WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EFT 

By: Tricia DiFate-Nicastro 

 

Emotional Freedom Therapy, Emotional Freedom Techniques, Emotional Freedom Tapping, or Meridian Therapy. These are all umbrella terms for the same process.  The therapeutic technique is known as EFT. 

Greeting to all reading this. My name is Tricia DiFate- Nicastro.  I am a certified practitioner through EFT International. I feel passionate about this topic and I am inspired to share some information with you. 

Here is a little history about EFT.  EFT was developed by a counselor named Gary Craig. Gary was seeking a way to assist clients that were experiencing emotional distress. For some clients, typical forms of talk therapy were not producing fruitful progress. His goal was to have clients process and recover from their emotions with the understanding that this imbalance is occurring in the energy system. Mr. Craig was also trained under Roger Callahan who was the founder of Thought Field Therapy. TFT combines tapping on the energy meridian points along with talk therapy.  Can you relate? Have you had the experience that,  more traditional forms of therapy are beneficial (for sure ) However, you are still seeking those “aha moments” or “breakthroughs” in behavior patterns? 

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The Emotional Freedom Technique ( EFT) was originally to be used in the psychotherapy profession. EFT works by stimulating the acupuncture/acupressure and meridian points defined under traditional Chinese medicine.  The meridians necessitate energy flow. In EFT, we aim to restore the proper balance back to blocked or imbalanced meridians. The meridians include Large intestines, Spleen, Stomach, Heart, Small intestine, Kidney, Bladder, Pericardium, San Jiao, Liver, Gallbladder. These are the gateways to organs and emotional well being. An imbalance in the meridians can result in pain, illness, distress, disease, disorders, emotional issues, and conditions.. Here is what I do with you, as an EFT Practitioner, my job is leading your session through verbal contact.  At first, we will be talking and discussing what you have on your mind. You may or may not have a sense of what your presenting issues are. That is completely fine. Your story will unfold along in your session.  No worries about that! The session will include a setup statement, serious of 10  to 12 tapping spots on the meridian or acupuncture points. I will mirror your thoughts and phrases.  Ideally, I will utilize a number system, employed to quantify prior to the beginning of a tapping round and subsequently after a tapping round. The purpose of the number system is to monitor.  Are you becoming triggered by your thoughts and statements? Or, you may be experiencing a decrease in emotional charge.  It is completely,  NORMAL to fluctuate during the session. If you find it complicated to accurately measure your emotional intensity. Again, NO WORRIES!  We will utilize some more basic ways to quantify your intensity. Along with, checking in with you, I will be writing your statements down during the session. The reason this is important to me, is your thoughts and phrases become precisely what drives the session. Trust me, when I tell you, that you will see the POWER in your own words and statements.  How long does it take? Most people struggle with time because we all have too much on our plates. I GET IT! However, I do not rush this process. When you dive deep, as you will, the time will fly by. You can expect 1 to 1 1/2 hours for a typical session.  As I guide you through an EFT session there will be a natural progression of information and emotion. You will not struggle to learn something about yourself. I say this, due to the fact that a cognitive shift will transpire organically and unprompted. The tapping will distract you from overthinking during a session.  I will direct you frequently to address breathing in cycles. I will teach you how to listen and scan within your body's energy system. The purpose of this is gauging the changes within your energy system. This will bring self-awareness to issues such as:  where in your body emotions get trapped, does your pain shift around, is anxiety or panic presents itself. Over time, having awareness can minimize symptoms and catch occurrences prior to escalation.