Tutorial--Guidelines for using EFT on Serious Diseases

(For more info see our Frequently Asked Questions section)
Return to the Tutorial Main Menu

Note: All opinions expressed herein are mine and are not to be confused with medical advice.
I am not a physician, nor do I have any formal training in medicine.  -Gary Craig-

To appropriately approach Serious Diseases we must first dispose of the "one minute wonder" misconception about EFT.

Because of the rapid results frequently generated with EFT, it is easy to generalize from these astonishing "one minute wonders" and assume that ALL issues should respond in moments.  Whether or not YOU make this assumption, I can assure you that many others do.

Even though applying EFT to Serious Diseases may result in "one minute wonders" on the some of the symptoms, one cannot assume that EFT will dispose of the broader underlying causes so easily.  In fact, persistence and artistic uses of EFT are usually required.  This article will expand on these uses and bring some artistry to the process.

Overview

EFT belongs front and center on the healing stage.  Even though it is only one of numerous approaches to good health, its clinical results have been astonishing to even the most casual observer.  Further, it involves no drugs, surgery, radiation or any other methods that might be invasive to the body.  For these reasons it would seem prudent that EFT be applied, in most cases, BEFORE more drastic measures are taken.

For perspective, let me discuss the various categories of healing:

1. The Medical Profession:  I list this one first because, in the USA at least, it is by far the most prominent system.  It is promoted as THE place to go for whatever your health problem might be and everything else is considered "alternative."  It has also become so expensive that it is out of reach for many citizens and, unless costs are curtailed, it even poses a threat to the economic solvency of the US.

That being said, I count many MDs as my personal friends and respect the dedication and schooling required to bring them to their current state of knowledge.  I am also very pleased that the system exists.  If I had a bursting appendix, for example, I would gleefully place myself on the surgeon's table and be forever grateful for his or her services.

On the other hand, it doesn't take great observational skills to see some glaring weaknesses in the medical system.  For one thing, the system is separated out into specialties thus losing sight of the fact that the body and mind operate together as a whole system.  Thus a podiatrist's approach might be quite different from that of a urologist or an orthopedic surgeon.  This is a doubly strange when compared to the fact that most people I talk to believe, intuitively, that many of their physical ailments are caused by unresolved angers, fears, guilt etc.  It is a common sense observation that many illnesses are physical manifestations of one's unresolved emotions.

Further, the medical profession largely ignores other major doors to healing (covered below) such as (1) nutrition, (2) the body's subtle energies, (3) unresolved emotions as a cause of disease and (4) the use of prayer, meditation and spiritual methods.  Accordingly, I do not personally consider the medical profession to be THE ultimate source for healing.  Rather, I consider it AN important input.

2.  Nutrition: This door to healing is obvious.  People load themselves up with sugar, alcohol, additives, preservatives, pesticides and countless forms of artificial foods thereby taxing the body greatly and begging for disease.  This is one area that EFT does not cover.  However, there are many good resources for this information.  Personally, I find many insightful nutrition concepts on Dr. Joseph Mercola's web site. 

3.  The Body's Subtle Energies:  Oriental health practices have used the body's subtle energies, known as QI (pronounced Chi), as a mainstay for milleniums.  Thus, this door is not new.  However, western medicine has chosen to largely ignore this vital approach, preferring to view the body as a "bag of chemicals and body parts" (my term) rather than an entity containing pulsating energy.  EFT addresses these subtle energies directly.  They are the centerpiece of EFT.

4.  Unresolved Emotions as a Cause of Disease:  This is also a centerpiece of EFT's approach to health.  Indeed, we have observed many cases where physical ailments fade as we resolve the anger, fear or guilt that appear to cause them.

