[None: This short history lesson is offered because many people ask about it. You do not need to understand the history of tapping in order to utilize it in your life. If you aren’t interested in the history lesson, no worries. Skip to the next section and don’t give it a second thought.]

The brief history of tapping goes something like this…

First there was Thought Field Therapy. Thought Field Therapy was developed in the early eighties by Dr. Rodger Callahan. Over the years the techniques have evolved. Different variations can be referred to as Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Evolving Thought Field Therapy (EvTFT), and the Callahan Techniques Thought Field Therapy (CTTFT).

In TFT there is a particular and unique way to tap for each and every issue. TFT is a very effective protocol, but some people find it frustrating because it can be complicated and cumbersome to beginners. (If you would like more info about TFT please visit [link]).

In the nineties Gary Craig studied TFT with Dr. Callahan and innovated Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) from this and other trainings. When creating EFT Gary’s intention was to create a powerful tool that was simpler than TFT that anyone could do with limited training.

This original version of EFT is often referred to as the basic recipe.

When presenting the basic recipe to the world in the late 90’s early 00’s Gary encouraged people to take his work to add, change, and transform in as many ways as possible.

And people all over the world did just that.

If you spend any time poking around the internet looking for tapping stuff you will find TFT, EFT, FasterEFT, Ask and Receive, Adv. EFT, Matrix Re-Patterning, Matrix Re-Imprinting, and I am sure if you look long enough I’m sure you will find Gene’s Really Cool Tapping Technique That Will Make You Rich, Handsome, and Allow You To Live Forever Technique.

Because there have been so many changes, innovation, interaction, and (honestly) renaming of the same thing eight ways to Sunday I am going to simple call it all tapping.

In the end it doesn’t matter what you call it. All that matters is if tapping works for you.

The question I am most often asked is, “Does tapping work on [insert physical or emotional ailment]?”

The answer is yes and no.

In my own practice I have seen success with tapping for joint aches, headaches, warts, nasal congestion, upset stomachs, and swollen kidneys.

Some of my clients have experienced success with anger, inability to forgive, sadness, and loss. It has worked on writer’s block and difficulty in concentrating. I have clients who have seen progress with learning disabilities and autism, and others who have successfully killed cravings for sweets, carbs, and cigarettes.

So, yes, more than likely tapping can be helpful for your physical or emotional issue.

BUT (and this is a very important but) it is essential to keep two things in mind.

First, some issues will take much more work than others. As you spend time tapping you will probably experience “one minute miracles”, where after one round of tapping you will gain total relief. This won’t happen every time. You wouldn’t expect a cut finger and a torn muscle to heal in the same way and at the same rate. Tapping is no different.

Keep your expectations realistic when tapping.

Second, some issues are way more complicated than others. Some issues are going to be straightforward to deal with but others, especially those that have taken years to develop, will be very complex. For a beginner, even knowing where to start might feel overwhelming.

That’s OK. We were all beginners once. Just because you don’t have success right away does not mean that tapping does not work for that issue. It only means that how tapping is being applied at this time is not successful. It is quite possible that you are just not approaching the issue the right way.

Like all things, this will come with time. The more you try tapping, and the more time you spend reading about the experiences of others with tapping, the better you will be and the higher your success rate.

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That depends…

Our bodies are very powerful healing machines. Healing machines that we still don’t fully understand. There have been a number of studies in the last 100 years showing that the body will heal if it thinks it is receiving some sort of healing treatment or medication, even when it is not. In one recent study people were told that they were going to receive antidepressants without the active ingredients (meaning it didn’t contain the medicine) yet some still showed an improvement in their condition.

This phenomenon of the body healing itself without any treatment is known as “the placebo effect”. The name comes from the fake pills given in double blind drug tests, called placebos. It was first observed when test subjects receiving placebos showed improvement.

If you are interested in the topic, I highly recommend reading Timeless Healing by Herbert Benson and Marg Stark. In the book they explore what “remembered wellness” (a more precise term than the placebo effect) is and how it might work.

It is entirely possible that this is the case with some experiences of tapping. I would not be surprised if this were true in some of my clients.

I have worked with skeptical clients, even those who didn’t want tapping to work because they thought it was just “new age mumbo jumbo”. Where I was able to get them actively to try the protocol we had success, letting me know anecdotally there is a mechanical component to tapping.

With all of that being said, I don’t really care. I don’t care if tapping is powerful or if it is just the power of the body and mind believing that tapping is powerful. All I am concerned about is healing in a safe and effective way.

As there are no known side effects to EFT, we will not cause harm in using it. To me, therefore, it doesn’t really matter why it works.

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I am not one of those fanatics who reject Western medicine. There is a time and place for using diet, exercise, yoga, tapping, massage, drugs, and surgery. There are no one-size-fits- all solutions.

There is still a great deal we don’t know about the body and how it works. No doubt people living one hundred years from now will think our approach at the beginning of the 21st century is quaint, outdated, and maybe even foolish, in the same way that we regard the medical practices of the 1800s.

