TECHNIQUES

A: If you tap consistently while talking about an event, it is called Talk and Tap. Results from Talk and Tap are often more superficial than Tell the Story. Rant and Rave is an exaggerated version of Talk and Tap wherein you whine, complain, or yell while tapping.

–Valerie Lis, Expert EFT Practitioner

A: The floor to ceiling eye roll is a rapid stress-relieving technique that is useful when SUD levels are low or are changing slowly.

To do the floor to ceiling eye roll, tap continuously on the Gamut point (along the indentation on the back of the hand between the baby finger/ring finger knuckle and the wrist). While holding your head level and using only your eyes, look down at the floor. In one slow, continuous swoop, roll your eyes up from the bottom of the wall to the top of the wall and then across the ceiling. End with your eyes looking straight up at the ceiling. During the eye roll, do not move your eyes from side to side; your gaze should flow steadily from the floor to the ceiling. The entire process takes about 10 to 12 seconds.

–Valerie Lis, Expert EFT Practitioner

A: Most people only tap when they discover a negative feeling they would like to reduce or change, but you can also use tapping for positive statements. It is highly recommended that you do this only after you have reduced any negative feelings associated with a memory, thought, or feeling. This is because the negative feelings can prevent the integration of the positive. After clearing the negative, you can then do rounds of positive tapping to introduce any new feeling or belief you would like to have.

For example, after you tap on feeling nervous about the speech you are giving next week, you could then do a round of tapping on “Even though I was really nervous about giving that talk next week, I now feel calm and confident” (you might use “calm and confident” as the Reminder Phrase.)

Dr. Patricia Carrington pioneered the “I choose” statements (the Choices Method) to help make the beneficial changes from EFT become permanent and positively generalize to many aspects of one’s life. In her method, you add “I choose” to the end of the Setup Statement. Here are examples of how this is included:

Even though I feel my mother never loved me, I choose to love myself anyway.

Even though I feel deprived when I don’t have chocolate, I choose to be fit and healthy.

Even though I’m nervous about giving that talk on Tuesday, I choose to be calm and confident.

–Peta Stapleton, PhD, Certified EFT Practitioner, Trainer, and Mentor

A: There is confusion regarding the difference between the Movie Technique and Tell the Story. The biggest difference is that, in the Movie Technique, you run the event through your head silently, rather than talking about it out loud. The Movie Technique is usually used when the person is too traumatized by the event to discuss it or wants to keep the details private. Following are instructions for both.

Movie Technique: Give your event a title, as if it were a movie, and state how long it lasts from beginning to end. After assigning a SUD level to the distress associated with your movie, tap just on the movie title. Then recall the event silently, beginning at a neutral point. When you get distressed (reach an emotional crescendo), stop and tap on that point. You can choose a keyword from the event to tap on. After tapping, rewind (that is, replay in your mind what you tapped on to be sure it is now neutral). Then move forward by silently recalling more of the story. If you get distressed (reach an emotional crescendo), tap again on that segment of the movie. Continue this process until you reach the end of the event. Test your results by silently recalling the complete story beginning to end. You have succeeded in clearing the movie if you can watch it without symptoms of distress.

Tell the Story: You tell the story out loud, beginning from a neutral point. When you become distressed (reach an emotional crescendo), rate the SUD level, and then tap on that segment of the story until it is at 0. Repeat what you tapped on to be sure that it is neutral, and then move forward by telling more of the story. If you get distressed (reach an emotional crescendo) again, repeat the process of rating the SUD level and tapping on that segment. Continue in this manner until the story ends. Test your results by retelling the complete story beginning to end. You have succeeded in clearing the story if you can tell it without symptoms of distress. With Tell the Story, the event unfolds slowly. Since you tap only on crescendos, there is a great deal of starting and stopping in the telling. Each crescendo involves reevaluating the SUD level and developing new Setup Statements and Reminder Phrases.

–Valerie Lis, Expert EFT Practitioner