Emotional Freedom Technique

09/03/2013

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Our emotional & mental health is essential to maintain our physical health. There are energy meridians that run through our body that can be blocked or disrupted by unresolved emotional issues, therefore compromising our body’s natural healing potential. The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a psychological acupressure technique that can be easily self-applied. EFT is based on the same energy meridians which have been used in traditional acupuncture for over five thousand years to treat physical and emotional ailments, without invasive needles.

EFT requires light manual stimulation of traditional acupuncture meridians on the face, upper body and hands. During the manual stimulation of the traditional meridians, individuals must focus on their specific problem and voice positive affirmations. By tapping meridian points in a sequence on your body either on your own or with the support of a health care professional, it is possible to disrupt those self-perpetuating negative feedback loops, which we experience in our thinking. The negative feedback loops will be replaced with more positive thoughts, feelings and responses, creating changes in our neural pathways that have positive benefits for our health.

There is evidence that suggests EFT is an effective treatment in reducing anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorders and much more. In 2004 Andrade and Feinstein compared the effectiveness of EFT to cognitive behavioural therapy (plus medication) in treating mental health disorders by conducting a large randomized study. The study included patients with a wide range of diagnosis including panic, agrophobia, social phobias, specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, acute stress disorders, somatoform disorders, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, addictive disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Andrade and Feinstein reported that 90% of EFT group compared to 63% in the cognitive behavioural therapy group experienced clinically significant improvements.

Give EFT a try and see if it can work for you, as you can easily accomplish a self-treatment in just a few minutes at home!

Below is a great website with a video to help you perform your own EFT treatment!

http://eft.mercola.com/

Reference:

 http://clayhuthealing.com/docs/eft-presskit.pdf

Burgess, N. (2013). Introducing emotional freedom techniques. Educational Psychology In Practice, 29(2), 211-212. doi:10.1080/02667363.2013.786576

Moritz, S., Aravena, S., Guczka, S., Schilling, L., Eichenberg, C., Raubart, G., & … Jelinek, L. (n.d). Knock, and it will be opened to you? An evaluation of meridian-tapping in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Journal Of Behavior Therapy And Experimental Psychiatry,42(1), 81-88.

Karatzias, T., Power, K., Brown, K., McGoldrick, T., Begum, M., Young, J., & … Adams, S. (2011). A Controlled Comparison of the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Two Psychological Therapies for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing vs. Emotional Freedom Techniques. Journal Of Nervous & Mental Disease, 199(6), 372-378.

Flint, G., Lammers, W., & Mitnick, D. (2006). Emotional freedom techniques: a safe treatment intervention for many trauma based issues. Journal Of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma,12(1/2), 125-150.

Church, D., Yount, G., & Brooks, A. (n.d). The Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on Stress Biochemistry A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal Of Nervous And Mental Disease,200(10), 891-896.

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