Tutorial--Steve Wells on the Methods and Mindsets of the EFT Masters.

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Steve Wells, a psychologist from Australia, wrote a 4 part series for the EFT Insights Newsletter that deserves a prominent place in this tutorial. It emphasizes many important features of EFT as well as ways to maximize your use of it.

The Methods and Mindsets of the EFT Masters--Part I
(Seeking Complete Freedom: Settle for Nothing Less)

If there is one thing that concerns me, it is that many people approach EFT with a limited understanding of its potential and therefore limit the benefits they can achieve from using it. In this post and the posts to follow I'd like to consider this issue ... and encourage you to expand your vision of the freedom you can achieve using these wonderful techniques.

I believe we should settle for nothing less than complete freedom. I mean this not only in terms of how we progress through each problem we work on but also the number and type of problems we choose to address AND the goals we set for ourselves in life.

I believe we limit our freedom when:

1. We don't consider using EFT on every problem we have.

2. We don't continue with the process until absolutely all of the remaining intensity is completely cleared.

3. We don't test our changes out in the real world ... or ensure that we have tested all possible provocations for the problem returning.

4. We only use EFT in a remedial fashion to eradicate existing problems rather than using it to help us create new futures and achieve our ultimate goals.

Some people assume that, because they have seen EFT used to cure fears and phobias, that fears and phobias are all it can be applied to. Others gain relief using EFT on one problem but don't realise they could apply it to other problems.

I once worked with a client who managed to clear up a phobia using EFT. This same client contacted me 3 months later about another problem she wanted help with. Did you consider using the EFT on that?" I asked her. Oh!" she replied, I suppose I could have. I just didn't think of it". OK", I said, Why don't you go and do that and then ring me back and let me know how you get on?" Guess what? She found she could fix that problem herself. I've since given the same good advice to other clients with similar results.

How often do we have other issues in our life to which we could apply EFT but we just don't think" to do it. Let's do as Gary recommends and Try it on Everything." When you do you may be surprised just how much you can achieve.

How many problems do we wallow in when we really could be treating them? And how often do we work on a problem for a time and get some success, but then allow the issue to build up again in our lives?

I found this happened with my hay fever. The first year I learned EFT I applied it ... and several other energy techniques - diligently to my hay fever symptoms (e.g. Even though I have this congestion / Even though I have these sore eyes / etc) and my symptoms reduced by over 90%.

In each of the next two years I started the process too late and was not consistent or persistent with my tapping - and therefore the tapping had little or no effect on my symptoms (Except the sore eyes which always responded). This past year I decided to get in early and begin tapping even before the traditional hay fever season began. Also, at the first sign of symptoms and throughout the pollen season I applied EFT on a regular (daily) basis. As a result I managed to go through the entire season ... which was reportedly one of the worst on record pollen-wise ... virtually symptom free.

I have learned from this experience the value of persistence for problems such as this. Given sufficient applications the symptoms can disappear completely, never to reappear. I have witnessed this with numerous clients who have diligently applied the technique to their physical issues over time. Their example now inspires me to continue until I too am symptom free.

In the next 3 posts I will consider other issues we need to address in our quest for greater freedom. In the next post I will explore the need to address all aspects of a problem until we are completely free of all remaining intensity. Following this, I'll consider the blocking beliefs that can prevent us from achieving total freedom. The last post in this series will outline how moving from a problem-elimination framework to a vision-creation framework may allow us to unlock more of the full power of these techniques.

Steve Wells

The Methods and Mindsets of the EFT Masters--Part II
(Continue Until You Achieve Complete Freedom)

When we work on a particular problem, let's continue until we are completely free. Let's not assume that just because we can think about it in one way and it doesn't affect us that the treatment is complete. Let's test it in as many ways as we can ... and especially, where possible, in the real world.

I have learned to become more cautious about assuming problems are fully resolved, and I now test extensively the changes that I, and my clients, have made using EFT. It is important to test completely ... to see if there is any way of thinking about the problem or any manifestation or part of the problem that CAN upset us. If so, there is more to treat.