5.  Prayer, Meditation and Spiritual Methods:  There have been many reports of healings using group prayer as well as surrogate EFT (a form of prayer).  To many EFT does not appear to be a spiritual method.  This is because, to newcomers, it seems like a rather mechanical procedure.  However, EFT's larger goal is to pave the way for true spiritual awareness.  As EFT reduces our angers and fears it paves the way for enhanced levels of  personal peace and true forgiveness.  To me, this is the end result of all healing because, once achieved in its grandest form, illness is impossible.

Appropriate Mental Sets while using EFT for Serious Diseases

Here are some appropriate "mental sets" that are useful when approaching Serious Diseases with EFT.

1.  While we have observed some fascinating healings with EFT, we must recognize that EFT is still in its infancy and we don't know all there is to know about it yet.  Thus we must maintain a state of inquisitiveness rather than assume our current procedures represent the final answer.

2.  Persistence is important. Don't be fooled by "one minute wonders" and conclude that you are done.  A client  can appear to be "out of the woods" for now but have other aspects and related issues show up later. Many Serious Diseases have multiple causes with many facets.  Properly addressing them can be like walking through a maze where there are many apparent "dead ends."  To successfully get through the maze you must often back up and try new approaches.

3.  Some Serious Diseases may include causes other than emotional, energetic or spiritual.  Heart disease is a good example.  While it may be improved by EFT, it is often contributed to by years of dietary insults and lack of exercise.

The EFT Doors to Explore

Over the years we have developed many EFT approaches for solving the healing puzzle.  They have become "Doors to Explore" and represent a wide variety of possibilities for applying EFT.  With Serious Diseases you may get lucky and get impressive results by entering only 1 door.  However, in many cases you may need to explore every door and, perhaps, discover new ones.  You may meet with failure on the first 4 or 5 doors but, with persistence, you may find success with the 6th, 8th and 10th doors.

Below is a list of our current EFT doors.  They are not listed in any particular order and should be used in whatever order seems appropriate for a given client.

• Daily tapping.  This one is vital for Serious Diseases because it creates much needed follow-up by the clients.  10 to 20 rounds of EFT tapping should be performed daily to keep the body's subtle energies flowing freely.  An easy way for the client to remember to tap is to associate it with daily activities.  For example, do rounds of tapping just before (1) eating, (2) when using the bathroom, (3) when turning the TV on and off (4) when getting in and out of the car and so on.

• Tapping directly on the symptoms.  For example, start EFT with "Even though I have this numbness in my left hand....."  This will often give symptomatic relief.  If not, then assume there are emotional drivers behind it and ask, "If there was an emotional reason for this symptom, what could it be?"

• Approach the symptoms through metaphors.  For example, ask the client,"What does the disease look like inside your body?" or"What does your doctor tell you is going on?" Then apply EFT for that metaphor.  For example, "Even though it feels like I have glue in my finger joints...."

• Sneaking up on the problem.  Use this when you expect underlying emotional issues to be unusually intense.  Use global statements at first like, "Even though I have all these problems..." and gradually get more specific until you end up with a specific issue such as "Even though Dad hit me when I was 8 at my birthday party...."

• The Tearless Trauma Technique. This is another way of approaching an emotional problem in a gentle way.  It involves having the client GUESS as to the emotional intensity rather than painfully re-live it mentally.  Often highly effective. Full description at  http://www.emofree.com/trauma/tearless.htm

• The Movie Technique.  In this process the client narrates his or her mental movie of a bothersome specific event.  When intensity comes up the client stops and then taps on that intensity.  When the intensity subsides the client continues with the story.  This method has been a mainstay in the tool box of many EFT Practitioners.  It may be the most often used EFT technique of all.  Full description at  http://www.emofree.com/tutorial/tutorcthree.htm

• The Tell the Story Technique.  This is a close cousin of the Movie Technique.  Full description at  http://www.emofree.com/tutorial/tutorltwelve.htm

