How To Tell In Advance Whether An EFT Practitioner Has Sufficient Skill in EFT

By Patricia Carrington, PhD EFT Master

Today let’s talk about an important topic ––how to assess an EFT practitioner’s level of skill in using EFT before you decide to work with that practitioner.

Once you have contacted an EFT practitioner (or practitioners) who look promising to you, you will want to know how proficient they are likely to be at using EFT.

Let's identify first some things that it is probably NOT useful to ask an EFT practitioner in this respect because their responses to these questions are apt to be meaningless.

Unproductive Question #1

 If you ask a prospective EFT therapist if they have treated people “successfully” with EFT, this can be quite a waste of time.  Do you expect the practitioner to tell you that they have treated many people “unsuccessfully”?  I doubt that most practitioners would like to think that this is the case, and hopefully it will not be in any particular instance.

Unproductive Question #2 

 “Do you think I can benefit from EFT?”

Few practitioners will be able to answer this question before they’ve worked with you for at least one of more sessions because too much depends on YOU.  For example, they will need to find out:

• Whether your issue is as simple as it looks on the surface or whether it has hidden core issues in it which it will take time to uncover and treat?
• Whether you respond readily to EFT.  Some people are more at his ease with this method than others, while some will need considerable tapping to reduce their intensity on a specific issue and can expect to reduce their intensity by only one or two points after each round of tapping.  Also, a very few people (about one in a hundred in my experience) simply do not respond to EFT at all due to factors we do not know much about.  If you have never tried EFT before, your personal response style can only be determined by scheduling an EFT session with a practitioner -- a 20 minute screening interview, while often useful for other reasons, may not be sufficient for this purpose.
• Another way in which the course of EFT depends on you is your willingness to work on your own in between sessions with the EFT Practitioner.  Doing EFT “homework” regularly can make all the difference between a strongly positive response to EFT and a mediocre one.

Unproductive Question #3 

“How many sessions do you think I will need to clear up this problem?”

Practitioners cannot answer this question in advance because there will be too many unknown factors to be able to make this prediction.  For example, how many different aspects of your problem will need to be addressed?  Do you have a reason (conscious or unconscious) to want to hold onto your problem (unwittingly many people obtain hidden advantages from their symptoms that not even they themselves readily recognize)?  How many factors in your life serve to re-create or perpetuate this problem at the present time so that the minute you begin to clear it up, it is reticulated by outer circumstances?

My advice is to skip the above questions altogether, or if you feel compelled to ask them, to do so only after you have had an initial trial session with the EFT practitioner of your choice.

QUESTIONS THAT ARE USEFUL TO ASK AN EFT PRACTITIONER

1.   What training has this person had in using EFT?

If for example a person has done no more than read Gary Craig's free EFT manual they can legitimately claim to “know EFT” but this would scarcely be adequate for your needs.  You will want to be assured that, at a minimum, the practitioner has carefully studied and thoroughly understands the principles illustrated in Gary Craig's basic “EFT course” and his “Steps Toward Becoming An Ultimate Therapist” course.  One of the best ways to find this out is to ask whether that practitioner has passed an examination based on these videotapes.  If they have, they will be listed as having done so on my website, http://www.eftupdate.com .  However, if you do consult this list of practitioners bear in mind that that there are veteran practitioners who unquestionably meet this criterion who have not taken these exams for various legitimate reasons, but they may still be an excellent choice for you.

And remember -- viewing and understanding Gary’s two basic videos is only the minimum requirement.  Hopefully, the EFT practitioner you speak with will also have viewed most or all of Gary Craig's other training tapes as well, and will have been exposed to the personal styles of some of the other leaders among EFT practitioners.  It will be a real plus if they have attended some in-person workshops conducted by Gary Craig himself or those of other highly qualified EFT trainers.  All these accomplishments are signs of a serious pursuit of the EFT Art of Delivery, as Gary Craig calls the advanced skills required for use of EFT.

The ultimate in EFT training is designated by the title “EFT Master.”  Those possessing this title have demonstrated their ability to deliver EFT at the highest creative levels by submitting to extensive training and passing rigorous examinations.  EFT Master is the premier credential offered within EFT.  However be aware that some top-notch EFT practitioners may not qualify for the designation EFT Master, not because they do not use EFT in a masterful fashion but because they may not have been practicing EFT long enough (a minimum of three years of practice is required to apply for this status) or they may not use EFT on a full-time basis as their main treatment modality (method of working with people), or for some other legitimate reason.

You might, for example, benefit more from an EFT specialist in the area in which you are seeking help than you would from some of the EFT Masters.  For example, you might want help in the area of using EFT for allergies and find a superb practitioner who could help you in this but who does not happen to be an EFT Master for one of the reasons described above.  You must use good judgment here and ask truly meaningful questions.

2.  How long has the practitioner has been using EFT with clients and how many people approximately they have treated with this method?

If they are just starting out in their EFT practice they may have a “healing touch” and even be able to do some extraordinary work with this method, but this possibility you will need to discover for yourself in your initial trial session with the practitioner you have chosen to work with, something I will discuss in my next article.

3.  What are their fees and other conditions of their practice such as cancellation policies, whether they do telephone therapy etc.

Fees To Expect 

The cost of EFT-oriented psychotherapy, counseling or coaching is exactly the same as that of any other form of psychotherapy, counseling, personal performance coaching, or any other service by practitioners who are specially trained in their area.  Fees vary widely from practitioner to practitioner depending upon the practitioner’s credentials and their standing in their own specialty area, as well as their expertise in EFT, and telephone sessions are charged for at the same hourly rate as in-office visits because both demand an equal amount of time, skill, and commitment on the part of the therapist.  You cannot expect a special financial arrangement because you opt for a phone appointment.

Exactly what will you pay?  In general, fees per session will range from $60 USD to $185, with the average fee falling somewhere in the $80 - $125 range.  While these may be the customary fees for the professional services you are seeking, bear in mind that therapy or counseling using EFT is often more rapid than a conventional approach and therefore may be more cost effective in the long run.  However, ongoing treatment over time is often required for deeper issues, and if this is the case with you it should be planned for accordingly.  Insurance reimbursement may or may not be obtainable for EFT-oriented psychotherapy depending upon the professional requirements and geographical constraints of your insurance carrier.

In my next article in this series I will address the question of how to use your intuition to judge whether a particular practitioner is the correct one for you, by use of an EFT evaluation session.

Pat Carrington, PhD EFT Master