What is Emotional Freedom Technique?
The Emotional Freedom Technique is an alternative psychotherapy that is used to help people overcome trauma in their life, and achieve freedom from the past that might otherwise be weighing them down. While what might be considered a traditional therapy session is going on, where patients describe traumatic events of their past, the practitioner presses gently on acupressure points that might be related to the traumatic memory. Proponents say that this can help get rid of disturbances in the patient’s energy field that had been caused by holding on to a specific traumatic memory.
The Emotional Freedom Technique is used in addition to, or sometimes in replacement of, other traditional therapies, and uses the meridians that exist on the body to help patients overcome trauma. This is believed to help reduce the time it takes to overcome issues. Some have said that issues that would otherwise have taken months or years to overcome have taken mere hours with this technique. It works by removing blockages that have been formed over time from the traumatic memories. After the practitioner is able to remove the blockage, emotions can flow freely and the patient will no longer feel upset. This has been used on many different emotional problems. Traumatic memories are commonly treated, but so are fears and phobias related to actions such as flying or public speaking. The technique has also been used to help people overcome addictions.
For those who would like to try the technique, there are many practitioners around the world that have certification in the process. They have to pass a stringent exam that proves their knowledge of how to use the technique and how it works. If you don’t want to see a practitioner, you can also learn it yourself. There are many books, CD’s, and DVD’s available that can help walk you through the process, although it is a little complicated to learn and will take much practice to use it on yourself with any success. It is important that you have at least some prior knowledge of acupressure points and meridians, as they will be referenced a lot in therapy explanations. For some treatments, a partner may be required as some points would be very hard to reach while remaining comfortable and relaxed.
As far as scientific research goes, it is inconclusive about the validity of the technique, but many people who have tried it vouch for it strongly. While some initially said that the positive results came solely from the placebo effect, there have been several studies that show that that is not wholly the case. Nonetheless, everyone does agree that the procedure is totally safe, and there is no harm in trying it. Worst case scenario, nothing happens – but for many patients, they feel at least some level of relief from fears or negative memories.
The Emotional Freedom Technique, sometime referred to as EFT, is still not very widely known, but as it grows in popularity you will surely hear about it. Perhaps you can give it a try and see if it is able to help you overcome the negative emotions that are holding you back.
