All over the world, there are people who do something they call ‘tapping’. They say the process is helping them free mind and body of all that is in the way of health. More and more scientists are agreeing with them. We take a look at this (self-help) modality, described as a fusion of Eastern, Western, body and mind healing approaches.
When proponents introduced the peculiar new technique of ‘tapping’ in the 1980s, the world saw it as highly controversial. A lot has happened since. Today, more and more people say it works for them. Energy tapping comes in different forms. Today there are for example Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which Gary Craig had developed, and Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Tapping is a mind body healing modality, and people use it as a self-help method (for the rest of our lives), or with a licensed practitioner.
Tapping is based on the idea that emotions are stored in the body as energy, and that this stored energy can be bad for our health. Proponents say the process works as it helps them stimulate key energy or acupuncture points while articulating a physical or emotional issue. They say that this combination of Eastern-inspired acupressure points with Western psychology, helps them release stored energy in the body. All in all, proponents say the process helps them improve their health of body and mind.
Body and mind: Words are powerful
Tapping can help us review our inner voice, beliefs and perspectives about ourselves and the world, say proponents also of the body and mind method. And steer them if needed. Acknowledging a problem (physical or emotional) in this way can help us let go and heal.
By simultaneously tapping and talking about an issue, we can also send calming signals to the brain, say people that use tapping. We can let our subconscious know that all is well, even when we have these thoughts.
Users then often end their session with a few ’rounds’ of positive words about the topic. This can help them see their issues in a different light, or use a perspective mindshift. Or they can address some other issues that have risen to the surface of the mind during the process.
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Beliefs about body and mind that can affect our life and health?
All the good partners/ properties/ jobs are always taken. I am just never lucky.
Whenever I do something new I am not very good at it. I am always late. There is something wrong with me.
Whenever there is a virus or flu going round, I am bound to catch it. My body is weak.
Stress!
Today we are starting to understand more and more that a lot of poor health is related to stress. And particularly how this relates to our ancient survival fight-or-flight system, which in today’s world, is overactive. Tapping appears to be particularly successful with this.
“Tapping has been shown to change activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that moderates the fight-or-flight response (sympathetic nervous system),” said Dr. Kim D’Eramo, sharing her perspective with us. Dr D’Eramo is the author of the MindBody Toolkit and Founder of the American Institute of MindBody Medicine.
“This allows the resolution of triggers where perceived threats ignite a full-blown sympathetic nervous system response,” she explained. So, by shifting this activity: “We are properly responding to stimuli, by not igniting this trigger response inappropriately.”
“It has also been shown to alter brain activity and serotonin, and rebalance the autonomic nervous system,” she added. Tapping, she explained, has proven useful for anxiety and depression, as well as hard-to-treat chronic pain or fatigue.
“EFT Tapping helps to access the body’s energy and send signals to the part of the brain that controls stress,” wrote EFT Tapping therapist Kim McPherson in an Australian magazine. In the article, McPherson, a former nurse, refers to an EFT study among nursing students. When we caught up with her, she told us she has helped many of her clients with eating disorders through EFT.
Psychology: Mind and body
The field of psychology is now also making use of energy tapping. Experts such as Phil Mollon of the British Psychoanalytical Society refer to it as energy psychology. Mollon, himself the developer of something called Psychoanalytic Energy Psychotherapy [PEP], has called energy psychology ‘a missing ingredient in psychotherapy.’ And that it can help create a ‘truly astonishing’ fast and in-depth change.’
When we spoke to him, he said: “Emotions are, of course, bodily events as well as mental. The deeper patterns of emotion and behaviour are encoded in the subtle energy system.”
To which he added: “Energy psychology methods such as acupoint tapping, can enhance psychotherapy greatly. By combining attention to the body, mind, and subtle energy system concurrently, we achieve a much greater effect than focussing on the mind alone.”
“By combining the body, mind, and subtle energy system, we achieve greater effect than focussing on the mind alone.”
Science behind it
Scientists are increasingly discovering that acupoint tapping is an evidence-based, self-help therapeutic method. There has been a growing body of evidence that it provides fast results in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers such as Susan Patterson have found EFT to be an effective, easy tool for stress management and anxiety relief.
It is estimated that “10 million people worldwide have used tapping,” wrote from Nick Ortner in the Huffington Post. Through his online support on The Tapping Solution and annual Tapping World Summit he has been making tapping more available to the public
Image courtesy of The Tapping Solution
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