Tania A. Prince |
Guest: Tania A. Prince EFT Master
Contact: web @ eft-courses.co.uk, e-mail @ contact page
Biography: Tania is an EFT Master, (one of less than thirty in the world). She has extensive experience of using EFT with clients and has worked on a vast range of issues, including fear of public speaking, blushing, panic attacks, success coaching, phobias, depression, addictions, anxiety, weight management, agoraphobia and serious illnesses, etc. She works from two clinics in Cheshire, England as well as working with clients throughout the UK and internationally via the phone. Her work has been featured on TV and radio shows both in the UK and abroad. She presents regularly at major international conferences and is a TAT Professionals Trainer.
Coming Up With A More Accurate Description of How You Feel: Part 3 Physical and Emotional Needs
photo by Scott Ableman |
We know the more specific we are when describing the issue, the faster we are going to find relief. Sometimes we think we are being specific when we really are not being as specific as possible.
Most of the time when I am working with a client and I ask them how they are feeling at any given point in the session I am given a one-word answer. “Angry.” “Sad.” “Confused.” I normally will ask a follow-up question along the lines of “[insert emotion] how?”
The reason I do this is because there are many different shades to emotions. There is “angry = I need space” and “angry = I need to punch the wall.” The clearer we are with the particular shade of the emotion, the easier it is going to be to clear it out.
Below you will find a list of physical and emotional needs created by The Center For Nonviolent Communication. This list can be very helpful when you are trying to describe what you would like to achieve. It is not enough to say, “I want to be happy.” Figure out what happy means to you. I would keep this list handy when tapping. Just read through the list and see which emotions ring true at the moment.
[h/t to Rod Sherwin’s blog for pointing out this resource.]
CONNECTION acceptance affection appreciation belonging cooperation communication closeness community companionship compassion consideration consistency empathy inclusion intimacy love mutuality nurturing respect/self-respect |
CONNECTION continued safety security stability support to know and be known to see and be seen to understand and be understood trust warmth PHYSICAL WELL-BEING |
HONESTY authenticity integrity presence PLAY PEACE AUTONOMY |
MEANING awareness celebration of life challenge clarity competence consciousness contribution creativity discovery efficacy effectiveness growth hope learning mourning participation purpose self-expression stimulation to matter understanding |
(c) 2005 by Center for Nonviolent Communication
Website: www.cnvc.org Email: cnvc@cnvc.org
Phone: +1.505-244-4041
Why Work With A Practitioner and What Characteristics To Look For
Gene, You have so many great resources on your web site. Aren’t you worried you are going to put yourself out of business? Why would someone hire you (or any practitioner for that matter) when they can get so many free resources online at your site and other sites like EFT Universe?
photo by msspider66 |
This is a question I get quite a bit. But I think it has the exact opposite effect. I think there are four reasons why someone would work with a practitioner and I believe my web presence only helps me when it comes time for someone to pick a practitioner because I hope I am demonstrating these qualities.
Here are the four reasons why I work a practitioner (because I go to someone for my own work):
Expertise
There is more to Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)/tapping than just knowing the tapping points and the set up phrases. The basic recipe is a great place to start and for most people it is the only tapping tool they are going to need. But there are going to be times when the basic recipe is not enough to quickly knock out an issue.
For example, tapping is great for dealing with cravings, but it might take a very long time to knock out the root cause of the craving by only tapping on the symptom – the craving itself. Because of the training a qualified practitioner has, they are going to be able to cut to the quick on an issue like this. They are more than likely going to knock out the issue in just one session.
I think Gary Craig’s assertion that the basic recipe is enough to take care of any issue is correct but for some issues there are much faster ways of healing. By working with a skilled practitioner their expertise is going to speed-up the healing process.
Experience
One of the benefits of working with an experienced practitioner is knowing that they have been down this road before and they are not going to be surprised by the possible outcomes.
I can remember the first time with a tapping client where there was a very unexpected jump. We were doing some work on a craving and all of a sudden we were talking about a very traumatic event from the client’s childhood. Even though this jump was something that was unexpected, because of the training and experience I had with age regression from my hypnosis training it didn’t catch me off guard.
An experienced practitioner is going be able to work with many different issues and know how to deal with something that is unexpected. In addition to begin able to work with the unexpected they are also going to be able to know when they are in over their head. I think knowing when you are not qualified to work with something is a very important skill to have. Experience doesn’t guarantee that a practitioner has learned this skill, but they are more likely to understand this point of view.
Distance
One of the great skills that any practitioner has isn’t really a skill at all. The simple fact that they are not caught-up in the client’s emotions means that the practitioner is going to see the situation much more clearly.
This is the reason we go to our friends for advice. Sometimes we even seek advice from friends in areas that we know more than they do, but we know that their outside point of view is going to see things we can’t. I have had client sessions where I was able to help a client heal and transform with one simple observation.
I was recently working with a client who has been dealing with Lyme disease for a number of years. While tapping on how his body was dealing with it I suggested, “Maybe the system is trying as hard as it can and it is just really tired. That is why it is not being as successful as it could be.”
He said, “Wow! That is a completely new way of looking at this. I have been so mad at my body for not doing better. It never crossed my mind that it was really trying hard and that I need to support its work. I need to stop beating it up.”
The interesting thing about this exchange was that right before I made my observation he had described his body as being like a damp, rung-out rag. I just took his metaphor and said it back to him in new words. My distance from the situation provided the insight.
There is a second way that distance server a good practitioner. When working with someone else, it frees you from having to think about how to deal with an issue and actually deal with the issue at the same time. This came to my attention with a recent client.
To start a tapping session we did a simple exercise that I like to call “clearing the decks.” It is a very simple few rounds of tapping where we tune-in to the whole constellation of emotions they are feeling in the moment, we thank the emotions for doing their job, and we let them know they have been heard. By doing this we end up with a much clearer mind with which to tune-in to the issue we want to work on.
After a few minutes of tapping I asked my client how she felt. She replied, “I feel much more clam. I try to do that exercise all the time, but I can’t seem to get the same effect. When you lead me through that, I can just tap and not give it any thought. It is much easier to relax when that is the case.”
It is so much easier to focus on one thing. When working with someone else we don’t have to worry about how we are going to deal with an issue. We can just sit back, tap along, and let the practitioner guide us.
Accountability Structure
If there weren’t such a thing as resistance we would have already made the change. Resistance is a fact of life. There are lots of reasons why we don’t do the tapping we need to do or why we don’t do it as completely as we could. It can be scary to do the work on our own. It can be uncomfortable to tune-in to negative emotions. There are a million other things that we feel we need to do with our time.
By working with someone else we are creating an accountably structure to increase our progress. First, when we are working with someone else they can help us to push-through the resistance. We are more likely to do our daily tapping when we know we are going to have to report to someone else in our next sessions. A good practitioner is going to push us (gently) to look at aspects we wouldn’t be brave enough to look at on our own. Finally, a skilled practitioner is going to keep looping back over the same issue again and again to make sure we have taken care of all of the aspects when we might stop work a little sooner on our own.
Not For Everyone and Not For Every Issue
One of the reasons I love tapping is because it puts an amazing tool at everyone’s disposal. There are going to be times when we all need (myself included) to reach out to a skilled professional to help us move through an issue quickly and safely.