Tapping on the body’s pressure points can reduce anxiety.
Tapping Therapy (Emotional Freedom Technique, EFT)
EFT combines psychotherapy and acupressure. It adopts the principles of cognitive – behavioral therapy and exposure therapy and is used for treatment by tapping on the body’s acupoints. It aims to relieve anxiety, physical discomfort, self – esteem issues, and addictions. EFT is particularly used in the treatment of anxiety disorders, PTSD, and phobias. Christine Curtis, a certified therapist, believes that tapping therapy deals with emotions through the connection between physical sensations and emotions. We will explore how EFT relieves anxiety, including its principles, effects, operation methods, and the time it takes to take effect.
Is Tapping Really Effective for Anxiety?
Clinical trials have shown that tapping can relieve anxiety, especially in the treatment of PTSD, with significant effects on groups such as military veterans, survivors of sexual violence, and disaster survivors. In addition, tapping has also been proven effective in treating general anxiety and depression.
Benefits of Tapping for Anxiety Relief
Generally, it takes 4 to 10 EFT tapping sessions to see results. Besides reducing anxiety symptoms, other benefits of tapping include:
- Reducing stress hormones, including cortisol
- Alleviating pain symptoms
- Alleviating symptoms of traumatic brain injury
- Epigenetic changes in stress – related genes
- Improving resting heart rate and blood pressure
How Tapping Relieves Anxiety
The working principle of tapping for anxiety relief is quite simple. During a session, first describe a challenging or traumatic event. Then, prepare some encouraging self – acceptance statements. Finally, tap on specific acupoints on the body while saying these statements.
Why Tapping Techniques Can Calm You Down
Tapping helps our nervous system feel safe when dealing with anxiety and changes anxiety – related thinking patterns. It can create new neural pathways, regulate the nervous system, and make us feel calmer and more focused, thus strengthening the mind – body connection. Tapping can be part of emotional freedom technique therapy, done by oneself when feeling anxious, or used as a daily practice. Curtis emphasizes that tapping should be practiced even when not anxious so that the nervous system can enter a calm state more quickly when facing anxiety.
Which Parts of the Body Should Be Tapped When Anxious?
Curtis points out that in EFT, nine parts of the face and body need to be tapped in a specific order. These parts include the side of the hand, the inner corner of the eyebrow, the sides of the eyes, under the eyes, under the nose, between the lower lip and the chin, two inches below the collarbone, the top of the ribs on the side of the body, and the top of the head. Curtis mentions that tapping can be done with both hands simultaneously or with one hand on one side of the body, as the energy meridians act like a mirror, and both methods are equally effective.
What Are Energy Meridians?
There are acupoints all over your body. These acupoints are located on certain paths, and these paths are called “energy meridians.”
“All these locations are important because they are connected to specific energy meridians in your body, and these meridians are in turn connected to specific organs.”
What to Say When Relieving Anxiety through Tapping Therapy?
Tapping therapy usually involves tapping on the nine parts of the body while saying specific sentences or phrases. These sentences or phrases usually include recognition of challenging emotions and statements of self – acceptance, and the specific content varies according to personal experiences and needs.
Try This Script during an EFT Session
Curtis suggests that in tapping therapy, you can use the script: “I feel (emotion) in (body part), but I accept myself.” This kind of script usually includes recognition of emotions and expressions of self – acceptance. You can adjust these scripts according to your personal situation. If “I accept myself” doesn’t feel right, you can change it to “I face my feelings.”
What If I Don’t Want to Say Anything or Can’t Think of What to Say?
Curtis points out that it’s normal not to want to speak at the beginning. Silent tapping therapy is equally effective and she recommends it as a starting point for tapping practice. As you practice more, adding words will enhance the effect. She emphasizes that there’s no need to worry about the accuracy of the script because there’s no fixed pattern in tapping therapy. Just do it according to your personal comfort level. – Christine Curtis, Certified EFT Practitioner.
What Are the 5 Steps of Tapping?
Curtis shared what a typical tapping session is like. Generally, each session follows the following five steps.
5 Steps of a Tapping Session
First, identify your emotion, then determine its characteristics and intensity, using a scale of 1 to 10. Next, perform a round of tapping according to the tapping script, starting from the side of the hand. After completing a round, re – evaluate the intensity of the emotion and pay attention to the energy change. Repeat this process until the emotion becomes manageable. Curtis points out that the goal is to reduce the intensity of the emotion to a manageable level, not to completely eliminate it. She also reminds that the emotion may get worse before it gets better. It is recommended to keep paying attention and repeating the script until you feel an improvement.
How to Express Your Feelings Better
How Long Does It Take to See Results from Tapping?
Tapping therapy can change your energy, emotions, and thoughts in a short time. Christine Curtis, an EFT practitioner, points out that most people can feel the effects after several sessions. However, deeply – rooted emotional problems may take longer and the help of a professional therapist to resolve. EFT tapping can not only regulate the nervous system and change emotions immediately but also help find the root causes of emotions, which are often related to past traumas.
Emotional Freedom Technique tapping is considered an effective way to manage anxiety symptoms. However, it is not intended to replace treatment by a licensed mental health professional. It is especially important that if you are experiencing a psychiatric emergency, do not rely solely on tapping therapy.
If you have suicidal thoughts, please call the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to seek support and help from trained counselors. If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, please call 911.