I have traveled the U.S. and Canada speaking and performing as part of APeX Ministries. APeX is a Catholic Christian performance ministry that works with teens and because of this I am frequently asked about tapping from a Christian point of view.

Here are my thoughts on the topic. Please be warned that I am not speaking for Christians, Catholics, or any specific denomination. These are my thoughts and my thoughts alone.

Is EFT evil and/or does it come from an evil place?

EFT is a mechanical process. If you follow the steps, it will work. Much like an aspirin, it will work even if you don’t believe in it. There have been over 50 peer-reviewed studies for using EFT with stress, PTSD, and physical issues and it is probable that in the next 12 months EFT will be considered an evidence-based technique.

Often the problem isn’t with EFT itself, but comes when it is combined with things that are not evidence-based that the water gets muddy. Here is my favorite way to explain this concept: 

We know that vitamin C is very good for our health. Let’s pretend that because it is good for our health people decide to start using it for other things. They start adding it to their shampoo to deal with dandruff, they add it to lotion to improve their skin, they sprinkle it in the garden to help their crops grow, and they make earrings out of it to keep evil spirits away.

Just because people are doing wacky things with vitamin C it doesn’t stop it from keeping us healthy during cold and flu season, but it becomes much easier to dismiss its usefulness when it is surrounded by things that are less grounded.

I love the fact that EFT is something that is so easy to access and share, but it comes with the drawback that everyone who presents EFT becomes a spokesperson for EFT. Some people do this in a very credible way while others are less successful. I find it very frustrating when EFT websites have things like dragonflies and butterflies on them. Yes they are cute, but they don’t present the very powerful healing tool that EFT is in a very professional light.

When working with EFT, it is important that you that you work with people you trust and are learning from sources that share your worldview to ensure you are getting what you need and what is the best fit for you.

Can EFT be useful for my spiritual journey?

I have found EFT to be a very powerful tool in my personal growth. Many of the ways it has been helpful has been with my spiritual journey and spiritual life. The best way to show this is through example.

I believe that I have been created worthy of God’s unconditional love. It is not something that I have to earn in any way. It is always there unconditionally (thus the name “unconditional love”). My problem isn’t God’s unconditional love, but the fact that I prevent myself from fully acknowledging and receiving it.

I will hear someone say “God loves you unconditionally” and the little voice in my head will say, “That is true for others but not you,” “It would be true if you didn’t do those horribly selfish things,” or “Maybe someday, but you are too much of a screw-up to be loved in that way right now.”

Even though it is true that I am loved unconditionally by God, I end up living as if that isn’t true.

EFT has been a very powerful tool in my life in uprooting the beliefs around feeling unworthy of God’s love. As I remove these beliefs, it makes it easier and easier for me to see myself as God sees me.

EFT is no replacement for spiritual practices, an active prayer life, or participating in a supportive loving community of fellow believers who encourage us and keep us accountable.  It is one more tool that we can add to our regular practice to keep us healthy and facilitate our growth and healing in the same way as many other tools. 

What is the deal with “We are all energy”?

In my mind, this is a case of a little information being dangerous. The statement itself is accurate. Everything in the universe is energy.  Einstein’s theory of relativity is about this fact.  E = m c ^2 says that an amount of matter (m) multiplied by a really big number (c ^ 2 is the speed of light squared) is equal to the amount of energy of which it is made.

In layman’s terms, that means if we were able to turn the coffee cup on your desk into its pure energy form, it would be enough energy to blow the state of Kansas off the face of the earth. (Just because that is true, doesn’t mean it is easy. If it were easy, we wouldn’t need oil to provide power, but that is another issue.)

The place that people start to go astray is how they apply what this means for us in an EFT sense. There are ramifications for this fact on a quantum level, but I am not smart enough to explain them (also, at this point, most of our quantum understanding is theoretical).

Just know that you can use EFT for physical and emotional issues without having to concern yourself with this approach or these issues. If someone is speaking in LOA terms and it makes you uncomfortable, then steer clear of their resources. It means they are not the right fit for you. It doesn’t mean that EFT is bad. 

What about when people talk about that we are co-creators?

Oftentimes Christians have trouble with the term “co-creator.” It can feel like by making a statement like this we are putting ourselves on the same level as God. I don’t believe this is the case. The way I use the term is in two ways.

First, I am a creature that has been given free will. My life does not unfold unless I am exercising my free will by making choices. I create my own experience, but I am not doing this on my own. My experience is also created by the choices that are made by those around me, in both positive and negative ways. Someone in my life can choose to give me a new job opportunity or someone can hit me with a car.

In both instances, their choices are impacting the life I am creating for myself and in that sense we are co-creating, i.e., creating together, my experience. We don’t have an equal sense of how much we are contributing to this reality, but both parts are creating it together.

Second, I believe part of my calling from God is to exercise my free will and to create a meaningful life. I can only do this because I have been given life, gifts, talents, and opportunities from God. Again, in that sense my experience is created in a combination of what God has given me and the choices I make, in other words a co-creation. This does not imply an equivalence between me and God, simply a working together.