• Being Specific. This is often critical and represents an efficient way of resolving the problem.  Most people represent their problems in a global way e.g. "I have diabetes" OR "I feel abandoned."  While success can sometimes be achieved by approaching these issues in this global way, the odds improve substantially if you get to the specifics (or specific events) underlying the problem.  Examples, "Even though my blood sugar level is over 400...." OR "Even though my mother left me alone for three days at my age 8."  For more details on Being Specific go to http://www.emofree.com/tutorial/tutorbtwo.htm

• Personal Peace Procedure.  This is most useful for client homework.  It involves making a long list of every bothersome specific event one can think of and using EFT on a daily basis to collapse them.  Obviously, the more negativity that can be removed the greater the chances of peace taking over.  Full details at http://www.emofree.com/tutorial/tutormthirteen.htm

• Emphasizing or Yelling.  Sometimes it is necessary to get clients more involved with their issue.  This can often be accomplished by having them strongly emphasize.... or YELL ... the EFT Setup Phrases and Reminder Phrases.  This can turn a "go-nowhere" session into a productive one.

• Questions.  Here are some questions that may help getting to core issues...

  • If there was an emotional contributor to that symptom, what could it be?

  • If you had life to live over again, what person or event would you prefer to skip?

  • What would it be like to have none of your symptoms?

  • What benefits are you getting from this illness?

  • What would you have to give up if your illness went away?

  • Who or what are you most angry at?

  • Why might you deserve this illness?

• Chasing the Pain.  After applying EFT, physical discomforts can move to other locations and/or change in intensity or quality.  Thus a headache described as a sharp pain behind the eyes at an intensity of 8 might shift to dull throb in back of the head at an intensity of 7 (or 9, or 3 or any other intensity level).  Just keep "chasing the pain" with EFT and it will usually go to zero or some low number.  In the process, I often find that emotional issues behind the discomforts also become successfully collapsed.

• Testing.  This is a very important step because, without it, both you and the client can erroneously think you are done.  Whenever feasible, I try to re-enact a bothersome memory ...OR... have the client vividly imagine and TRY to get upset ...OR... have the client bend, move or do whatever is necessary to bring back the symptom (without damaging themselves, of course).  In the process I am looking for aspects or related issues that still need attention.

• Humor.  Laughter can be used to help clients make new associations regarding the "severity" of any emotional issues they may have.  It is also a form of testing because, if a client can now laugh or smile at a trauma, fear, etc., then you know you have made good progress.  On the other hand, if the humor is met with scowls or intense reactions then you know you have more work to do.

• Imagine perfect health and observe tail enders.  This is a good method for finding subtle emotional issues that tend to keep the ailment around.  Ask the client to vividly imagine themselves in perfect health (i.e. completely without their symptoms) and then ask him or her to listen for the "tail-enders" or "yes buts" that show up as self talk.  These tail enders are often clues to the real impediments to healing.  Tail enders are described within the important series on our web site called The Palace of Possibilities.  Full details at http://www.emofree.com/palaceof.htm

• Reframing within the Setup procedure--THROUGH you, not BY you.  Reframing is a procedure often used within conventional talk therapy to help a client see their issue through different, healthier glasses.  I find that reframes land MUCH more solidly if done while tapping and thus I use the Setup portion of the EFT procedure to not only correct psychological reversal but to also establish useful reframes.  During this process, I "get myself out of the way" and rely on "guidance" that allows me to o apply healing that goes THROUGH me not BY me.  Everyone has the intuitive abilities to do this.  Success, however, depends on truly trusting that intuition.  This is demonstrated in detail on our video sets beginning with Steps Toward Becoming The Ultimate Therapist and all of those video sets that followed it.  Info on these video sets can be seen at https://www.emofree.com/eftstore

• The Choices Method.  This innovative adjustment to the EFT process was created by Dr. Patricia Carrington.  It injects positive direction into the method by using Setup phrases of the form,"Even though I have ___________, I choose ___________."  Details at http://www.emofree.com/articles/choices.htm

Return to the Tutorial Main Menu