Some Important Concepts in EFT

Transcription

1 Measuring Intensity Some Important Concepts in EFT Measuring intensity is extremely important because it gives a benchmark of the progress made. It also indicates when the problem has gone, and it is important that the intensity is always taken down to 0 to ensure that this is the case. Imagine that the intensity is taken to a 2, which is perfectly manageable for the person. However, any residual intensity is like a dandelion root, if it is not all removed from the ground, there is a potential for it to re-grow and can end up as big as it ever was. Before doing any tapping at all, measure the intensity of your symptom on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most intense and 0 is there is no emotion left regarding the problem. This is known as the SUDS level (Subjective Unit of Distress). Alternatively, measure the intensity of a symptom, for example, with the constricted breathing technique, the fullness of the breath is measured, where 10 is the deepest, most full breath possible. When the breath is shallower, the number used will be lower. The truth of a statement can also be a measure of intensity, where 10 is that the statement feels absolutely true. This is known as the VOCS level (Validity of Cognition) Creativity can be used with measuring scales, for a child they can show with their hands how big the feeling is, or colour can be used, so that red means intense, amber indicates the intensity is reducing and green means there is no further intensity. On occasions the measurement of intensity may be accidentally omitted, in these cases, assume the intensity was 10 and ask if it had been a 10 before, what would it be now? There are also physical ways of checking for intensity: Posture or facial expression can change Body language can change Fidgeting and movement of the hands or feet may be noticed Eyes change and expressions often become more or less relaxed Breathing may change, often sighs and yawns are noticed and can be an indication that a problem has been released. The voice can change in tone, pitch and volume. Some Important Concepts in EFT by Pat Ballantyne Page 1

2 Good questions to ask yourself or others when measuring intensity are: On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the worst you ve ever felt about this, and 0 being that there s no intensity at all, what would you be right now? (SUDS) On a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 meaning that its completely true for you, what would the truth of that statement for you right now? (VOCS) Testing Results Related to measuring intensity, testing results is also very important. If someone is treating a phobia, the only way they really know the phobia is gone is to try being close to the feared object or situation. When doing EFT anywhere other than the place that is feared, or near the object that is feared, the imagination is not always reliable. When testing results it is possible that other aspects may show up that were not present when the person imagined themselves in the situation. For example, a person may say that they are afraid of being a passenger in a car. All aspects of the fear are cleared, then they go in a car as a passenger to test their results and they find that cars passing them on the inside really increase their discomfort. They can then deal with this new aspect in situ, if appropriate. Other ways to notice that things are shifting: The picture seems different, the colour may change, or lose intensity, turn to black and white, get smaller, or seems literally farther away. A physical change often takes place so the feeling of butterflies in the stomach when thinking about the issue may be gone. Sometimes other physical sensations arise. If so, you tap for them. If someone has related a story as in the Tell the Story Technique it is always best to have them relate the story over and over until they can tell the story without any further intensity. Good questions to ask yourself or others when testing results are: Tell the story once more. How does it feel to go through it? Imagine the situation. Does anything still bother you about it? What do you feel when you say the words out loud? Being Specific People typically describe their problems in global terms such as I have poor self image or I m a people pleaser or I think there s something wrong with me. However, in order for someone to have the problem, some specific events must have taken place to make them feel that way. Some Important Concepts in EFT by Pat Ballantyne Page 2

3 The most basic mistake made with EFT is tapping in global terms only, after loosely identifying what to tap on. It is important that some time is taken to determine, very specifically, what you are targeting with your tapping. Good questions to ask yourself or others when trying to get to specific events: What is an example of this problem in action? What specifically bothers you when you think about what happened? Exactly what does this feel like to you? What you are feeling in your body? Be as specific as possible. For example: Q: So, you re angry with your friend? What specifically bothers you about her? A: She s unreliable. Q: What is an example of a time when she was unreliable? A: Well, we were supposed to go shopping last weekend, and when I arrived at her house she had already gone out, apparently she d forgotten about our arrangements. Tap on the events, then tap on any intense feelings about those events, if there is any further intensity, tap on the thoughts about the event. Thus we would end up with: Specific events Even though I got to her house and she had already gone out Even though she forgot about our arrangements Even though we were supposed to go shopping Specific feelings Even though I feel angry Even though I feel unimportant Even though I feel rejected Even though I feel disappointed Specific thoughts Even though I thought she was supposed to be my friend Even though I was sure I made arrangements with her Even though I wanted to go somewhere else anyway Etc. Some Important Concepts in EFT by Pat Ballantyne Page 3

