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Applying EFT in Clinical Practice

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Sneaking Up on the Problem with EFT

By Dr. Patricia Carrington

Gary Craig's Introduction:

EFT is normally gentle in that it usually improves emotional issues without the pain of dragging one through old memories. In some cases, however, the client brings such intensity with them that it is best to "sneak up on the problem" to minimize any pain. This is an important part of mastery of the EFT process and EFT Master Patricia Carrington, PhD sheds professional light on this concept in her well written 3 part series.

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One of the distinguishing features of EFT is its gentle nature when used correctly.  This is In sharp contrast to the harshness of such behavioral techniques as Exposure Therapy or Flooding, which expose a person to unbearably intense levels of the very thing they fear in an attempt to numb them, or immune them, to their feared “object”.  The latter techniques are all too often of little use at best, and at worst can severely re-traumatize a vulnerable person.

By contrast, EFT intentionally seeks to minimize anxiety while at the same time helping the person to neutralize disturbing experiences so that these become manageable and hopefully no longer exert a negative effect upon the person.

EFT founder, Gary Craig, has consistently worked hard to minimize the risk of creating trauma through the EFT process, and for the most part he has succeeded splendidly in this. One thing he advises to minimize risk it to use the Tearless Trauma technique, a method whereby the person working on an overwhelming trauma in their life is advised not to “get into” and relive that trauma, but rather is encouraged to not actively think much about it as they repeat the EFT tapping sequence, and in particular not to re-experience it.  They are asked to disassociate from the memory until their intensity level, when “guessed at” (but not actually experienced) has come way down.  Only then is the person encouraged to think about the traumatic experience, if they want to.

This is an extremely effective method that I have often used with clients.  I have found that it greatly minimizes the risk of seriously upsetting the person I am working with during the process.

Today, however, I want to talk about another technique of Gary’s which he describes as. “Sneaking up on the problem in EFT”.  It is a close relative to the Tearless Trauma technique and has the same goal; to minimize the amount of distress the person might go through when doing EFT.  The way this method works is to have the person be very general (nonspecific, almost vague in fact) in the way they refer to the trauma within their EFT Statement.

You will notice that doing this seems to contradict Gary’s oft-repeated advice to be extremely specific when doing EFT.  It is not a contradiction however. The specificity which Gary advocates this under ordinary conditions is intended to make the memory of the anticipated problem more real and thereby assist the process of EFT.  However, when there is a devastating personal experience that one doesn’t want a client to relive, or which you yourself don’t want to relive, then “sneaking up on the problem” is an excellent approach.

For example, I have often used Gary’s suggested general phrase, “this terrible thing happened”, when a trauma was so severe that I had to protect my client from the intensity of their memory. I first began to use this phrase following the 9/11 tragedy, when there were many people in such a state of shock at that time that they could hardly bear tapping on that trauma at all because of the fear of bringing back terrible images and feelings.

In order to avoid too much distress, I would regularly suggest the person tap on “Even though that terrible thing happened…” rather than asking them to talk about or tap on the specifics of a particular traumatic experience they had suffered during that disaster.  Often, this phrase was all the person could handle at this point, but even that general rather abstract phrase had a powerful effect upon people who had been severely traumatized.  Several rounds of tapping on these quite indefinite words would usually calm them down to a point where they could begin to be more specific in subsequent rounds of tapping.

The next step was to have the person introduce more specific language into their EFT statements, such as “Even though 9/11 was devastating…etc.” This would be a big step for them because this new phrase is more specific than the first general statement in more than one respect.  The date of the tragedy and its official “name” are now used and these triggers resonate in all our minds and often call forth that clearly identified traumatic event.  In addition, a strong emotion is implied by the word “devastating” ─ the event has therefore become more real

The next stage of the EFT treatment, only permitted after the person feels calmer and more at ease (relatively speaking) with the phrase they have been tapping on, is to try touching on a specific sensory memory of the event, one that was particularly traumatizing to the person, as in “Even though I heard that terrible sound!”   The person might, for example, have been walking in downtown Manhattan at the moment that the plane crashed into the first building.  If they were now ready for the recall of this powerful sensory experience, one which shook them to their core, they could then try tapping directly on it. 

If, after several rounds of tapping on this, their Intensity Level had come down considerably, then even more specificity could be introduced.  For example, they might now be able to say something like, “Even though I was terrified by the sound”, admitting fully the feeling of panic they had experienced.  The admission of a state of overwhelming panic and terror could now occur because the person had been prepared, through using the first more generalized tapping sequences, to recall that terrible emotion and actually re-experience it.  It would now no longer be as strong an emotion as before their previous tapping.

I have been able to take clients from an experience of unspeakable horror at the thought of a certain event to a point where they were able to face this event with relative ease, all by systematically “sneaking up on” the problem. I have never regretted moving slowly through the EFT process in this way when necessary. It can make all the difference when we are dealing with an extremely traumatic event.

In the second article in this series I will discuss another facet of the “Sneaking up on the problem” approach –– a way in which we can break up a traumatic response into tiny segments that are much easier to deal with by EFT.

EFT Master, Dr. Patricia Carrington