... Emotional Freedom Techniques

Tao Te Ching: "My life is in my hands, not in the control of heaven and earth."
Lao Tzu

When I sat down in the auditorium and listened to Gary Craig speak at the Ultimate Therapist weekend in San Francisco in 1998, I knew I had found an aligned soul in Energy Psychology. He is smart and inspirational, never negative or critical, and committed as many of us are to carrying the energy message to the world. In those moments where I feel defeated or overwhelmed, as all practitioners do at times, in the face of their client’s great pain or recalcitrant illness, I think, what would Gary do or say at this moment?” And I find things coming out of my mouth like, “Everything is healable in time.” “You are so brave to face this pain.” “ Hang in there, I know you can do it!” “The possibilities for healing are endless!” “There never was a time when you weren’t perfect.”

Gary’s formal training is as an engineer, graduating from Stanford in 1962, but finding his life’s calling as a motivational/inspirational speaker and teacher. He is a wonderful combination of cheerleader, scientist, and “minister” of energetics. He was one of Callahan’s first students, and in his “retirement” has built a community and a website to take energy psychology to the world. (Feinstein, Eden, Craig 2005) I was one of his first Ultimate Therapist students, and I am grateful everyday for the opportunities EFT offers me and those I serve. I am unable to be a master EFT practitioner because Gary limits that to those who practice EFT exclusively, and as you witness in this writing I am embrace many models of energy work. (Craig 1998)

Emotional Freedom Techniques is an offshoot of Callahan’s Techniques™ and uses acupressure on fourteen of the major meridian points. (See diagram) Gary Craig often taps on his clients when working with them. In DEH we have the participants tap on themselves and find that this greatly empowers them. Tapping can be done with one or both hands. I always guide people to do two fingers, the index and middle, on each point.

Gary and other sole EFT practitioners use EFT as a stand alone model. In DEH we sometimes use it on its own, but more often use it as an intervention in the origins work. I have shortened the routine when using it stand alone, and when it is a part of DEH we simply tap on the problem as you will see in later examples.

[The Meridian Points and the Sequence]
[Mary’s Brief EFT Recipe]
[EFT Applications]