Fit Happy Life

By Christine Ayala

Can anxiety relief be as easy as patting various parts of the body?

Yes, sort of.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping — sometimes just referred to as EFT or Tapping — is a therapeutic intervention that combines Western psychotherapy with Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, which involves tapping on various acupressure points along the body.

So, what does this look like? 

With a light touch, tap with a couple of your fingers on your eyebrows near the bridge of your nose. Move to the temples. Next, the apples of the cheeks. Then, the ridges of the collarbone. Squeeze one wrist with slight pressure on the veiny parts. Gently breathe in and out.

While tapping the various points (there are nine in total), state acknowledgments of the anxiety or fear experienced. Express an openness to self-forgiveness and self-love. Declare your release of such fears and limiting beliefs. Add in positive affirmations to shift attention and awareness while redirecting your mood.

That’s my take, anyway. Psychology and neuroscience clinicians describe it a bit more… technically.

“While stimulating these acupressure points one after the other, the subject describes and visualizes a certain distressing event or memory, which will then be broken down in its corresponding aspects and each connected with a reframing self-acceptance statement. These statements are usually set by the EFT practitioner and repeated several times by the patient. In this way, the patient keeps his attention on the selected problem while repeating the paired self-acceptance statement, which helps him to reframe the selected problem.” according to a 2019 study on how therapeutic tapping impacts emotional processing of anxiety conducted by researchers at the University of Innsbruck.

Yet, the impact can potentially be much further-reaching than resetting after a stress-inducing event.

“Approaching anxiety in this way might also serve to detect and change internalized and often subconscious statements as part of a negative belief system. One of the most promising aspects of Emotional Freedom Technique is that it can be used as an addition to clinician-guided therapy, but also as a self-help technique after proper instruction by a Tapping professional,” the study authors found.

The creator of EFT, Gary Craig, even asserted that affirmative statements paired with a relevant conflict could actually “eliminate an anxiety disorder permanently” and could be taught in just a few guided sessions — making it both “cost-effective and time-efficient.”

It’s even been found to be applicable to chronic physical pain. EFT “intervention trials to date indicate significant reductions in a range of psychological and physical conditions,” according to findings from a 2022 clinical trial exploring neural changes after EFT treatment for chronic pain sufferers from researchers at Australia’s Bond University and Gold Coast University.

The study’s analysis, which included MRI scanning of participants brains, “showed post-EFT treatment significantly decreased connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex (a pain modulating area) and bilateral grey matter areas in the posterior cingulate cortex and thalamus, both areas being related to modulating and catastrophizing of pain.”

Although research on EFT is in its infancy, in clinical settings, it’s been found to also potentially aid in weight loss, alleviate depression, as well as address PTSD and trauma — while showing little if any adverse effects when done properly with a healthcare professional or in a self-guided manner. However, it is not recommended that someone with PTSD or trauma attempt self-guided EFT without proper instruction first, as remembering past events could be distressing without guidance from a clinician. 

EFT’s potential for self-application and subconscious shifts has made it a popular technique among personal development coaches and spiritual inner-peace seekers. Given its neuroscience-backed outcomes, it’s sometimes referred to as “rewiring the brain.”

So, yeah, EFT can improve your mood — and potentially much more.

 

Christine Ayala is a freelance health and wellness writer and content creator. She has more than a decade of reporting and editing journalism experience on a variety of topics. She is currently pursuing a NASM personal training certification. She is a strength athlete who has competed as a powerlifter, including at the USPA 2022 Drug Tested Nationals.