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Addictions

Food

Emphatic tapping for a sugar addiction

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated. Please use my newest advancement, Optimal EFT. It is more efficient, more powerful and clearly explained in my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™.  Best wishes, Gary

Hi Everyone,

Go to the health section of any major book store and you will find several books pointing the finger at sugar as the villain behind many of our many physical ailments. Like tobacco and alcohol, sugar serves to sap away our mental and physical functioning in insidious ways. Also like tobacco and alcohol, sugar can be an addictive substance. This contributes, of course, to a downward spiral wherein we crave more and more of that which is soaking up our vitality.

Helen Powell has faced a lifetime of sugar consumption (addiction) and has recently used tapping to clear herself of the problem. Please note the emphatic way in which she applied the process one evening. She says, "I said it vehemently, I yelled it out, I listened to every word, I felt my resistance..." This is often effective for stubborn issues and is illustrated in EFT-Beyond the Basics. Here is Helen's story.

Hugs, Gary


By Helen Powell, MFT

Dear Gary:

I too have a story to add to the countless amazing stories that abound using EFT. Last November I had reached the proverbial 'caught between a rock and a hard place' and realized I simply HAD TO GIVE UP the huge quantities of chocolate and ice cream. I was eating several times a week and sometimes daily. About 10 years ago I began to notice a decline in my mental functioning and eyesight. I've read enough to know that it could be the sugar that was addling my mind but I just felt powerless before these strong cravings. Since then I began to experience more and more confusion, high levels of stress, difficulty in making decisions, mental fatigue, more fears, etc. (Thank goodness, no diabetes).

I took my first Callahan TFT course about 4 years ago. Since then I have used my own personalized blend (the essence of EFT) with my clients and know how marvelously effective it can be. Even so, I wondered if tapping on this problem would REALLY help ME? The bottom line in truth was that I didn't want to tap away my fix. However, last summer and fall a couple of times I did something so bizarre I got scared. In October I did two brief tappings on "I eat too much sugar", nothing happened, my heart was not really in it. But maybe even that minimal tapping helped prepare the way because one night early in November, in desperation, I faced my strong reluctance to give up this bad behavior.

I started with the karate chop, tapping on "I just don't want to stop eating all the ice cream and chocolate I eat, I just don't want to give it up, and I accept and forgive myself anyway, etc.." I said it vehemently, I yelled it out, I listened to every word, I felt my resistance and accepted that's just the way it is for now. I became fully engaged in the process, including the 9 gamut, finger tapping, eyeroll, karate chop, et al., I did several rounds, didn't bother to check my SUDs [0-10 intensity] level, then off to bed.

That was 5 months ago! Since that night I have passed on all desserts. What is interesting to me is when I look at all those 'goodies' (are they really 'good') something in me just holds back and refuses even though I can almost taste how 'good' they are. I have never felt deprived, not even for a moment. I've been to a couple of birthday parties where I surprisingly ate a piece of birthday cake 'without thinking' but I haven't accepted any other dessert without thinking as I was wont to do in the past. Maybe it was ok for me to do that because cake has never been my sweet of choice, nor did I feel guilty or frightened by these two isolated acts.

Also, in January, I tested myself after looking longingly at a small package of jelly beans (no chocolate). I did buy it, they did taste good, but I didn't really enjoy them. I don't consider any of them lapses. And I am very happy to say I no longer feel I am losing my mind, the persistent haze that clouded my eyesight has disappeared as well. I feel much more confident and again really positive about myself and my future. May I also add that I am 77 years old looking back at a lifetime of chocolate and ice cream abuse.

By the way, I would like to add something I have discovered in working with my clients. Since I found your website and started receiving your e-mail only 2 months ago--maybe others I don't know about have also discovered this--that when it is difficult to access core problems with a client, it has helped to talk to the sub-personality that behaves in the limiting way relating to the problem. I use Voice Dialogue, so I simply ask to speak to that part of the person that 'feels or believes that way'. It seems much easier to zone in on much deeper material to be tapped away. I have something else to add, EFT has become a much more powerful tool for me in my work with others since I've had my own powerful experience.

It is fun to be part of this wonderful movement. See you in Las Vegas. Love to all......

Helen Powell, MFT

More articles on Addictions and Substance Abuse

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