Hi EFT'ers,
I need your assistance. Please work with me to help refine my current efforts at portraying the Timeless EFT Principles below. Are they complete? Are they clear? Would you reword any of them? Would you add something? This is an essential EFT document because it establishes the foundation for the entire EFT Community. Thus I would appreciate your comments at the end of this Blog.
With Deep Respect, Gary
The Timeless EFT Principles
(And why EFT is always on the cutting edge)
By Gary Craig
Introduction: EFT is everywhere. You'll find it in books, blogs, websites, newsletters and workshops worldwide. Its results for emotional, physical and performance issues are extraordinary. No drugs or surgeries are involved, it often works where nothing else will and it's all based on some Timeless EFT Principles that anyone can learn.
However, we must make an important distinction if you are to maximize your use of EFT. From the beginning, I have encouraged The EFT Community to experiment with EFT, blend it with other methods and develop alternative approaches. The result has been an extraordinary collection of EFT gems that allow users to customize the process to their own style. However, these wonderments are different from the Timeless EFT Principles and do not replace them. Rather, they give you an endless assortment of variations and options regarding how to use these Principles.
Just as athletes must master all the basics to rise to the top of their sport, so must an EFT'er master the Timeless EFT Principles. Tennis players, for example, must master the serve, forehand, backhand and net play if they are going to step on the court with the best. They can tweak their game by variations in their shoes, hand grips & tennis rackets, of course, and they can move from coach to coach to learn about different grips and footwork. However, without mastering the "Timeless Tennis Principles," they will never maximize their abilities.
The same applies to EFT Mastery wherein the Timeless EFT Principles are essential. For a quality look at these Principles in action, just view our DVD sets known as Borrowing Benefits, Serious Diseases 1 &2 and Mastering EFT. There you will find 40+ quality sessions wherein I use ONLY the Timeless EFT Principles. No variations, options or customizations involved. They set the bar for quality EFT and I am thrilled to have taught many people to match those results. I anxiously await the day when we can consistently exceed that. We will adjust the Timeless EFT Principles at that time and, in this way, EFT will always be on the cutting edge.
The EFT Certification Program is designed to distill these Principles out of our DVDs and other materials so that the serious student can achieve mastery. Along these lines, Official EFT represents the DVDs and website EFT instruction (including the EFT Tutorial) that are based on the Timeless EFT Principles and further clarified by the EFT Certification Study Guides.
Below are the Timeless EFT Principles. Note: Some of these Principles are unique to EFT while others have been customized from other sources and have become integral to the EFT process.
Principle #1 - The Discovery Statement: "The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system."
This is the foundation of EFT and also represents the essence of Energy Psychology. As a result, all versions tune in to the issue at hand and then stimulate the energy points on the body to create energy balancing. The proponents of the various versions may not state this directly but it is the underlying principle. This statement is discussed in the EFT Manual and in The EFT Course DVD set.
This wording is my own and was developed from my initial exposure to these energy related processes by Dr. Roger Callahan. While I honor Dr. Callahan's important contributions to this field, I have developed, distilled and simplified Dr. Callahan's methods.
Principle #2 - The EFT Basic Recipe: The full version of this simple procedure is given in the free EFT Manual and is demonstrated profusely in the first two videos of the EFT Course (part of the EFT Foundational Library). There are many variations and shortcut versions that people use but your EFT education is not complete without a thorough grounding in the original. In our EFT-Beyond the Basics DVD set we also introduce 3 other points that are used with some frequency: Top of the Head, Wrists, Ankles
Unfortunately, most people teach the variations and shortcuts only. This shortchanges the student. Others believe new tapping points should be introduced and give a wide variety of reasons for them. I (and others) have experimented endlessly with these points since the mid-90's and I have yet to see any of them provide consistently improved benefits over the standard EFT points. Some may work as well but this is not where EFT improvements are to be made. Rather, the real progress comes from the Art of Delivery that encompasses the other principles below.
