Energy Psychology
This term includes a range of modalities. What unites them is the idea that by speaking certain phrases —or thinking certain thoughts - while tapping, touching or holding on the face and/or body, deep and long-standing emotional issues can be permanently resolved.
EFT
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique.
EFT is so easy to learn and use that you can derive a great deal of benefit from simply following along online, or reading the material you can find there. Especially for simple problems that are one-dimensional (such as phobias), it is extremely effective - very quickly - and the problems don't return.
One organization that teaches and promotes self care through EFT is The Tapping Solution. They have an app available for iOS and for Android, and also a YouTube Channel. They make it easy to try tapping.
EFT can also be learned through the work of David Feinstein, MD. Another star of EFT is Dawson church, whose book The Genie in Our Genes I highly recommend. Carole Tuttle is another guru of EFT.
Sometimes, however, what you are dealing with is more complex. Sometimes your personality has its roots in the distressing emotions you are trying to clear. Sometimes there are just so many traumas, and they are so severe, that approaching them on your own without support is re-traumatizing; you are triggered into feeling the original trauma as though it were still happening. Sometimes, as with depression, the problem has very deep roots, and every approach seems to disturb them. You feel better for a while, and then the problem comes back full force.
This is where working with an experienced counselor and practitioner comes in handy. We know what questions will help you unearth the core of the difficulty. We are able to lend you our own confidence in the process, while you are still skeptical. Also, we can help you find a language to express what you are feeling. As affirmations are core to the work, the counselor's skills can help you craft affirmations that clear the damage and dis-order quite neatly! Finally, we can help you use the technique to safely approach extreme traumas without re-experiencing them.
An experienced counselor can also use a range of techniques from other modalities - such as "inner child" work, dream techniques, art therapies, the creation of healing rituals - to help you. Coupled with the power of Energy Psychology, you can explore the roots and pathways of your "problem" without being taken down that deep, dark hole that remembering the cause of your troubles often points at.
Temporal Tapping
(learn with support through my membership site)
Temporal tapping was developed by Donna Eden as a way of changing habits. It uses the power of the Triple Warmer System to shift deeply embedded emotional attachments to emotions and behaviors. It isn’t a quick fix. Give it about three weeks to notice a change, although it could come sooner:.
Choose a negative and a positive phrase related to the habit you are trying to shift. Some examples:
Sugar addiction:
I do not crave sweets, bread or carbs (negative)
I am completely satisfied with meat and veggies (positive)
Non-assertiveness
I DO NOT give in to unfair demands (negative)
It is easy for me to refuse requests (positive)
Negativity:
I NEVER judge, dislike or scorn other people or their ideas and ways
I am ALWAYS open, welcoming and accepting and I think the best of people
Once you have chosen your pair of phrases, you tap firmly in an arc around your LEFT ear (front to back) while saying the negative phrase out loud. Repeat until you have done this at least 5 times. Now tap firmly around the RIGHT ear while saying the positive phrase or affirmation, and repeat several times.
Each pass around the ear you will strike about 12 times. You need to tap hard enough to feel it, but not hard enough to hurt.
Over time, people using the temporal tap will lose weight, smoke less, change the way they feel, even if they are not putting massive efforts into those changes. If you are on a weight loss or smoking cessation program or something similar, the Temporal Tap will help it all go more smoothly and less stressfully.
The theory is that the habit developed originally as a protection, usually from experiencing stressful emotions. Triple Warmer, the guard of habits, maintains the habit even though it is now more detrimental than helpful. Tapping along the left meridian releases its hold on the habit, and tapping on the right reinforces the new habit, way of thinking, or behaviour.
WHEE
(Click photo to watch a demo)
Join my membership site to regularly practice this method with me!
WHEE stands for "Wholistic Hybrid of EFT and EMDR." It was developed by Dr Daniel Benor, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who became interested in Energy Healing as far back as the 1970's, after seeing a dramatic healing using Reiki. He became intrigued by the effectiveness of both EMDR and EFT, and after working with them for some years, developed WHEE using some of the principles of each. Left and right stimulation comes from EMDR, and tapping on the body while repeating activating phrases comes from EFT. The WHEE technique is very powerful. As with EMDR, it is able to separate the memory of a trauma from the emotions associated with it. It is thought that this happens through an integration of left and right brain functions. As with EFT, it is able to quickly diminish the emotional intensity of traumatic memories, to vanquish long-standing phobias, and to change a person's unhelpful beliefs about themselves. Dr Benor has written many books on WHEE and related subjects, and he maintains an informative website where you can learn more about the modality.
I have been trained personally by Dr Benor. WHEE is a method I like to use with children and youth because: it is easy (very easy) to learn, it can be incorporated into fun activities, it can be applied successfully on a range of childhood problems, without causing distress. Unlike some talk methods, It does not invite resistance from children who are already overwhelmed by their confusing and frightening feelings.
WHEE can be used by anyone, right in the moment, even in public places, right when the problem is occurring. No-one will even know you are using WHEE to reduce your distress! Exam anxiety, self esteem challenges, hurt feelings leading to rage, embarrassing situations, fear of speaking up or presenting in class, overwhelming emotions, memories of abuse or bullying; all of these are suitable for WHEE. It can easily be integrated with the Eden Method, also.
Other Energy Psychology applications used within the Eden Method:
Neurovascular holding
Five Rhythms
Fear Tap
All these offer release of troubling emotions and patterns to increase a sense of freedom, safety and well being.
History:
EFT derives in part from an earlier form of Energy Psychology called TFT, or Thought Field Therapy. TFT was developed by Roger Callahan, a chiropractor. Callahan published the technique, but it was made available at first only to certified practitioners such as psychotherapists and medical professionals.
Subsequently, Gary Craig - an engineer and entrepreneur - reworked the technique and popularized it as EFT. His work made the technique widely available at very low cost. He had some incredible successes with war veterans battling PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), some of whom had been unable to sleep since the Viet Nam war, and who finally found some peace through EFT. Craig has now retired but his work can still be studied through eftuniverse.com.
I also recommend the work of David Feinstein, and that of Dawson Church. Carole Tuttle is another prominent teacher of EFT, and The Tapping Solution with the Ortner siblings is a wonderful resource for self-help. They even offer a free app for iOS or Android.
Further Thoughts:
I spent ten years working with children, youth and adults who had survived sexual violation or other trauma. My training taught me a difficult and careful dance in trying to help. It was important that survivors speak about their experiences, but it had to be contained or they would start re-experiencing the trauma instead of clearing it. You don’t want to avoid the memories, but you don’t want to get lost in them either. It was challenging, and I navigated it well by building a trusting relationship and emphasizing emotional skill-building. I was always frustrated by standard approaches, though, because I found people’s resilience would still collapse in the face of new stresses.
What I love most about Energy Psychology is the potential to visit past trauma in a way that does not provoke re-experiencing emotional distress. Just as potently, the techniques allow us to release the distress permanently, creating resilience as we move forward.