The 48 Essential Core Clinical EFT Techniques
by Dawson Church, PhD
One of the most common misconceptions about Emotional Freedom Techniques is the belief that EFT equals the acupoint tapping routine.
Because EFT involves the very visible phenomenon of tapping with the fingertips on 13 acupressure points, and because people often experience relief quickly after tapping, it’s easy to suppose that it’s all there is to EFT.
Many people even use an incorrect name, “Emotional Freedom Technique” singular, rather than the correct “techniques“ plural.
In fact, there are 48 distinct techniques that make up EFT, and the acupoint tapping routine is just one of those. Professionally trained Certified EFT practitioners will use dozens of different techniques, and when a particular technique is not producing results, they switch to another.
The rich collection of 48 techniques included in Clinical EFT is able to address a much larger variety of issues than the simple tapping routine that most people learn initially.
The 48 Core Techniques in which Certified Clinical EFT Practitioners are Trained:
A. Basic Recipe Techniques
1. Identifying a Source of Emotional Distress
2. Obtaining a Rating for Subjective Units of Distress (SUD)
3. Identifying Specific Events Linked to the Origin of the Distress
4. Creating a Setup Statement that Brackets the Problem with Exposure and a Neutral Cognitive Frame
5. Focusing on the Negative First (Resisting the Urge to Caretake the Client using Positives)
6. Key Elements of a Reminder Phrase
7. Correcting for Secondary Gain and Psychological Reversal with the Side of Hand Acupressure Point
8. Fingertip Tapping of 13 Acupressure Points
9. Testing the Results with a Second SUD Rating
B. Foundational Techniques
10. The 9 Gamut Procedure, and When to Use It
11. The Movie Technique
12. The Tell the Story Technique
C. Aspects
13. Identifying Aspects of the Problem
14. Identifying Different Categories of Aspects (Auditory, Visual, Gustatory, Kinesthetic, Olfactory, Emotional)
15. Shifting the Setup Statement as the Client Shifts Aspects. Customized Setup Phrasing, and Flowing Setup Statements
D. Techniques Used to Identify Target Issues
16. Questions for Finding Core Issues
17. Identifying the Writings on Your Walls
18. The Characteristics of Effective Affirmations
19. Identifying Tail Enders
20. Daisy Chaining, and Talking and Tapping
21. The Generalization Effect: Identifying it, and Adjusting the Setup Statement as SUD Decreases
E. The Gentle Techniques
22. The Tearless Trauma Technique
23. Chasing the Pain
24. Sneaking Up on the Problem (and Sneaking Away at the End of a Session)
F. Techniques for Special Populations
25. Age-Appropriate Techniques for Using EFT With Children
26. Daily Releasing With Children
27. Borrowing Benefits
28. Working With Groups
29. EFT for Cravings and Addictions
30. Techniques for Multiple Phobias
31. EFT for Physical Symptoms; How the Approach Differs from Psychological Symptoms
32. Techniques To Use When Regular EFT Does Not Produce a Reduction in SUD
G. Professional Practice Techniques
33. Reframing
34. Preframing
35. Techniques for Maintaining Client-Centered Focus
36. Distinguishing Table Tops (General Issues) from Legs (Specific Events) and Aspects (Parts of an Event)
37. Techniques for Working on Your Own Issues
38. Maintaining Focus on Self-rating versus Observer-rating
39. Techniques for Becoming Extremely Specific
40. Additional Testing Methods. In Vivo Testing, Confrontive Questions
40. The Personal Peace Procedure
42. Cognitive shifts and how to identify them
43. Techniques to Apply When Self-Acceptance Is the Problem
44. Video, Virtual, App, and Telephone Delivery of EFT
H. Supplementary Physical Techniques
45. Additional Optional Tapping Points
46. Collarbone Breathing Exercise
47. How To Handle Excessive Emotional Intensity
48. The Floor to Ceiling Eye Roll
NOTE: This list was updated Nov 2019 to reflect current training standards. Numbers 13 (Finding Core Issues) to 18 (The Generalization Effect) were moved to C – Techniques Used to Identify Target Issues. The 9 Gamut Procedure was moved from position number 47 to the Foundational Techniques, while Emotional Intensity was moved to 47. 19, Aspects, and 13, Core Issues, were switched because of their relative importance. The three Aspects items got their own category.
