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emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/2/2008 5:09:07 PM

hisannabelle

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Joined: 12/3/2006
From: Tallahassee, FL, USA
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is anyone here familiar with eft? http://emofree.com/ is the website and you can get free articles and a manual on how to start using it from there. they also sell dvds, but these aren't necessary for the basic stuff (i've never seen the dvds myself).

i'm just curious. a therapist i was seeing a few years ago tried to introduce it to me to no avail...and honestly, i just thought it was some new age hoopla and never really considered it. then i was looking at a friend's profile on another board and it was listed in her interests so i randomly decided to look it up and i found the manual. i'd be interested to hear if anyone here uses it or has been helped by it.

basically, it involves using affirmations and tapping certain points on the body to "fix" our energy channels. it's something akin to acupuncture without the needles, and in much shorter time, but it's a lot less complicated (the points are very basic and there aren't too many of them, and you use all of them instead of specific ones related to your problem). the idea is that instead of problems coming directly from experiences, that problems (like phobias, depression, anxiety, and even physical symptoms) come from a disruption in the body's energy caused by remembering the problem. therefore, the concept is that if you do things that fix the energy, that will fix the symptoms.

it's a little too close to the idea that "it's all in your head," which, as someone who's experienced both mental and physical disability, i can't stand. i've always been very much about validating problems and treating issues as if they are real problems with real results - if you have a chemical imbalance that causes depression, taking something to settle that imbalance is no different than taking an antihistamine to help a physical allergy, etc. so i'm not sure if i buy ALL of it. but i've heard so many good things about it that i thought it would be interesting to read up.

respectfully,
a'ishah.

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/2/2008 5:48:04 PM

CallaFirestormBW

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Annabelle,

I was taught this technique, along with several others, when I was training to do pastoral care. Over time, I learned about an expanded technique called Mind Imaging that has done everything I hoped EFT would, and more. I still teach EFT occasionally, as part of an ongoing pastoral care program, but I'm much more inclined to work with Mind Imaging if we have the time, because it provides tools to both eliminate ineffective thought processes and create new thought processes where they can be most useful, where EFT really focuses on just eliminating the old patterns -- only because I believe the trite phrase "The Universe abhors a vacuum."

Mind Imaging was developed by one of the original creators of EFT, Mark Furman. Drop me a cmail on the other side and I'll send you info if you want.

Calla Firestorm

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/2/2008 5:48:47 PM

Alumbrado

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I don't want to get into a long debate over whether acupuncture works, but this stuff claims to be a needle free version of acupuncture, and to correct imbalances as does acupuncture...

Buuuuttt... I couldn't find any explanation as to how it purportedly does so.

In acupuncture, the points aren't treated as buttons or switches to be pushed or tapped for a magical on/off effect, they are treated as valves if you will, to modulate a supposed energy flow along a channel.
And one of the things that people don't realize about quick and easy New Age acupuncturish 'fixes' is that a long complicated set of diagnostic methods tells the acupuncturist which way to 'spin' the needles after insertion, and how to plan a course of treatment.
Simply tapping memorized spots to 'cure' a name on a list, like 'Addiction' isn't the way acupuncture is laid out.

So I would be immediately suspicious of something that promises great results without any internally consistent explanation...

Moving on to the testimonials, I almost quit reading after seeing Deepak Chopra leading the list...but if you go on, you see a lot of warm fluffy claims such as "EFT is at the forefront of the new healing movement.", and "
"EFT is easy, effective, and produces amazing results. I think it should be taught in elementary school. ".

In other words it works because it is soooo wonderful that it works.

Now lets move on to the 'nothing in here should be considered a medical claim or device' disclaimer...OK, but it heals that long laundry list of disorders where medical treatments failed?

I'm going to say that they are flinging buzz words from neuroscience around, swiping labels from things outside the mainstream like energy healing and TCM, and basically healing their bank accounts more than anything else.

But I could just be a skeptic.

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/2/2008 5:53:52 PM

hisannabelle

Posts: 1992
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calla, pm'ed you :)

no, i'm right there with you alumbrado. actually the deepak chopra thing almost made me turn back on its own ;) and personally from my own experiences with acupuncture i know it's WAY different than the theory behind acupuncture (the only thing that is similar is that both use the concepts of energy and pressure points, but in different ways). i've always gotten very temporary relief from acupuncture, similar from what i have from massage (and craniosacral therapy for that matter), and both are too expensive for me to do on a regular basis.

but i figured since there are people who i generally think have good heads on their shoulders who do it it might be worth looking into. a little skepticism is sometimes a good thing though.

< Message edited by hisannabelle -- 8/2/2008 5:54:04 PM >

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/2/2008 5:56:00 PM

Alumbrado

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Yeah, I've just got to work on the 'little' aspect...

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/7/2008 1:44:20 PM

subsong

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    After being taught the technique , I've been practicing EFT for the last couple years .   I find it a very helpful and effective tool for reinforcing intention ,   maintaining healthful habits , and removing various discomforts from the body .
     I've witnessed people with chronic pain , that were given immediate relief with someone else tapping on them , and I've used it on several of my friends with good results !

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/7/2008 5:01:47 PM

RedMagic1

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Standard western science has demonstrated that acupuncture is clearly of benefit to the body. At best, the verdict is still out on EFT. It is more in the quantum healing area of health procedures. Of course, one of my best friends believes she can perform quantum healing. So I'm going to shut up now.

Edited to add this link as one source that is critical:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/feb/10/healthandwellbeing.features3

< Message edited by RedMagic1 -- 8/7/2008 5:03:26 PM >

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/7/2008 7:29:05 PM

Alumbrado

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quote:

ORIGINAL: subsong

    After being taught the technique , I've been practicing EFT for the last couple years .   I find it a very helpful and effective tool for reinforcing intention ,   maintaining healthful habits , and removing various discomforts from the body .
     I've witnessed people with chronic pain , that were given immediate relief with someone else tapping on them , and I've used it on several of my friends with good results !

I've witnessed similar results from taking an analgesic powder, and from administering Reiki treatments...and from acupuncture.
But I wouldn't proceed to claim that any those remedies could cure addiction, et al., as the EFT website does.

I also know various health qigongs that incorporate tapping into their routintes, but they have a methodology which purports to explain how the tapping provides benefits.... and a methodology is something that EFT seems to do without.

That's a pretty big red flag for me.

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RE: emotional freedom techniques (eft) - 8/7/2008 9:19:10 PM

proudsub

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It sounds somewhat like assemblage point healing. We have just started working on a web site for someone who gives classes in this, so i am trying to learn more about it. Here's a reference site: http://www.nakedspirit.co.uk/ns8.html

And here's a success story i came across: http://assemblagepointshift.com/success.htm

< Message edited by proudsub -- 8/7/2008 9:33:45 PM >

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