by Sue Staropoli, M.A.

Featured Healing Modality: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Featured practitioner: Maxine McDonald CSW-R

Does the idea of “tapping” parts of your body seem like an odd way to promote emotional and physical healing?

Listen to the message from Dr. Joseph Mercola of www.mercola.com, the world’s most visited and trusted natural health website:

“The Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, is the psychological acupressure technique I routinely use in my practice and most highly recommend to optimize your emotional health… and emotional health is absolutely essential to your physical health and healing.”

As Dr. Mercola continues,

“EFT is based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over five thousand years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Tapping with the fingertips while voicing positive affirmations is used to input kinetic energy onto specific energy meridians…to short-circuit the emotional block from your body’s bioenergy system, thus restoring your mind and body’s balance, which is essential for optimal health and the healing of physical disease.”

Maxine McDonald CSW-R has been working with energy psychology since 1999 and describes EFT: “Briefly and simplistically: when a trauma, negative or uncomfortable thought happens, the flow of energy (chi) gets dammed up in a meridian as if a boulder was placed there. On one end of the meridian there is little energy and on the other end is too much energy. This causes uncomfortable emotions. Tapping on the endpoint of the meridian moves the dam and lets energy flow normally. When the energy is flowing and balanced (ying/yang), thoughts become rational thereby changing the emotions.”

Denise, a 52 year old educational administrator, was suffering greatly with grief after the death of her partner. She experienced profound anger and depression that were “affecting my sleep, my work, my relationships with others, digging up past life events (Mother’s death, Father’s death, ‘stuffed childhood’ and abuse) and causing high blood pressure.” She was having difficulty getting up in the morning to go to work and was withdrawing from family, friends and activities she used to enjoy. “I was so down in the pits that I was getting to the point I didn’t care if I lived.”

She had previously tried a grief support group and medication to deal with these emotions and issues, without improvement.

Denise was encouraged by her pastor to see Maxine for counseling/therapy, though she was resistant at first since “I am a professional and don’t need help.” Her spiritual life had become “shaky” since she was blaming God for creating her, for her partner’s death, for not being there for her, etc. She had no prior knowledge of energy psychology (or EFT in particular) but was finally willing to try. She appreciated Maxine’s explanations of this modality, simple exercises to help her relax, and material to read, with time to think about it. As she entered slowly into treatment experiences she felt energy shifts, which encouraged her to continue. She began to notice changes physically (‘more energy and less bodily muscle tightness”), emotionally (“allow myself to cry and release the anger, getting in touch with my feelings”), and spiritually (“I was able to thank God for loving me and my faith became stronger”).

At first she saw Maxine weekly, then biweekly, then every 3 weeks, then once a month. In between appointments she used the technique “first thing every morning to start my day and get positive energy flowing,” when she felt herself down, when she got angry at work, and when thoughts came up related to issues worked on in sessions. As she continued sessions with Maxine and using the techniques herself, she was able slowly, at her own pace, to go back and face her childhood issues that “have simmered and churned and been blockers to my wellness.”

As Denise reflects on this healing experience she describes much learning: “That I need to allow myself time to take care of me and that I am only human… The healing process takes time… The healing process is a cleansing time, a removal of poison and trash… Life can get better, but I needed to take the steps to have it get better.”

What would she say to anyone considering this modality? “Keep an open mind! Once you use the techniques, you always have them with you. They are easy to remember and work on helping to cope with most kinds of physical, emotional and spiritual matters. Take care of yourself by using EFT.”

Many thanks to Denise and Maxine for sharing their experience and expertise to enrich us all!

For more information about Maxine and her work, visit http://home.rochester.rr.com/maxmc

For more information about Emotional Freedom Technique see www.emofree.com

Reprinted with permission from Nature's Wisdom Magazine.
Autum 2005