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Articles & Ideas

Core Issues

Finding An EFT Core Issue -- "But What Did He Give You?"

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated.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

Note: This article assumes you have a working knowledge of EFT. Newcomers can still learn from it but are advised to peruse our Free Gold Standard (Official) EFT Tutorial™ for a more complete understanding.

Hi Everyone,

Read how Trish Barbeau couldn't get beyond certain issues until a magical question popped into her head. After her discovery she says, "I continued tapping, using just the short version. Phew! What a rush of love and healing."  Also note that this experience points toward our ultimate EFT level ... Optimal EFT.  See Optimal EFT -- Essential Intro.

Hugs, Gary


By Trish Barbeau

Dear Gary,

I have been using EFT now for about a year and a half with mixed results. At first it was easy to knock down a few issues from the past and the feeling of the old emotions being released was quite startling. Then I began to get blocked, the releases were only partial and I noticed that a few specific memories would continually pop up, even when they seemed out of place.

One of the memories was when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I was at the playground of our local church with my best friend on a warm summer's day. We were the only ones there so I hung the yo-yo I'd gotten just a week before on one piece of equipment while we played on another. Then three older boys came into the yard, teasing and taunting us as 12 year-olds will do.

One of them spied my yo-yo and took it for himself, despite my tearful pleas and protestations. For such a simple (and probably common) experience, it seemed to have had a very powerful effect on me (because it would keep coming back). Using both the EFT short cut and the full version, including the 9 gamut, it felt as though I'd tapped and tapped on every aspect, and even though I'd get it down to a one or a two on a scale of 0 to 10, I could never get that wonderful feeling of completed release.

Recently, this scene popped up again while tapping on another issue. I began to cry with frustration, and in my ramblings stated, "He didn't just take the yo-yo, he stole my trust!" Now, I had already tapped on the 'trust' aspect before, but this time I 'heard': "But what did he give you?"

I saw a scene that had NOT occurred; the boy who took the yo-yo smiled and handed me a worn and folded note. There was nothing written on the page but I instantly knew that it was for me to write upon. What I was offered was an opportunity, and I knew that the opportunity was to learn 'forgiveness'. All the while I was envisioning this I was tapping, using only the short cut version. Instantly, my level of intensity dropped from an 8 or 9 to nothing.

Taken back by the experience I immediately envisioned my parents standing together and asked, "What did they give you?" I have done some work on a few childhood traumas with good results, but still I know there are some hidden issues lurking in the deep. Even though I had no particular issue in mind, perhaps I was still on the 'Trust' issue, I continued tapping on the basic points for the general distress.

In this vision, they had before them a 'treasure chest' which I proceeded to open. It was filled with beautiful, bright shining objects that were pure energy rather than 'things'. In my mind, as I reached out to touch them, I knew that some of them were very sharp and would cut me. However, it wasn't the cutting of cruelty, but more like the surgeon's knife, a cutting to remove what needn't be there. I continued tapping, using just the short version. Phew! What a rush of love and healing.

Finally, at a later point, an old issue I've worked and worked on, surfaced while tapping on something else. Only this time it was I who was the perpetrator. Even tapping for forgiving myself didn't work. So, I asked, "What are you offering her?" I realized that holding onto my guilt was not going to help the friend I had hurt, nor myself. I was offering her nothing as long as I held onto my self-pity and self-punishment. If I was to offer her anything, I had to do it with love and I had to find that love within, which meant I had to forgive myself, first.

I tapped again, using only the short-cut version. All gone. Even though it had initially only rated about a 4 out of 10, the fact I hadn't been able to clear the guilt was nearly as bothersome as the guilt itself. It actually takes some effort to recall this now, so that I can share it with you.

So now, when I feel that something was 'taken' from me, or that I 'took' what didn't belong to me, I ask myself, "What was offered (in return)?"

Thank you so much for your energies spent in developing EFT. It has truly been a life saver for me. Your videos are well worth the money and time spent watching them and RE-watching them!  GC COMMENT:  Our previous videos have been upgraded and replaced by the important material in our store.

With love and blessings,

Trish Barbeau

FOR MORE EFT HELP ...

Explore our newest advancement, Optimal EFT™, by reading my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™. More efficient. More powerful.