Increasing your effectiveness with EFT, part 126.
When practicing EFT, the protocol includes tracking our progress at all times. Before and after each round of tapping, we often measure the emotional intensity using a number scale. This method works very well for many people and has several advantages, such as increasing our motivation as we notice our progress and how we are feeling better round after round. It can also help us change gears when the intensity isn’t dropping.
That being said, there are people (myself included) for whom this constant assessment can be counterproductive. It can make us go into our heads and distract us from the actual issue we are trying to work on. Also, constantly placing our focus on the question “Am I feeling better now? Was I able to diminish or release this feeling I’m tapping on?” can sometimes diminish the effectiveness of the tapping. This is because we are now tapping with an agenda to make the unpleasant feeling go away as quickly as possible, rather than allowing ourselves to feel what we are feeling. We might call this “leaning into the feeling” and “giving the microphone to it”, as I’ve talked about in previous articles.
Let’s use the following analogy: Imagine you are going to the gym because you want to increase the strength of your muscles. If you are checking every two minutes, “Am I stronger now? Am I stronger now?”, that might not be very useful. Instead, if you focus more on the process of making sure you show up to the gym and do the different exercises, chances are that you will get stronger. You can instead evaluate your progress maybe once a month. Evaluating progress is still very important and recommended, just not something you might want to do so often that it gets in the way of the tapping process.
A personal example that comes to mind is when I was tapping on my anxiety about driving my car out of my garage. This is challenging because there is an uphill curve, it’s narrow, you have to avoid a column, and the gate closes after 30 seconds. I was tapping on it every day but wasn’t noticing immediate results in terms of feeling less anxious. However, each day I would tap on whatever aspect I felt had a charge, “giving the microphone” to those fears and concerns. Eventually, one day I felt ready to give it a go and I was finally able to drive my car with a lot less anxiety than usual.
So, how do you know what to tap on next if you aren’t constantly assessing “Am I feeling better now?”
You can bring your attention back to the issue you are working on and notice what specific aspect is calling your attention the most for the next round. It might be the same as what you were tapping on before, or a different one. Whatever you choose, that is what you tap on next.
By focusing on the process rather than the outcome, you allow EFT to work more naturally, letting go of the pressure to achieve immediate results and instead trusting that consistent practice will lead to improvement over time.
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I’m Bruno Sade, a clinical psychologist and Certified Advanced EFT Practitioner. My approach is compassionate and tailored to your unique experiences and needs.
What do you think about this approach? Have you ever found the constant assessment during EFT to be counterproductive? I’d love to hear about your experiences. Your feedback is crucial for shaping our discussions. Please share your thoughts below or reach out to me directly.