This Basic Recipe is my own design and represents a fundamental shift from my original teacher. While it uses the general format and points taught by Dr. Callahan, this EFT tapping routine (algorithm) can be used for ALL issues rather than having to "diagnose," via muscle testing (or otherwise) to find specific tapping routines for various ailments. This "one tapping routine fits all" innovation has vastly simplified the process and allowed EFT to be very streamlined, intuitive and flowing. It has become the central, most widely accepted innovation in the field.
Principle #3 - Customized Setup Phrasing: To add to the streamlined, intuitive and flowing nature of the Basic Recipe, I discovered a vitally important upgrade to the Setup portion that has considerably opened up EFT's Art of Delivery for experienced students. By expanding and customizing the Setup in a manner that some people call "stream of consciousness" or "intuitive rambling," three things can be accomplished:
- more focus can be given to the issue,
- reframes can be added that land much better than through conventional means and,
- intuition often shows up to substantially aid the detective process for finding core issues.
Because this Principle uniquely dovetails intuition with the Basic recipe, it has become a major innovation and elevated the process greatly for serious students. Every EFT expert uses it and their skills with this Principle are what separates their results from the average.
This innovation can be found in every EFT DVD set starting with EFT-Beyond the Basics.
Principle #4 - Adding Reframes: My background in NLP taught me about the art of reframing someone's perspective. This skill can encourage cognitive shifts, which is the ultimate goal in traditional therapy, and has increased the success of EFT on a large scale. Once I learned to customize the Default Setup Phrase (see Principle #3) and collapse emotional intensity more completely, I began adding Reframes to see if I could shift the clients' perspective in a healthier direction. The results were astounding, and the degree of cognitive shift that I was able to produce was yet another important innovation to the EFT process. Any experienced practitioner with skill in applying Reframes has dramatically expanded their results.
It isn't reframing itself that is the innovation, however, for that is a widely held concept within the therapy field. Rather, it is the idea of doing reframing while tapping. For reasons not yet known, this radically improves how well reframes "land" with the client.
This innovation started to develop in our DVD set "EFT-Beyond the Basics" and is fully developed in "Borrowing Benefits." Please refer to the Intermediate Library Tutorials for detailed instruction.
Principle #5 - Shifting Aspects: Unlike conventional methods, EFT can be so rapid and efficient that clients "shift aspects" during the session without knowing it. Since a given issue can have several parts or emotions contained within it (aspects), it is not unusual for an EFT client to resolve one aspect immediately and then shift to another aspect without noticing the previous improvement.
Thus the client can shift from one event in a memory to another or shift to different emotions within the event and conclude that "nothing happened." In reality, they may have completely resolved one aspect and are now working on another.
It is critical for the EFT practitioner to understand this Principle and to develop skills to work with it. Otherwise, neither the client nor the practitioner will be able to fully recognize the progress. It is vital to demonstrate it repeatedly so the student is thoroughly grounded in this Principle. That's why it is covered in The EFT Manual and demonstrated throughout our Training DVDs.
Principle #6 - Using Specific Events: Clients almost always portray their issues in global terms like, "I feel abandoned", "I have a bad temper" or "My self image is poor." However, none of these broad issues could arise UNLESS there were specific events underlying them. One cannot feel abandoned, for example, unless s/he has experienced abandonment events previously.
Unfortunately, the inexperienced EFT'er typically tries to tap on these global issues with language such as, "Even though I feel abandoned...". This is like trying to chop down an entire forest of diseased trees with one swing of the axe. The client may feel some relief but you haven't gotten to the core of the issue until you break it down into the easily EFT'able specific events underlying the problem.
Not addressing specific events is one of the major errors made by newcomers. The EFT Manual says, "Be specific where possible" on numerous occasions. Further, specific events are profusely illustrated in our DVD sets known as Borrowing Benefits, EFT for Serious Diseases 1 & 2 and Mastering EFT. It is also useful to note that the specific events for some clients are so intense that the Principle involving Minimizing Pain is best used first.
I developed this Principle, and its unique application to EFT, as a result of my training as an engineer. It just seemed so logical to break down complex issues into smaller, easier to handle, parts. Nonetheless, it has been one of the most difficult Principles to teach. Many therapists have been conditioned to "stay global" and, even though they understand this Principle, they have difficulty putting it into practice.
