Emotional Freedom Technique

Download the EFT Tapping Guide with Tapping Points Graphics here

Before you tap

1. Wash your hands thoroughly
2. Find a quiet place where you can express yourself freely
3. Agree to take full responsibility for your own emotional health and wellbeing

Next, acknowledge what’s wrong and measure the intensity

• Put a few words to what feels bad right now – any uncomfortable feeling, thought or body sensation you may be experiencing. For example, I feel overwhelmed…
• Measure the emotional intensity of these words on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest)…

Tap and speak the Setup

• To do the Setup, gently tap on the Side of Hand (SOH, formerly called the Karate Chop), while speaking aloud, and repeating three times:
  • Even though I feel overwhelmed, I deeply and completely accept myself…

Tap and speak the Sequence w/ the Reminder Phrase

• Next, gently tap each point in the Sequence (below) while speaking the same word or phrase you acknowledged earlier. This is called a Reminder Phrase:
  • TOH (Top of Head): overwhelmed
  • EB (Eyebrow Point): overwhelmed
  • SE (Side of Eye): overwhelmed
  • UE (Under Eye): overwhelmed
  • UN (Under Nose): overwhelmed
  • Chin (Chin Point): overwhelmed
  • CB (Collarbone/K27): overwhelmed
  • UA (Under Arm): overwhelmed
• Finally, tap the SOH again or any other additional point like the Gamut Point, Liver Point, Finger Points, Wrists or Thymus while saying “overwhelmed.”
  The Gamut Point is on the back of the hand, between and just behind the knuckles of the ring finger and little finger
  • The Finger Points are on the side of the thumb, index, middle and little fingers at the base of the nail (start from your wrist on the thumb side of your hand; go up the side of the thumb to the base of your nail, then use the same side for each of the other fingers)

Congratulations! You’ve completed one round of tapping. Take a deep breath and close your eyes for a moment. How intense is overwhelmed now? Give the intensity a new number between 0 (low) and 10 (high)…

Repeat one or two more times…

• Tap and speak several full rounds of the Setup and Sequence, until the emotional intensity on your issue is as low as it will go. If your intensity should increase at any time, tap without words on each point until the intensity subsides. Once you’ve finished several rounds, measure your issue (e.g. overwhelmed) one last time from 0-10. Notice what may feel different. What may be possible now?

Learn more

For more tapping resources, including information on EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) tapping training and practice, visit EFTinternational.org, where you can download a comprehensive Free Introductory Tapping Manual. For video tutorials and tap-along videos, subscribe to our EFT International channel on YouTube.

Review – How to tap using Standard EFT

• Wash your hands thoroughly
• Find a quiet place where you can express yourself freely for a few minutes
• Agree to take full responsibility for your use of EFT, and for your emotional wellbeing
• Name the negative issue – put a few words to what’s wrong (e.g. I feel overwhelmed)
• Measure the intensity of this feeling, thought or body sensation from 0-10 (e.g. I feel overwhelmed, 8)
• Gently tap and speak the Setup (SOH), repeating 3x: “Even though I feel overwhelmed, I deeply and completely accept myself”
• Gently tap each point in the Sequence starting with the TOH, speaking your Reminder Phase of overwhelmed on each point
• After this round of tapping, stop and breathe, measure I feel overwhelmed again, and repeat the whole EFT Setup and Sequence for one or two more rounds until the intensity is as low as it will go. If another feeling, thought or body sensation comes up that is stronger, tap on that. If your emotional intensity is quite high, tap silently on each point until it subsides

To learn more, download a free introductory tapping manual at https://eftinternational.org