I first saw the true importance of aspects when I did a public demonstration of EFT soon after learning these techniques. A woman who had a phobia of birds was able to go from a position of absolute fear to thinking about a bird without a shred of fear. For some reason, the image of a flock of birds came into my mind while talking with her so I asked her What if it was a whole flock of birds?" She instantly jumped back and her fear rose to an even higher level than before. Once we treated this aspect her fear was fully resolved and she was able to go outside looking for birds (she counted 24). I saw her some months later and she informed me she had gone for a walk through the aviary at the zoo without any problems at all.

In our group treatments for phobia sufferers, we worked with people who had small animal phobias, and everyone in the group did rounds of EFT in unison whilst focusing on their particular problem. During this process I was astounded by how often the scene in the following paragraph would unfold.

I would do a round of EFT and then check how intense people felt when they thought about their feared animal. As we went around the group there would be someone who would say for example, It doesn't affect me at all now. I think I'm cured!" My response was to test this and ask them to search for any aspect of the problem that was still upsetting to them. In a number of instances the person would reply that they weren't able to find anything else, and they were unable to bring up any intensity at all. However, as we proceeded around the group there would be another person who would say something like I was feeling OK but then I started to think about a spider being on me and now I feel worse!" At this point the previous person would anxiously exclaim, Oh yeah!" as they were put in touch with another aspect of their fear.

We had examples of this with such issues as the spiders' furry legs, the mouse's tail, and the way the mouse moves, darting around rapidly. In each case a person in the group who thought they had either partly or fully resolved their problem was put in touch with another aspect which truly bothered them when these issues were raised by someone else in the group. I saw the value of group treatment in helping people to have a more complete healing by revealing specific aspects to work on.

Since that time I have also conducted more extensive testing with clients to ensure that all aspects of the problem that we can possibly think of together have been treated. I also like, where possible, to have proof in the real world that the change will stand up - And even then I'm not fully convinced. When they are in the problem place, I like to get the person to manipulate the situation in as many ways as possible to try to find something that provokes them. If nothing does I am more convinced. However, I believe it is always important to realise that additional aspects may come to light. This is not a failure in the technique ... just another part of the problem which requires treatment. Treat it and increase the range of your freedom even further.

I have formed the opinion that many of the treatments I conducted in the first few years of using these techniques were perhaps not the complete cures" that I thought they were. And now I encourage my clients ... as I encourage you now - to go for the complete change. Diligently search for things that upset you and treat them all. Go for complete freedom. Settle for nothing less.

Steve Wells

The Methods and Mindsets of the EFT Masters--Part III
(In Search of Total Emotional Freedom)

An issue that concerns me is the assumption that it is good enough to bring the intensity of a problem down to a manageable level. It might seem very freeing to have an intense problem that we previously experienced as a 10 to drop to a 2. However, a little bondage can be just as troublesome in the long term as a lot of bondage. Once we have achieved a low level, let's not limit what we can achieve. Let's settle for nothing less than complete freedom.

I once worked with an agoraphobic client who could not go into grocery stores. We worked in the office to bring her fear down to zero and then went to a shopping centre in her car. Along the way I kept checking how she felt and she kept telling me she felt fine. In the shopping centre car park I asked one more time. Again she said she felt fine. Being cautious I challenged her. She reported that the fear was only about a level 2 or 3 on a 10-point scale. She felt this was fine ... a very manageable level.

I said to her If your fear is at a level 2 or 3 when you enter the shops and, if something happens in there which brings up your fear by say 5 points, you will then be at a level 7 or 8--which is quite unmanageable. If, on the other hand, you are at a level zero when you enter the shops and something comes up, it is unlikely your fear will rise to the same level ... and if it did rise 5 points then this is still a much more manageable level from which to make decisions than a level 7 or 8.

We sat in the car and continued to work on aspects until her fear came down to a level zero. Then she was able to go into the store on her own. In fact, she spent so long in there that I became concerned and went searching for her, only to find that she was enjoying being completely free of her fear.

