How Does EFT Tapping Work? Here's The Science Behind It - E6

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques or tapping) has been proven effective for anxiety, depression, phobias, cravings, PTSD, chronic pain and so much more. A study shows that a 60-minute EFT group session reduced participants’ cortisol (our “stress hormone”) levels by 43%. Supportive listening from a therapist reduced participants’ cortisol levels by 19%. In this episode, learn how chronic stress and trauma affect our body and how EFT can quickly improve our well-being.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Annie Moussou,

A certified EFT tapping master practitioner.

I help women build confidence,

Set boundaries,

And enjoy healthy relationships.

Welcome to my podcast,

Hush Your Mind,

Building a better relationship with yourself.

On this show,

I offer practical wisdom to help you clear fears,

Limiting beliefs,

And trauma so that you can gracefully create a life you love.

In today's episode,

I'm going to be talking about the science behind EFT tapping.

There are so many studies coming out all the time,

It's really exciting.

You'll learn how chronic stress and trauma affect our body,

And how EFT releases them and reprograms our brain so that we can experience well-being.

You'll also learn about several mind-blowing studies.

Before we get started though,

I just want to say that I'm so grateful that you're listening to my humble podcast.

That means a lot to me,

Thank you.

If you haven't subscribed to my podcast yet,

Make sure you do that so that you catch my latest episodes.

Alright,

Let's jump into the science of EFT.

It's surprising how EFT,

Emotional freedom techniques,

Or tapping,

Can bring rapid changes.

EFT has been proven effective for anxiety,

Depression,

Phobias,

And post-traumatic stress disorder,

PTSD,

As well as physical pain,

Addiction,

Athletic performance,

And so much more.

A study shows that a 60-minute EFT group session reduced participants' cortisol,

Our stress hormone,

By 43%.

Supportive listening from a therapist reduced participants' cortisol levels by 19%.

In another study,

Veterans who had PTSD benefited from six weekly EFT sessions with a practitioner.

90% of participants healed from PTSD compared to 4% of participants who received standard care.

Let's take a look at how chronic stress and trauma affect us and how EFT swiftly clears them.

So chronic stress and trauma ravage our bodies.

I used to get badly hurt whenever someone criticized me.

Growing up with an overcritical parent wasn't easy.

Others' disapproval of alerted me to the danger of being abandoned.

That fear chipped at my relationships.

At the time,

I didn't realize that chronic fear or stress kept my body in fight or flight mode.

I couldn't recover from one stressor before another stressor jabbed at me.

Chronic stress can lead to many health problems,

Including anxiety,

Depression,

Burnout,

Digestive problems,

Headaches,

Heart disease,

Sleep problems,

Weight gain,

Memory and concentration impairment.

Our bodies can handle stress in small doses.

That's so important to know.

When a car suddenly veers toward us,

We don't have to think twice.

We grip and turn steering wheel to avoid an accident.

Thanks to the amygdala,

The part of our brain that processes fear,

Our body reacts effectively to danger.

Increased levels of cortisol and adrenaline propel us into the fight or flight response.

Our heart pounds,

Muscles tense up,

Our respiratory rate increases,

The blood vessels in our digestive tract reproductive system and all non-essential systems constrict,

Forcing blood to flow out to our arms and legs.

Our immune system shuts down and the process of cell regeneration stops.

This boosts the body so that it flights or flees the perceived threat.

Some people may freeze or fawn.

After the threat passes,

The body returns to its unstressed state called the relaxation response.

Serotonin,

Our happy hormone,

Gets released.

Our blood pressure,

Heart rate and hormonal levels return to normal.

The flight or flight response constantly gets activated for many people.

Daily stressors like traffic,

Job demands,

Relationship issues and money problems aren't necessarily life-threatening,

Yet they strain our bodily systems.

Smaller things can also set off our nervous system,

Like being the brunt of a joke or getting criticized.

Chronic negative thoughts and imagined threats contribute too.

This is especially true for people who have experienced neglect or abuse as children or other traumatic events.

So how does trauma affect our body?

In a nutshell,

When we have a traumatic experience,

Our brain forms an unpleasant association between the event and the pain.

The limbic system encodes negative experiences with an emotional charge.

It attaches an emotional red tag,

Quote-unquote,

To a class of memories.

Our brain constantly looks for threats to our well-being and compares our current situation with these tagged memories of painful experiences.

When our brain finds a match,

It alerts us to a potential problem.

That's why I struggle with being vulnerable in relationships.