So, to support the use of Specific Events with EFT, I developed the Movie Technique and the Tell the Story Technique. They naturally force the use of specific events and are described under Useful EFT Tools below. They have become among the centerpieces to EFT's Art of Delivery.
Principle #7 - The Generalization Effect: After you have used EFT to neutralize a few problems or specific events on a certain theme, the positive effects tend to generalize across related issues. This is because these related events have commonalities.
For example, 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. This is startling to some because they have so many traumas that they think they are in for unending sessions with these techniques. Not so. Thanks to this Principle, EFT often clears out a whole forest of diseased trees after cutting down just a few of them.
I first noticed this when I dealt with Rich, the first Veteran on the "6 Days at the VA" DVD in our EFT Course. This is an important observation and, along with specific events, brings great efficiency to broadly based and complex issues. Knowing how to use this Principle often separates the experienced EFT'ers from the rest.
Principle #8 - Testing Your Work: Testing your work is imperative. Without it you will often flounder and not know where you are in the process. Thus repeatedly asking for the 0-10 intensity ratings is essential. But this isn't enough.
You must also integrate within your sessions ways to challenge the client's improvement by role playing, testing the results in the real world, asking knee-wobbling questions, etc. Testing is a crucial skill and you must have a wide facility with it. That's why our DVD Training Libraries are loaded with live sessions where testing is performed from many angles.
Although testing your work on a 0-10 basis is not a unique concept, my addition to the testing process for EFT included many ways to creatively challenge the apparent results as the sessions unfold. EFT allows us to rapidly go to new depths with our clients and it thus becomes imperative that we appropriately test so that "we know where we are" in the process. Skillful testing allows us to be as thorough as possible.
Principle #9 - Chasing the Pain: This Principle has an interesting history. As I gained experience with EFT, I repeatedly saw how emotional and physical issues were linked. At first, I saw that emotional releases also resulted in reduced headaches, back pain, stomach upsets, etc.
But then I found that you can also do this in reverse. A client with an intense emotional issue, for example, will often have physical symptoms. If you address the physical symptoms with EFT first and Chase the Pain as these symptoms shift, you will often collapse the related emotional issue without ever having to deal with it directly. This is clearly demonstrated in my session with Kathy in the Borrowing Benefits DVD set and with Lily in our Serious Diseases 1 DVD set.
Principle #10 - Finding Core Issues: This essential Principle also separates the expert practitioners from the average. It takes solid detective work to get down to the real issues behind the client's problem. This isn't a principle that you learn overnight. Rather, it takes experience and the repeated demonstrations that exist throughout our training DVDs. With these demonstrations, you are given an impressive number of approaches for use with your clients.
While the idea of finding core issues is not new, it takes on special importance when we are able to bring relief so rapidly. Until you truly resolve the core issues, the problems will appear to "come back." This is a clue that you aren't done yet. Many of the EFT variations that I have seen provide different ways to do this detective work.
Some standard questions help us find Core Issues and, properly used, they almost always lead us into useful territory. Two of these questions are: (1) What does that remind you of? and (2) If you could live life over again, what person or event would you just as soon skip?
Principle #11 - Minimizing Pain: Because we can get to Core Issues with unprecedented speed and depth with EFT, we need another Principle to "sneak up on the problem." This is so these painful issues can be handled humanely. Thus we developed unique EFT procedures that add gentleness to the process. They include "taking the edge off" by tapping globally at first and The Tearless Trauma Technique (described as one of the Useful EFT Tools below).
Principle #12 - Borrowing Benefits: An entire EFT DVD set is devoted to this unique and stunning EFT discovery. It revolves around the fact that you can identify issues of your own and improve them by "tapping along" while someone else is undergoing EFT for a completely different issue.
Anyone can use this remarkable advance by simply tapping along in their living room with any of the 70+ video sessions in our training DVDs ... OR ... by doing a live or video session in front of a big audience. Properly done, simultaneous benefits can be borrowed by rooms full of people.