I would be wary of anyone who tried to convince me that tapping (or anything else) is the one and only way. I have experienced in my own life and seen in my client’s lives the power of tapping, but it is not the only answer.

Tapping is a great complement to many other health practices. I would never advise anyone to use only tapping. My advice is always:

• Educate yourself about your body to understand your current health issues and your family medical history.
• Research all possible treatment options thoroughly so that you are aware of all the short and long term beneficial outcomes, as well as potential side effects of any treatment.
• Remember it is your body and your health. Seek advice from professionals but remember that the choice on what treatment you pursue should always be yours.

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That depends.

I have seen tapping provide relief for 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, 5 months, and forever.

No two problems are alike. A cut finger and a torn muscle will heal in different ways and at different rates, just like your partner saying horrible things about you will not have the same impact as a total stranger saying the same words.

The amount of healing that is provided by tapping is in direct proportion to how much of the problem we can tune into at any given time. Some issues have many aspects to them. At this moment we might only be aware of one or two of these aspects. This is where we can do work right away. At a later date we might find other aspects of the same issue to address.

This does not mean that tapping didn’t work. It just means there is still more work to do.

Also, it is important to remember that if it has taken a lifetime to develop a problem, it is unlikely to go away with a round or two of tapping.

Tapping is a great tool for providing temporary relief. Every time we create relief in the moment, we are making progress on the issue as a whole and how it will affect us in the future.

An analogy I use a lot is of weeding the yard. We can cut off the heads of dandelions and the yard will look good for a while, but they will grow back. If we also remove the leaves, they will still grow back, but it will take much longer. But, if we get the roots they will never grow back.

Sometimes when we work on an issue we remove the heads, sometimes the leaves, and sometimes the roots. This determines how long our progress lasts.

Just remember, any progress we make, no matter how small, is progress towards a healthier self. Using EFT we are doing this in a way that does not require any surgery or drugs.

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There are no known side effects of using tapping. With that being said, you should keep four things in mind.

1) Before you begin any physical or emotional treatment you should ALWAYS seek the advice of your primary care physician. This is true for a new diet, a new exercise program, or tapping. The understanding of the human body is constantly growing and changing. Make sure you find the most current information before making any decisions about the type of care you choose.

2) If you encounter any negative side effects or adverse reaction, STOP. Seek the advice of a trained medical professional. Note that it is common for the tapping points to be a little sensitive. The article It Hurts! discusses what you can do when tapping points feel tender.

3) Just because tapping is a useful tool for a problem, doesn’t mean you are the right person to use that tool. For example, tapping works wonderfully on Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as multi-personality disorder), but there is no way that I am qualified to do that sort of work. DID is very complicated and I could do more harm than good.

So being proficient with tapping doesn’t mean you should use it with someone else to deal with an issue for which you aren’t qualified. Tapping is a tool to use in an appropriate context. If you are not trained to work in a certain context without tapping, then you shouldn’t use tapping in that context. You should seek the help of a trained professional.

4) Scratches and pimples are two physical reactions I have encountered using tapping. When my fingernails are too long I scratch myself when tapping. I also sometimes forget to wash my face after an hour of tapping. It’s easy to find the tapping points on my face the next day, just look for the pimples!

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Yes and no.

In my experience, tapping is mechanical. This means that if it is done right, it works. Much like you don’t have to believe an aspirin will work for it to help your headache, if tapping is done correctly it will be effective whether or not the subject believes it will work. But there are a few important things to keep in mind.

1) You must do it correctly. For tapping to work, the person who is doing the tapping has to be tuned into issue being addressed. Just because you are saying the words out loud doesn’t mean you are tuned in to the problem.

I can be saying “This pain in my foot. This pain in my foot. This pain in my foot…” but be thinking about what is on TV tonight. If this is the case I am not tuned into the problem or following the tapping protocol correctly so it will not work.

If a person is skeptical they are less likely to commit fully to the process and there is a higher probability that tapping won’t work because they are not doing it correctly.

2) Understand what you mean by success. We call an aspirin a success if it stops a headache for a few hours, but we don’t expect to never have a headache again. Hold tapping to the same standard. It is very easy for a skeptic to dismiss tapping because the change isn’t permanent.

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No two issues are the same.

Similar issues don’t always have the same root. You can have a headache because you are dehydrated, because you received a blow to the head, or because of a sinus infection. The symptom is the same, but the causes are very different.

Each of these causes might require a different approach and a different amount of time to achieve relief with tapping or any other approach.

Using the tapping basics you will have success with a number of issues. You will be able to be successful with most non-chronic physical pain and many simple emotional issues.

Remember, each time you don’t have success with tapping you have the opportunity to challenge yourself to be more creative with the protocol and to seek out more information.

Every time I have encountered an issue where I have not had immediate success, I’ve learned something new, which makes each successive attempt more efficient.

Learning new things is hard. We don’t like being unsuccessful. Someone who is very good at tapping makes it look effortless. This is because they have made lots of mistakes along the way and have chosen to continue to learn.

You didn’t learn to walk in the first time. Tapping is no different.

The more you try, the better you will become.

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