Increasing your effectiveness with EFT, part 97.
When doing EFT (either by ourselves or with a client), it’s important to test our results. This is because of two reasons: 1) it can help us confirm that we have indeed made some progress; 2) it can help us be more thorough by uncovering emotionally charged aspects that still need to be tapped on for better resolution of the issue. One of the ways we can test our results is by using detailed mental review.
Let’s say that we are tapping with a client on their fear of public speaking, and we have helped them come up with a specific scene in which this fear might show up, for example, imagining themselves giving a toast at their best friend’s wedding next week. Perhaps at the beginning of the session they were feeling a high level of anxiety when imagining this scenario, and they noticed a knot in their throat.
As we tap several rounds, also acknowledging the “shifting aspects”, meaning, the different emotions that come up for them when thinking about different details of that scenario, we might reach a point where there seems to be no more emotional charge when thinking about this future event. They seem to feel relatively calm and grounded when thinking about it.
One way to make sure that this is so, and that there are no more emotionally charged aspects or details about this toast they have to give next week, is to ask them to close their eyes and mentally review this scenario in as much detail as possible. As they do this, you can also recount some of the aspects you’ve tapped on before, for example, “so, as you close your eyes and vividly visualize that you are giving this toast, and you notice that all these people are looking at you, and you are supposed to remember what to say, is there anything about this that brings up any unpleasant emotional charge?”.
Basically, what we are doing with the detailed mental review way of testing is we are really “zooming in”. This is why we only do this when the emotional intensity seems to be really low, to avoid causing unnecessary discomfort or overwhelm. If we were to do it at the beginning of the session when they were feeling a high level of anxiety, it would only make them unnecessarily uncomfortable and maybe even emotionally overwhelmed to “zoom in” so much thinking about that event.
The reason we want to do this kind of thorough testing is to prevent any “untapped emotionally charged aspects” from rearing their head at the actual real life situation, where they might not have the time or space to do some tapping.
In summary, detailed mental review in EFT is a powerful way to ensure we’ve thoroughly addressed all emotionally charged aspects and details associated with a scenario. By guiding our clients to vividly imagine the situation after tapping, we can confirm whether any lingering feelings need more attention. This careful approach helps in preparing them to handle the actual situation more confidently and calmly.
There are other ways to test our work with EFT, that I’ll talk about in future articles.
And that’s it for today! I’m Bruno Sade, a compassionate, open-minded clinical psychologist, and certified EFT practitioner. My approach is tailored to your individual needs and preferences, always respecting your experiences, beliefs, and background.
What are your thoughts on today’s topic? Feel free to share questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. You can either leave a comment below or send a private message.