Its not often you hear therapists refer to counselling techniques as magical, but that is what I heard today. Sitting in a room full of experienced therapists, we discovered what some called a magical way to heal past trauma. No forehead slamming or wand waving required.
Tapping, or EFT, has been around for a while although still shocks clients and clinicians alike with its rapidity and jolting change. Using the technique, clients will know if they are ‘healed’ within 5 – 10 minutes of beginning.
Ever experienced something that caused distress? There is a cure for that. Childhood memory still causing you grief? Come into my office!
EFT works under the psychological premise of exposure therapy, where in order to adjust and move on from the traumatic memory and feelings, one must first be exposed to the pain and imagery of the memory itself. From there, EFT employs the use of distraction to exploit a ‘loophole’ in the brain. Think of it as a lifehack for the mind.
Clients either know they definitively feel different and better, or they dont. And that is perhaps the beauty of the intervention. Having worked as a counsellor for years, it is rare to be able to witness the change happening in the room in front of me. Usually interventions create shifts and changes in clients over time. I call it – time to marinate. However, with this style of trauma processing, there is no marinating time needed! The client comes pre-marinated! Ok, maybe I should let this metaphor go. The point I am trying to make is that it is very special to see an intervention we use take immediate effect in the room, because after all, what therapists usually want for our clients, is aligned with what our clients want. To feel a bit better about something.
However, EFT (and other trauma processing interventions) should take place within a safe therapeutic relationship in order to have full effect. Only clinicians trained in the technique may administer the treatment.
Lucky for you I am trained and ready to go.
Contact me with your questions (and disbelief).
Ray
