The old joke goes something like this:
Dave is complaining of headaches. After a full examination his doctor can find nothing wrong with him but Dave insists that his doctor prescribe him something. Wanting to get Dave out of his office the doctor prescribes him harmless and useless sugar pills. Dave leaves the doctor’s office happy that he has something for the pain.
A week later Dave calls his doctor to report that he has been pain free since taking the pills twice a day. The doctor says, “Dave, you need to understand that I didn’t prescribe you anything other than sugar pills. The pills did nothing for your pain. It was a placebo.”
Dave listens for a moment and replies, “That’s great doc! I have a really busy week ahead of me and I was hoping you would prescribe me another bottle of those placebos.”
I am asked all the time if I think that tapping isn’t really doing anything and that the results that we get from tapping are just due to the placebo effect.
This is an interesting question, but I don’t think it is the most important question.
For me the most important question when doing work is, “How is it working for you?” If it is a useful tool: Use it! If it isn’t useful, try something else.
I don’t understand how many of the things that I find useful in my life work. For example, I am typing these words on a small piece of plastic and circuitry. It’s not even connected by a cord to a power source but somehow my thoughts make it to wherever you are in the world. I can’t explain how, but it works, and that is enough for me.
With that being said, it is important to pay attention to all the consequences of what we are doing. Eating ice cream works in that it makes me feel better in the moment, but if I used it habitually as a tool to deal with my emotions there would be less than desirable consequences.
I don’t really understand what is happening when we tap. I have some ideas, but I can’t say for sure.
With that being said, this is the calculation that I do: When I use tapping it is very beneficial in my life. Other than the occasional pimple because I didn’t wash my hands before tapping, I can’t see it causing any short or long term harm in my life, therefore I am going to continue to use it.
It works for me. I am always trying to learn more. I would love to know exactly what is going on because I am sure that would make me more effective as a tapper.
In the short term the fact that it works for me is enough.
I would love to hear your thoughts on EFT and the placebo effect in the comment box below.