It reminded me of the risk of being belittled by my father.

Because our bodies can only handle a limited amount of stress,

Trauma results when a stressor overloads the nervous system and we don't have the resources to safely process the experience.

The energy of the trauma is stored in our body's muscles,

Organs and connective tissues until it can be released.

In the meantime,

Our brain disconnects from that part of the body to block the experience which eventually causes pain and illness.

The good news is that EFT tapping reprograms our brain.

Tapping on certain acupuncture points sends a signal to our amygdala to relax.

We shut off the fight or flight response and train our brains to react differently to the same threat.

Phrases like,

Even though I feel like a failure when xyz happened.

Activate our usual stress response.

As we tap,

We expose ourselves to the stressor and stop the automatic reaction in its tracks.

We create a link between the trauma and a new cognitive input,

Reframing the memory with the statement of self-acceptance.

I deeply and completely accept myself.

Working with the bothersome memory in this way physically soothes our body,

Interrupts the emotional triggering,

And lessens its intensity.

Tapping signals the body that we're safe and the traumatic memory gets untagged.

The nervous system no longer associates the memory with stress.

In other words,

Our body no longer needs to stay in fight or flight.

Once we break the conditioned response,

We can think of the memory again without any emotional intensity.

Ultimately,

Tapping puts the body back into the relaxation response and allows the immune system,

Digestive system,

Reproductive system,

And endocrine system to function correctly.

A growing body of publications attest to the efficacy of tapping.

Research has been done in 10 countries with 60 researchers,

Resulting in 20 plus peer-reviewed medical and psychology journal publications.

Keep in mind that results may vary according to our unique rhythm of healing,

The practitioner's skills,

The length of sessions,

Etc.

Here are five impressive research studies.

Study number one,

20 studies spanning over 10 years composed a meta-analysis that proved EFT's efficacy in reducing depression symptoms by 41%.

Study number two,

In this study with 15 obese adults in total,

10 were allocated to an EFT treatment and five to a control group where they received no intervention for their cravings.

They were all scanned using fMRI before and after a four-week EFT treatment phase.

After tapping,

FMRI scans proved that those parts of the brain that usually activate cravings and hunger in response to certain foods no longer did.

Study number three,

Healthcare workers measured their pain levels,

Emotional distress,

And food cravings before and after four hours of EFT.

They reported significant improvements in their pain levels,

Emotional distress,

And food cravings.

90 days later,

All participants were contacted to see if they had continued to self-apply EFT once a week,

Three times a week,

Or not at all.

Higher use of EFT was associated with a steeper decrease in psychological symptoms.

The study found EFT to be effective for immediate and prolonged relief from issues typical in burnout like pain,

Distress,

And cravings.

Study number four,

A randomized control trial included people with phobias of small animals like bats,

Spiders,

And snakes.

After a 30-minute EFT session,

The participants could walk much closer to the feared small creature than those in the group that used diaphragmatic breathing.

Most of the improvements stayed after retesting three to six months later.

And finally,

Study number five,

5,

000 patients received either cognitive behavioral therapy with medication if needed,

Or tapping with no medication for five and a half years.

90% of patients who used tapping showed improvement versus 63% of the CBT patients.

Only three EFT sessions reduced the patient's anxiety compared to 15 for CBT.

76% of the EFT people got complete relief compared to 51% of the CBT people.

So that wraps up the five impressive studies.

My rational mind thirsts for logic and science.

That sense of control through a calculable understanding of the world reassures me,

Especially in such chaotic times.

But uncertainty can also be exciting.

If I hadn't put my judgments about EFT aside,

I wouldn't have found relief so quickly.

I would have kept beating myself up every day.

Fortunately,

My curiosity gets the best of me.

Experiencing EFT myself has transformed my life.

And the real evidence of EFT's power lies in how well it works for each of us.

Thank you so much for joining me in this episode of Hush Your Mind.

If you enjoyed it,

Please feel free to write a review.

Visit my profile and follow me to get notifications about new content and live group tapping sessions.

If you have any questions,

Comments,

Or suggestions,

Just send me a DM.

I'd love to hear from you.

May you have the courage to love and accept yourself.

Be well and take care.

Reviews

I am somewhat familiar with eft, but this podcast has greatly enhanced my understanding of this tool making me ready to use this powerful technique. Thank you

I was amazed and so happy when I tryed EFT to help with pain and sleep, now I'm going to try and do EFT every day to help with my chronic pain
Thank you for introducing me to EFT