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.
The placebo effect works because it “taps” into our belief system. If we believe something works, it will work. When we use EFT we are tapping into our belief system, but we are doing it consciously, knowing that we are working with our energy field. The results are even more remarkable when we change our internal beliefs with conscious effort, rather than just the power of suggestion.
Hi Gene, agree with your take on this. I think the problem is really that the placebo effect has become used as a derogatory term, especially in conventional medicine. It has to be in that environment – how else are you going to push drugs and other expensive remedies etc, if you also push the fact that our bodies are amazing and have the ability to heal themselves of loads of things, if only we freed them of the energy blockages that prevented our bodies from doing that?
For example, the Chinese developed accupunture, to help free our energy systems, but they were in no way pretending it was the needle that solved a medical or emotional problem, they were just improving the flow of energy in our bodies – that was the healer.
EFT makes it even simpler, and something we can do for ourselves. Money can be made out of that as well, because we are humans and having someone else spend time with us, give us confidence and encourage us, always boosts our energy and is much more likely to result in a healthier human being. We need to earn money in the society we live in, so paying people for their time, EFT knowledge and expertise in helping us get out of the way to let our energy system do its job, is a fair exchange. Its not going to generate the billions that drug pushers crave however, so the publicity is that the placebo effect is seen as fraudulent healing.
This is no way takes away from the fact that for a number of medical and psychological illnesses, conventional medicine is a life saver. Its just that a true healer would use whatever tools they have to get the best healing, in this environment, all support for a client/patient would be regarded as complimentary. Love Amer xx
The part I love is that I get results with people who don’t believe in it at all (at the beginning). Afterwards, however, they’re believers.
Hi,
Followed your link Gene and couldnt resist reply, I am think I am procrastinating as I just doing some techie stuff on my site. Anyway, let the procrastination begin:-) Placebo is just a term used by the pharmaceutical companies, that has somehow gathered a negative spin. In reality it is our belief system and as Bruce Lipton points out, change your beliefs, change your DNA, body chemistry etc.
So, as long as we get the result does it really matter what approach or technique we use to achieve it. I don’t think so as it is about the results:-)
All the best, back to the techie stuff:-)
Tania
Hi Gene! Placebo schmebo- this shit works! Like you said, the proof is in the pudding. I have been tapping 4-5 days a week for about 20 mins each morning. Results: I feel more confident, grounded AND I’m getting clients! (I’ve been using your book and tapping on secondary gain- what I was gaining from not getting what I said I wanted- LOTS of clients!) Anyway, I can finally see and feel what it’s like to have several ideal clients. To me who cares how it’s working- it WORKS! Besides, questioning if it works is really just a way of allowing ourselves to play small- not try something new that could have MAJOR AWESOME effects in our life!!!!!
Thanks Gene! Tapping is awesome and your books is an amazing tool!
With gratitude and Warmth,
Andrea
Andrea
I believe that EFT has higher success rates than normal pocebo and often even higher than conventional treatment because it offten works were nothing else will. I also noticed that my clients have phisical problems in body parts were they most often store there negative feelings. If healing happens by releasing negative emotions (disruption in ones energy field) and produces remarkable result for non believers as well as for believers- EFT is not a placebo effect at all. That is just my opinion.
Unlike the guy in the joke, we do not tend to be too happy with just sugar pills when it comes to dealing with our oh so important and special pains and ailments.
Why is that? We should feel great and also grateful to this clever doctor who did the trick with a placebo, some magic trick – or EFT. The important thing is that a healing process is initiated. Chemical reactions in the body are changed, the bodymind can relax and energy can flow freely.
In my opinion, we should be tapping for the need to have the pharmaceutical or even surgical ‘remedies’. Why are our individual problems so precious to us? Why aren’t we ready to let go of them by simply tapping? Why do we need all the drama?
The need for attention?
TLC we missed as healthy kids and only could get when we were sick?
Very interesting indeed
Blessings
zorya
Hi Gene,
I think the same as you. If you get results that’s what counts!
How does it work for people who don’t believe in it though?
I’ve read you can still get good results with clients who are skeptical.
Any thoughts on this?
Hi Gene:
When I asked my 17 year old son if he’d like to tap, he said “I don’t want any of your self-healing stuff, mom.” And I said “There really is no other kind of healing.” Sure, there is surgery to repair things, but all healing is self-healing, and tapping just seems to remove the resistance so that the body can do what it does best.
I explain it this way to my clients: “We tap on these meridian points, and send a calming signal to the unconscious mind (if we’re tapping on ourselves, we couldn’t be in a life-or-death situation). And while the mind is calm, we can connect some conscious thoughts with the unconscious mind, and vice-versa. Otherwise, our thoughts are doing battle. And if we can use a few NLP techniques in there too – well, shoot, we’ve really got the attention of the unconscious mind. It’s like creating a break in the neuronal connections in the brain, and creating some new, healthier ones.” Not a placebo at all, in my opinion – I’ve just seen it work in too many surprising ways!
Personally, I have a very high opinion of the placebo effect since reading Herbert Benson’s book, “The Relaxation Revolution.” I think it is a vastly underused resource, though I don’t know how relevant it is to EFT.
As far as we know, animals have emotions but they do not think in terms of “beliefs”. Placebo is not relevant in their case. But tapping helps anyway. Make a Google search on, for instance, EFT animals. You will find wonderful stories!
I didn’t believe, and many of my clients didn’t believe at first and it still worked, still does. I use it with 5-6 year old dyslectic children without them knowing what the end result should be and it works. I even use it on smaller children and tap for them if they can’t do it for themselfes and it works. Not a placebo at all.