I have read a number of your articles. I love the fact that you often give tapping phrases to go along with the info, but you don’t give them in a way that I am used to seeing tapping phrases. Why don’t you use the phrase “even though I…” while tapping on the KC point and why don’t you list tapping points with the tapping phrases?

photo by anna vignet

It is important to remember the technique is called tapping/Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Most people miss the “s” on the end of the word techniques. This is because when Gary envisioned EFT he did it as a very fluid technique. He knew that it was going to grow and change over time. I am convinced that this openness to change and growth has only strengthened EFT.

If you watch the first few volumes of the EFT DVDs you see the very quick evolution of the “short cut” basic recipe as many practitioners of EFT moved away from using the points on the hand and the 9-gamut procedure.

There is no particular wrong or right way to do EFT. There are only ways that are more or less effective for you.

To that end, when I write articles, I write them from the point of view of how I do EFT with my clients and how I do EFT on myself. When I am doing EFT I don’t use the basic recipe.

Do this mean you think the basic recipe is wrong/bad?
Not at all! I think there are a number of redeeming qualities to using the basic recipe, but I believe that it has its limitations as well.

Here is how I assess the good and the bad of the basic recipe:

Good: It is easy.
It’s easy to learn. It’s easy to remember. It’s easy to teach. You can find countless tools on-line in which you can learn the basic recipe in just one page. I still teach the basic recipe in my EFT workshops.

Bad: It can give you the misconception that the words you use matter.
Every few days I get an e-mail from someone who has made his/her way to this web site and asks, “What are the right words to use when working on [insert issue]“. The words themselves aren’t important. (I feel like I write this every week, but it is the most common question I’m asked.) Our focus is the most important factor. The fill-in-the-blank approach of the “basic recipe” can lead one to believe it’s the words that provide the healing, causing some people to get stuck coming up with the “right” words.

Good: It is very simple.
Because it is so simple anyone can do it. I have been able to teach people how to use EFT effectively with the basic recipe in under five minutes. There is one person to whom I have given less than 10 minutes of instructions. He has never read anything I or anyone else has written about EFT, and he successfully uses it everyday. He uses EFT so much I received a complaint from his wife that “he was going to bruise himself” he was tapping so much.

Bad: It can be overly simple.
Because the basic recipe is so simple people mistakenly believe that coming up with a simple phrase and tapping will take care of everything. I truly believe you can do work on any issue under the sun with the basic recipe, but EFT only works (basic recipe or otherwise) when we focus in specifically enough. Often when the basic recipe is taught most of the emphasis is placed on the tapping points and not on how to tune into a problem.

You can tap until the cows come home, but if you aren’t tuned into a specific enough issue, progress will be slow. It’s easy to believe that tapping on “this frustration” while using the basic recipe is going to take care of it. Sometimes this can be enough, but often it is not.

If you don’t use the “basic recipe”, how would describe your style?
I use a very fluid style in both my tapping and the phrases I use.

Gary himself admits that the basic recipe is tapping in a random fashion. The basic recipe only looks organized because it is arranged in a straight line on the body. In reality, each of the tapping points is associated with a different meridian. The basic recipe is taught in that way because it is easiest, not because it is the best order to tap. Theoretically you can tap in any order and produce the same result.

If we look at the history of EFT we know it is a descendant of Thought Field Therapy (TFT). It is believed that there is a very specific tapping order to achieve the best results. EFT was developed because the process of coming up with an order for each person or emotion was so cumbersome.

Knowing all of this has led me to a very specific style of tapping. Since tapping in a random fashion is effective and finding the “right” tapping order is more effective, why not (in a playful way) try and find that “better” tapping order.

To this end I trust my body to tell me where the next point to tap is. I give my right hand permission to tap wherever it feels it needs to tap next. By doing this I am tapping in an effective random order, but I also might be led by my body to the place that really does need to be tapped next to make the quickest progress. I’m not losing anything by moving away from the linear tapping of the basic recipe, but I have the real possibility of a more effective type of tapping.

I will admit at first this seemed very awkward, not knowing where to tap next, but the more I did it and the more I trusted myself the easier it became. When I tap now I get the sensation of a little light glowing on the part of the body I need to tap next. Is this really the place that
I need to tap next because it is most efficient? I have no idea. Logic dictates that there is nothing lost from trying it, but there is the possibility of gaining something.

Since this is my tapping style, I never name the place you are supposed to tap while using the phrases I provide. The place you need to tap might be different from the place that I need to tap.

I would encourage you to give this sort of tapping a try. Just trust yourself and your body. As you tap, see where you think you need to tap next, knowing that there is no wrong place to tap next. The more you do it, the more confidence you will have about where to tap next.

Why don’t you use the KC point?
As stated before, the history of EFT shows the basic protocol getting shorter with the emphasis being less on the mechanical tapping and where you tap and more on the creative ways to tune into problems.

In the same way that many EFT practitioners have found eliminating the tapping points on the fingers and the 9 gamut procedure cause little decrease in EFT’s success rate, I have found tapping on the KC point while using the “even though I…” phrases to be effective in a small percentage of clients.

When I received my initial EFT training I was told that physiological reversal (PR) is only present about 10% of the time and that tapping on the KC point (or rubbing the sore spot) is used to clear PR.

I decided that since it appears to be needed only 10% of the time that we could skip it until it’s proven that we need it. If we do a round of tapping and no progress is made, I add it. Less than 10% of the clients I work with have needed to use the KC point.

This is what works best for me.
I have found EFT is very much about personal style. If you feel comfortable and confident about what you are doing, you are more likely to do EFT more regularly. My way is not the only way or the best way. The basic recipe was created to give an easy entry point for the masses. If it works for you, great! You can take the phrases I provide and incorporate them in to your work. If you know EFT works best for you by adding “Even though I…” phrases while tapping on the KC point, then DO IT!

EFT is all about making changes for the better in our lives. Do what makes sense for you. Heal what needs to be healed in the way that makes the most sense for you.

My main messages is to be easy with yourself as you do EFT. There is no right way to do things. I know in the last two years the way I do EFT has changed radically as I have learned more about the tool set and learned more about myself.

Be playful about it. It only takes 45 seconds to try something. You can try tapping in a different order or come up with phrases in a new way. If it works, great, you have a new tool. If it doesn’t work, then you have only lost 45 seconds of your life.

One of my current favorite quotes is from Tallulah Bankhead: “If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.” In reality when it comes to EFT there aren’t any mistakes, only learning opportunities.

The more you experiment, the more you will expand your tool set. If it doesn’t work out you can always go back to what you know works.

Let Me Know How You Do It?
I love hearing how other people are doing new and unique things with tapping. Let me know how you do things in the comments below.