A: Sometimes the emotions we feel defy description because we first felt them before we had language, for example, as an infant or toddler. Other times, we’re feeling a combination of emotions and it’s hard to sort out which is which. In both cases, you can tap using the feeling alone, noticing everything you can about it as you tap, just trying to be the observer that allows the body to feel that unnamed feeling while the tapping processes it for you. I find it helpful to ask, “How do I know I am feeling this?”
With feelings you can’t describe, it’s still helpful to get a SUD rating because that way you can track your progress and make sure you keep going when you haven’t cleared it completely, even though you feel much better than when you started. In the case of emotion that is a confusing, colliding jumble of more than one emotion, the tapping will usually have the effect of “teasing out” the separate emotions–perhaps anger, sadness, guilt, and shock. You can then take each one and work on it separately to uncover the specific events that gave birth to it.
–Naomi Janzen, Certified EFT Practitioner and Trainer
