How Can I Get Getter Results with EFT?
by Kay Christopher, MA, EFTCert-II, Certified EFT Practitioner


Have you sometimes gotten great results with EFT and other times had less success? Do you feel more inclined to keep using EFT when you are able to see the results? Let’s take a look at ways to improve your use of EFT so you are more likely to achieve the outcomes you want and continue using it.

There are a variety of reasons why EFT “doesn’t work” and most of them have to do with the practitioner rather than with EFT. While some issues respond to EFT so quickly it appears a “miracle” has occurred, others may have more “aspects” or various pieces that need to be addressed and therefore take longer to resolve. Persistence can be very important with EFT, and it may be necessary to keeping going after a problem with tenacity until it resolves. In addition, learning more about EFT will allow you to use it with increasing skill.

Here are some ideas to improve results that you can try right away.

1) Being Specific: The most common reason EFT appears not to work is because the tapping is being aimed at something too broad or too global, for example, “feeling unsuccessful”, “being afraid to try new things, “or “resentment over being criticized”. These feelings have been created through specific events, and it is best to find these and tap on them. It is through resolving specific events that global issues can be addressed.

To describe this principle EFT Founder Gary Craig uses the analogy of a forest and trees. The forest (global issues) is made up of individual trees (specific events) and we make much better progress knocking down one tree at a time than we do trying to chop down the whole forest. Because the trees in the forest share a root system, once we have felled several trees by addressing them with EFT neighboring trees will also fall down without our having to directly address them. Gary calls this the “generalization effect”.

Here are some examples of being more specific.

• Feeling successful: “The time I failed a critical exam.”
• Being afraid to try new things: “The time I tried rollerblading and sprained my wrists.”
• Resentment over being criticized: “The time my teacher criticized my science project in front of the whole class.”

2) Psychological Reversal: EFT will not work if you are psychologically reversed. (To test whether you are reversed or not involves learning muscle testing and in EFT, instead of learning that skill, you simply do the quick and easy correction without knowing for sure whether or not you are reversed.) The way you correct P. R. is with the Setup Procedure. (For instructions on how to do EFT visit http://www.eft-austin.com/howtodoeft/index.html.)

If you are not making progress with EFT it is possible you were not successful in correcting the reversal. Try:

• Tapping with more intensity
• Saying the setup phrase louder and with more conviction---even yelling it!!
• Changing the words in the setup phrase in order to improve your “aim”
• Using these statements: “Even though I don’t deserve to get over this problem...”, “Even though it’s not safe to get over this problem...”, and “Even though it’s impossible for me to get over this problem...”.

3) Switching Aspects: Be aware that you (or the person upon whom you are using EFT) may be switching aspects as you tap. People who are new to EFT generally completely miss this and it’s an essential part of understanding how to use EFT skillfully.

Aspects are separate issues or pieces of experience. These can be emotions, memories, sensations, sounds, sights, etc. For example, in the case of an auto accident, the person may report seeing an oncoming car, feeling a sudden impact, fearing they might die, hearing a siren, etc.

It is important to continue to tap on the various related aspects in order to resolve the issue completely. Just as you can use the 0-10 SUDS (Subjective Units of Disturbance/Distress Scale) for the main issue you are using EFT to address, you can also use the SUDS scale to test your work and measure progress while clearing the various aspects.

4) Secondary Gains: Ask yourself what hidden benefit you might be getting out of keeping the problem. While on an intellectual level you think you want to get rid of it, on an emotional level it might be serving you somehow. Examples are: 1) staying ill so you don’t have to go back to work as there is something unpleasant there you don’t want to face; 2) staying overweight to avoid unwanted attention; 3) staying unsuccessful in order not to take risks.

Here is a good question to ask yourself from EFT Master Carol Look: “What is the DOWNSIDE to my getting over this problem?”

5) Deeper Issues: Sometimes when you are stuck it is because there is a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. One of Gary Craig’s great questions is, “If there was a deeper issue here, what might it be?” If you ask that question you will probably be led to the next issue to tap in order for healing to occur. Other good questions are, “What does this remind me of?”, and “What other things were going on in my life at the time this problem started?” Finding the deeper issues on your own can be difficult and this is where a skilled EFT Practitioner can be of benefit.

If you are still not getting results after trying these ideas you can get further assistance by ordering and studying Gary Craig’s DVDs or working with an experienced EFT Practitioner.

If you have any questions about EFT feel free to call or send an email.