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| Emotional Freedom from Dogs
Lynn Leadbeater is a journalist who since she was a child has been terrified by big dogs and extremely nervous in the presence of small ones.
Recently she participated in the EFT Foundations Workshop and wrote this article about her learning and experience.
One dark evening as I was walking home, a hub cap fell off a passing car and bounded noisily towards me. I didn't turn round to see what was happening. I couldn't bear to look. But, leaning against a wall, I covered my eyes with my arm and screamed and screamed, to the amazement of a queue of bystanders snaking out of a nearby chip shop. They had seen a harmless piece of metal spinning to a halt in the middle of the street. How could they have guessed that I had heard, or thought I'd heard, the claws of a man-eating beast skittering on the pavement as it charged up on me from behind?
I had avoided dogs for so long that it's hard to imagine a time when it was possible to negotiate a park or a playground without carefully tracking the movements of any free-running animals. Yet after just a few minutes' work with a new treatment called Emotional Freedom Technique, I could picture myself facing up to lip-smacking canines with impunity. Instead of imagining wolf-like fangs and gaping jaws, I now visualised cartoon dentures snapping helplessly on the pavement. While the EFT had not removed my fear completely, it had reduced the previously excessive level of anxiety to an appropriate one that was no more than anyone else would feel when confronted with a large, barking dog.
I was taking part in a weekend training workshop organised by Emotional Health therapist Gwyneth Moss, who uses this new branch of complementary psychology to help her clients overcome anxieties and unwanted behaviours; to put traumatic experiences behind them; and to improve their sporting, artistic and professional performances by clearing blocks to confidence. What makes Emotional Freedom Technique unusual is that it can produce positive results remarkably quickly, often in one or just a few sessions. Unlike many other forms of alternative medicine which require years of training to master, it is also surprisingly easy for a novice practitioner to achieve impressive results.
Modern science has not yet caught up with EFT and we don't know how it works. One understanding is that EFT has its origins in traditional Chinese acupuncture first developed 5,000 years ago. As such, it is based on a concept of how mind, body and pressure points on the skin are linked by meridians which conduct the flow of energy through the body. Over the millennia, Eastern medical teachings have evolved and fused with Western ideas on alternative health care, to produce a variety of related practices loosely termed Energy Medicine and Energy Psychology.
One of these is Thought Field Therapy, developed by an American clinical psychologist in the 1980s. Dr Roger Callahan had been disappointed when he had failed to help some of his clients using conventional methods but he had also studied Eastern medicine. His Eureka moment came while treating a patient called Mary, who had an intense fear of water. The consultation was taking place near to a swimming pool and Mary described her feelings as being like a 'churning in her stomach'. Dr Callahan wondered what would happen if she was tapped on the pressure points beneath her eyes, which are the end points of the associated meridian. Mary immediately responded by walking over to the edge of the water and splashing it on her face.
Dr Callahan went on to refine Thought Field Therapy and developed a complex process of diagnosis and treatment using sequences of tapping on different parts of the body, to bring about lasting change for a wide range of physical and mental difficulties. The premise behind this was that a perturbation of the mind-body energy flow is experienced as excessive emotional intensity. Restoring equilibrium by tapping on acupressure points while keeping the patient's thoughts tuned in to the problem would balance these uncontrollable feelings so that they would be expressed at an appropriate level.
The problem was that TFT, although highly effective, takes time and study to learn because it relies on diagnosis to select the correct sequence for treatment. But one of Dr Callahan's earliest students realised that the technique could be adapted in a way that would transform a complex therapy into a self-help technique that would be accessible to all.
Gary Craig's insight was that, because TFT relied on tapping a limited number of acupressure points in different orders depending on the problem to be addressed, preliminary diagnosis was not necessary. Instead, he developed a 'one size fits all' approach, where the practitioner used them all in the same sequence for every condition, and he also placed a greater emphasis on verbal expression and language skills. Emotional Freedom Technique was born.
Although this therapeutic tool has been around for not much more than ten years, it already has more than 200,000 users worldwide and Gwyneth finds it ideal for helping her clients to change their feelings or behaviour for the better or to overcome lack of confidence. She has now been using EFT for over five years, and seen at first hand how it has helped several hundred people. Having travelled to the United States to study with Gary Craig, she holds training workshops in Yorkshire for complementary therapists, doctors, counsellors, health workers and people-helpers who want to learn this effective tool.
Because EFT is so easy for anyone to learn, they are able to practise it on themselves at home without understanding the underlying theory. It"s a bit like driving a car" Gwyneth explains. "You don't have to know how it works under the bonnet to be a safe driver.'
First of all, the client is tuned in to the problem by making a simple verbal statement, which balances a negative clause with a positive affirmation of his or her own worth. For me, this might have been: 'Even though I run a mile every time I see a big dog, I still feel OK about myself.'
This is repeated three times while applying regular, gentle tapping on the side of the hand, and then a series of about seven taps is carried out on acupressure points around the body while repeating a reminder phrase like 'big dog' or 'snapping teeth'. If there is some residual fear or anxiety, the procedure can be carried out again, perhaps exploring other aspects of the problem, until the issue is resolved to the client's satisfaction.
In my case, it did not take long before I was able to laugh at the way I had over-reacted and another participant in the workshop pointed out that I was already referring to my fear in the past tense. The next day I continued a relaxed conversation with a neighbour without that old feeling of being compelled to keep an eye on her dog that was becoming a little too up close and personal.
More variations on the Emotional Freedom Technique theme may be used to address specific conditions, such as clearing the effects of traumatic memories but the basic recipe remains the same. However, because EFT only requires the client to put their attention onto the problem, there is no need for sufferers to relive those experiences, or for clients to disclose personal matters to their therapist. No drugs or equipment are needed - and even the practitioners may reap the rewards of a vicarious healing process. Other benefits include typically rapid recovery times, with many patients experiencing relief after only a few sessions, so EFT is not only quick to learn but can soon bring about long-lasting effects.
That's not to say that attending a weekend course would make anyone an instant expert. Practice makes perfect and seasoned therapists (of whatever discipline) are able to draw upon a wealth of experience to guide their intuition. But they could grasp the basics of EFT with just two days' training: and perhaps make a lasting difference to their own lives too.
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