I first discovered this by listening to the reports of therapists who tapped along with their clients. They cleared up their own thyroid problems, collapsed their own phobias, etc. without ever using EFT on these items directly. With these reports as a foundation, I began doing EFT with a live person on stage and had the audience borrow benefits by tapping along for their own issues. Success ... and our Borrowing Benefits Principle was the result.
Principle #13 - Surrogate EFT: In the process of doing Borrowing Benefits, workshop participants were noticing that the group tapping of the audience appeared to help people on stage. In time I experimented with this surrogate form of EFT by tapping for others by proxy and achieved consistent results.
Thus you can do EFT on yourself on behalf of someone thousands of miles away and often generate benefits for them (and sometimes for yourself). Among other things, this extraordinary principle allows you to help others who are unable to help themselves (e.g. infants, pets, disabled people, etc.).
Surrogate work like this is not new as various forms of prayer have shown similar benefits. However, adding EFT to the surrogate healing process can dramatically accelerate the results. It appears to work much more rapidly, deeply and consistently when EFT is involved. Accordingly, there are many ways to customize this process to EFT and you will find them throughout our website.
Principle #14 - Doing EFT THROUGH you, not BY you: I recognized the importance of intuition early on in EFT's development and thus departed from the more mechanical and prescribed approach used by Dr. Callahan at that time.
This is the central idea behind the use of intuition within the EFT process. It involves "getting yourself out of the way" and this customized approach is discussed in depth in our DVD set EFT-Beyond the Basics.
Intuition is always useful in the healing process but takes on a new importance now that we have a tool that can readily collapse the issues that your intuition uncovers.
Useful EFT Tools
Tearless Trauma Technique: I came up with this unique Tool as I realized the necessity for minimizing emotional pain during the EFT process. I discovered that clients could simply guess at how intense an emotional memory might be if they were to vividly imagine it. When doing so their guesses were accurate enough for EFT to work without getting into intense details, at least at first. After a few rounds of the Tearless Trauma Technique, enough of the edge gets taken off so that the more traumatic details can be visited with relative ease. It is fully described in the Tutorial section of our website and demonstrated often in our Training DVDs.
The Movie and Tell the Story Techniques: These systematic "collapse as you go" Tools are ideal for neutralizing the effects of specific events in a profound way. In the Movie Technique, a brief mental movie, real or imagined, is made of the event while in the Tell the Story Technique, the event is narrated. In both approaches, EFT is applied to the crescendos until the movie or story no longer carries any charge.
These simple, straightforward approaches, can be used by anyone and are frequently illustrated in our Training DVDs. They are also fully detailed in the Tutorial section of our website. As simple as they appear, experience and artistry are required to skillfully deliver them.
While imagining or recounting the story may be a part of many therapeutic methods, what is unique here is the integration of EFT in strategic ways to profoundly resolve emotional intensity as you go. It is customized to integrate the Principles of Finding Core Issues, Testing and Being Specific.
I first used these approaches when working with our veterans on the "6 Days at the VA" video. I then recognized how a simple, systematic method for neutralizing specific events would be imperative for any practitioner.
Personal Peace Procedure: This process is widely used for client homework and is ideal for long term work on global issues. In practice, the client makes a list of every specific event in his/her life that s/he wishes hadn't happened, and then performs EFT on them one at a time. If, over 90 days, the client addresses 1 to 3 specific events per day, s/he will have reduced the emotional burden of 90 to 270 of them. This process has been responsible for changing many lives and is fully described in the Tutorial section of our website. "In practice, the client makes a list of every specific event in his/her life that he/she wishes hadn't happened, and then performs EFT on them one at a time.
The Constricted Breathing Technique: This unique process was originally designed to help find important emotional issues. This is because emotional issues often curtail our ability to breathe deeply. You will find a quality description in the Tutorial section of our website and in our DVD set known as EFT-Beyond the Basics.
A MUST EFT Procedure for Children: This delightful method involves gentle tapping on children. In essence, you tap on them while they tell you about their day (often done at bedtime). This helps collapse many issues while they are still fresh so they don't accumulate into big issues as adulthood unfolds. This priceless gift for children is fully explained in the Tutorial section of our website.