By Dr. Holly Holmes-Meredith, D. Min., MFT, Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist
and Bill Yarborough, CHT and Certified EFT Practitioner
All of us have fears in our life that hold us back. What would your life be like if you could wash away your fears and phobias?
Some of your fears could interfere with your effectiveness at work. For example, you may have a fear of public speaking. In an article by Lisa Fritscher in Very Well Mind, she states some experts estimate that as much as 77% of the population has some level of anxiety regarding public speaking.
Other fears might include the fears of taking risks, making sales calls, confronting controversial issues, adjusting to change, or learning new technologies. Your personnel life could also be hampered by such traits as a fear of intimacy, unease in social gatherings, the phobia of driving in traffic, or the terror of spiders. Sadly, the list of fears and phobias is endless.
So, what would your life be like if you could wash away such fears and phobias with a fast, easy, and proven method? Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping could provide you with such a potent skill. EFT involves tapping on body pressure points to get release from negative emotions. It begins by naming your fear, leaning into its emotional charge, and giving it a numerical value of intensity. Then, starting with a statement of self-acceptance or love while tapping the side of your hand, continue to name your fear while focusing on it as you tap on various spots on your face and upper body. Once done, you observe for any change or reduction, then repeat as necessary. It’s an easy method to learn, and there are many sites on the internet and You-Tube that demonstrate its use, such as Gary Craig’s emofree.com website (click the Gold Standard EFT Tapping Tutorial on the website’s bottom right). Holly is also offering an EFT class online on August 22nd and 23rd. You can go to her website highlighted below for additional information about it.
Holly and Bill have worked extensively with EFT to reduce or eliminate fears and phobias. Holly has two good examples, but to maintain client anonymity, we have changed the details. She worked with a teenage girl who had a fear of heights. The prospect of walking onto the second-floor balcony of Holly’s office filled the girl with a paralyzing dread. But after one session of tapping, her phobia dissipated, and she gleefully walked onto Holly’s balcony and leaned over the railing to gaze at the shrubs below.
Similarly, Holly worked with a young boy who was frightened by the sound of wind. He couldn’t sleep at night when high winds howled against the eaves of his house. After a session of EFT, Holly played a CD recording of the sound of wind and the boy experienced no reaction. In both cases, the transformations turned out to be permanent.
But sometimes it will take several sessions to eliminate or reduce a fear or phobia. That is because it may involve several aspects or layers. Bill had a fear of doing verbal presentations at work. He used EFT in therapeutic sessions and on his own. Multiple sessions were needed over time to fully alleviate his fear since it involved peeling off several layers, such as a fear of authority and controversy, which ultimately led to traumatic childhood experiences. By persisting in using EFT to treat his fear of presentations, Bill turned what his superiors considered a weakness into a strength. He also gained a significant additional benefit. As he tapped on his fear issues, his acid reflux symptoms subsided allowing him to abandon his medication.
EFT is an energetic healing approach, and multidimensional energy systems are all interrelated. If you work on one emotional issue, it may help on something else, such as another emotional or physical limitation.
As powerful as EFT is to address fears and phobias it is also an excellent tool to use for a variety of other emotional health issues. Mind-body medicine pioneer Dawson Church, PhD, author of a topical book titled “Mind to Matter” recently sat down with Dave Asprey for a Bulletproof Radio podcast interview to talk about tapping and the field of energy psychology. During the interview Dawson said, “Among the myriad afflictions tapping helps with are: anxiety, depression, addiction, pain, PTSD, and phobias. It’s even shown promise for mastering your athletic performance.”
EFT or tapping is safe to practice on your own, but if you have significant psychological issues, consider professional help from a qualified practitioner. A practitioner can be particularly helpful in peeling off the layers of emotional issues.
We look forward to addressing other uses of EFT in future articles of this column. If you have questions or comments, please reach out to us via the contact information on our websites: Holly at hypnotherapytraining.com or Bill at billyarborough.com.