There can be a tendency to assume that we need to retain some of our intense feelings for a variety of reasons. Typical examples are guilt feelings, safety fears, and feelings of non-deservingness, among others. For example, many people believe that they need to keep some of their fear in order to stay safe ... that without it they will lose their ability to be cautious. This is a false belief that can leave us with unnecessary suffering. Others have an underlying belief that they do not deserve to get over this problem completely, or that to do so would be bad for them in some way.

The way to treat blocks such as these is to first identify any beliefs you have that cause you to feel like you need ... or deserve - to keep some (or all) of your problem. Then insert these negative belief statements into the set-up statement. For example:

Even though I think I need to keep some of this problem in order to stay safe, I fully and completely accept myself.

Even though I don't deserve to get over this problem Then, Even though I do not deserve to get completely over this problem

There are many more examples of blocking beliefs which can be responsible for our failure to achieve a more complete result. Many authors (including myself and Dr David Lake in our book New Energy Therapies, and Fred Gallo in his book Energy Psychology) provide examples of the typical blocking beliefs for you to work on. However, the simplest way forward is to ask yourself what are the reasons why you can't get over your problem completely ... or why it might not be good to do so. The answers to these questions will usually reveal your underlying beliefs and you can then apply the EFT process to these. Having done so, you may find that your continued tapping on the problem" now bears more fruit.

Steve Wells

The Methods and Mindsets of the EFT Masters--Part IV
(Beyond remedial uses ... Using EFT to create new futures and new ways of being.)

I believe we have come to this list not just to solve problems. Rather, I think we need to consider what we are ultimately aiming to produce in our lives ... and then look at how we can use these techniques to facilitate bringing ourselves into more positive ways of being.

I am interested in the concept of generative change rather than remedial change. This is about creating small changes that build on each other exponentially until our whole life is turned around.

I believe when we consider questions such as the following, we tap into a whole new direction for using these techniques:

• What would be good to create in my life?
• What would be worthwhile to do with the rest of my life?
• What would I like to do? What would be fun to do?
• What sort of person would I like to become ultimately?

The moment you ask these questions, there will be blocks. This is good and it is one of the reasons I believe we have been given EFT ... to help us move beyond the points at which we become stuck. If we have used EFT to resolve some problems but have not extended our goals out even further (until we feel some resistance) I believe we are not tapping into the full power of these techniques. EFT, in this sense, can become a tool for personal evolution by getting us in touch with the possible human and clearing the pathway to becoming.

What is one method of doing this?

I like to start by having people identify how they would like to be as a person. If we work on changing our identity we can change our whole life. As Zig Ziglar says You will never perform consistently in a manner that is inconsistent with how you define yourself."

Recently, in a corporate group, I worked with a lady who said she did not really have any goals. She said she was quite happy with her life and being the way she was. I am always on the lookout to find a person who, when they say this, I can truly believe. That person I am sure will have achieved true victory over self. Until I see total congruency in the person making these statements I tend to see their words as a cover for fear and a limiting way of thinking about self.

We looked at the first statement she came up with, I'm just an ordinary person," as a current belief. Without objecting to this or passing judgment, I then had her consider the opposite belief I'm an extraordinary person".I had her say this alternative belief aloud, which to her felt totally untrue, not even desirable. Then I had her do three rounds of EFT. The first round she focused on the current belief (Even though I'm just an ordinary person). The second round she focused on the alternative belief (Even though I am an extraordinary person). And the third round she focused on each belief interchangeably (I'm an ordinary person/I'm an extraordinary person).

After these three rounds she brightened considerably (Previously when she described herself as an ordinary person her jaw was set and her face was dark). She excitedly stated I guess I really AM an extraordinary person." Not only that, her previous way of thinking about herself and her life no longer had any appeal ... it was dull and unattractive to her now. Lifeless. It didn't feel true at all. And her goals had changed. She was now able to look in directions that she was previously unable to consider ... and felt optimistic towards changing her life.

If you want to really change your life, consider how you define yourself to yourself. Think of how you would like to be. And then apply EFT to the internal objections which arise to the idea of being that NOW. Continue until you get a real feeling of congruency ('thou art that'). What usually follows is a real feeling of excitement and unleashing of personal power and positive potential.

This is only one of the many ways we can use EFT to assist us in the process of building new futures.

Steve Wells

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