Co-authored by Dr. Holly Holmes-Meredith and Bill Yarborough.
All of us have fears and phobias in our lives that hold us back. What would your life be like if you could wash them away?
Some of your fears could interfere with your effectiveness at work. For example, you may fear public speaking. In an article by Lisa Fritscher in Very Well Mind, she states some experts estimate that as much as 77% of the population have some level of anxiety regarding public speaking.
Other fears might include the fear of taking risks, making sales calls, confronting controversial issues, adjusting to change, or learning new technologies. Your personal life could also be hampered by such traits as a fear of intimacy, unease in social gatherings, a phobia of driving in traffic, or a terror of spiders. Sadly, the list of fears and phobias is endless.
So, what would your life be like if you could wash away such fears and phobias with a fast, easy, and proven method? Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping can provide you with such a potent skill. EFT involves tapping on body pressure points to get a release from negative emotions.
It begins by naming your fear, leaning into its emotional charge, and giving it a numerical value measuring intensity. Next, make a statement of self-acceptance or love as you tap on the side of your hand. Then, continue to name your fear while you tap on various spots on your face and upper body. Once done, look for any change or reduction in your fear level. If your fear remains elevated, then repeat as necessary. EFT is easy to use, with many sites on the internet and YouTube demonstrating its use, such as Tapping Solutions Bing Videos
Holly and Bill have worked extensively with EFT to reduce or eliminate fears and phobias. Holly has two good examples, but to maintain client anonymity, we have changed the details. She worked with a teenage girl who had a fear of heights. The prospect of walking onto the second-floor balcony of Holly’s office filled the girl with a paralyzing dread, but after one session of tapping, her phobia dissipated, and she gleefully walked onto Holly’s balcony and leaned over the railing to gaze at the shrubs below.
Similarly, Holly worked with a young boy who was frightened by the sound of the wind. He couldn’t sleep at night when high winds howled against the eaves of his house. After a session of EFT, Holly played a CD recording of the sound of wind, and the boy experienced no reaction. In both cases, these transformations turned out to be permanent.
But sometimes it will take several sessions to eliminate or reduce a fear or phobia. That is because it may involve several aspects or layers. Bill had a fear of doing verbal presentations at work. He used EFT in therapeutic sessions and on his own. Multiple sessions were needed over time to fully ease his fear, since it involved peeling off several layers, such as a fear of authority and controversy, which ultimately pointed to traumatic childhood experiences at the core. By persisting in using EFT to treat his fear of presentations, Bill turned what his superiors considered a weakness into a strength. He also gained a significant additional benefit. As he tapped on his fear issues, his acid reflux symptoms subsided, allowing him to abandon his medication.
EFT is an energetic healing approach, and multidimensional energy systems build on each other. If you work on one emotional issue, it may help with something else, such as another emotional or physical limitation.
As powerful as EFT is in addressing fears and phobias, it is also an excellent tool to use for a variety of other emotional health issues. Mind-body medicine pioneer Dawson Church, Ph.D., author of a topical book titled “Mind to Matter,” sat down with Dave Asprey for a Bulletproof Radio podcast interview to talk about tapping and the field of energy psychology. During the interview, Dawson said, “Among the myriad afflictions tapping helps with are: anxiety, depression, addiction, pain, PTSD and phobias. It’s even shown promise for mastering your athletic performance.”
EFT, or tapping, is safe to practice on your own, but if you have significant psychological issues, you should consider professional help from a qualified practitioner. A practitioner can be particularly helpful in peeling off the layers of emotional issues.
If you have questions or comments, please reach out to Holly via her website at Holly@hypnotherapytraining.com or Bill at billyarborough3@gmail.com
By Dr. Holly Holmes-Meredith, D. Min., MFT, Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Bill Yarborough, CHT and Certified EFT Practitioner.
This article first appeared in the August 2020 Diablo Gazette.