4 It is possible for the intensity associated with the event to be cleared after only dealing with the specific event itself, this is a very common phenomenon, and often the only time specific feelings or thoughts need to be addressed is for the most intense part of the problem. Good questions to ask when breaking down issues into specific events: Assume that the issue is having a poor self image. When you think about having a poor self image, what specific event does this remind you of? Pick only one. Who in your life makes you feel this way? Focus on an incident with this person where you really felt this strongly. When did you start feeling this way? Sometimes it s difficult to come up with a specific event. If that happens you can create one that would have been typical of the situation, for example, imagine that your father was always shouting at you, picture a typical time that this happened. Where would you probably be in the house? What would he probably be shouting at you about? What would his face look like? What would his voice sound like? This will usually bring up the feelings, which is all it takes to tune in and apply EFT. Whether you know something really happened this way or not, the event that you tune into is real in your internal experience. This can be your perception of things or even what you imagine might have happened. Any way you can work with specific events gets results. As you tap for specific things that have contributed to the issue, the global issue becomes lighter and eventually may be completely resolved. Aspects Aspects are the different components to the problem and dealing with all aspects of a problem is essential for it to be dealt with completely. This was covered in the EFT handout. Some excellent ways of accessing aspects are the Tell the Story Technique and the Movie Technique. Most issues have a few aspects and even aspects can have aspects. For example, an aspect of a traumatic event such as a road traffic accident could be that the person in the accident felt powerless to stop the accident. This feeling of Some Important Concepts in EFT by Pat Ballantyne Page 4

5 powerlessness can remind them of an earlier memory, which should then be cleared using EFT. These are often childhood memories, when they felt powerless. It is quite common for people to clear an aspect, then switch aspects, so that they feel just as intense, but they are feeling intense about another memory or aspect of the event. They may then feel that EFT isn t working, but they have actually made good headway towards resolving the problem. Good questions to ask when searching for aspects are: What details do you see when you think about it? What sounds do you hear when you think about it? When you think about it, do you remember any specific smells? What were you thinking at the time? Where were you when it happened? Who else was there? Was it a hot day or a cold day? What was the looks on the faces of the people that were there? What did anyone say? What was the tone of their voice? What bothers you the most about it? What else bothers you? The Generalisation Effect Once EFT has been used to neutralize a few specific events on a certain theme, the positive effects tend to generalize across related issues. This is because these related events have commonalities. Thus, someone who has 100 traumatic memories usually finds that, after using EFT, the intensities tend to vanish for all of them after neutralizing only a relatively small number. Consequently people who have many traumatic memories may expect that they are in for many sessions using EFT. However, due to this principle, EFT provides a tool that is very efficient. Sometimes a table top metaphor is used in which the table top is a core issue and the legs are the specific events that hold the table top up. In practice, providing aspects are thoroughly cleared, only a few of the legs need to be dealt with, and the table top collapses because there aren t enough legs to hold it up any longer. A good question to ask when checking to see whether the generalization effect has worked: Think of something else that happened, something similar does it bother you like it used to? Some Important Concepts in EFT by Pat Ballantyne Page 5

6 Borrowing Benefits The concept of Borrowing Benefits began because Gary Craig noticed that participants at his training seminars were tapping along with his subjects on stage and reporting afterwards that they had benefited from doing this. Therapists who tapped along with their clients also noticed that they were getting positive effects from this tapping. Since positive effects were happening anyway, Gary started to ask course participants to identify an issue that they wished to address and tap along with the participants on stage as Gary demonstrated EFT. Those who tapped along with the people on stage did not have to address their issues directly, they simply had to think about an issue that caused them distress as they thought about it, rate their intensity on the issue, forget about the issue then tap along. Three ways of Borrowing Benefits have been identified: 1. Tapping along to taped sessions of EFT 2. Tapping along in a group 3. Doing pre-made EFT exercises Since not everyone wants to sit through other people s sessions, tapping exercises are very useful. It is important when borrowing benefits from any source that a specific event is identified and its intensity rated before starting the exercise. Some Important Concepts in EFT by Pat Ballantyne Page 6