Hi Gary,
I took Crystal Hawk's EFT workshop just three
weekends ago, and it has changed my life. Within the first 15 minutes of the
workshop, I could feel the excitement building in me, and it hasn't left me
since!
I'm a Therapeutic Touch practitioner and, as
Crystal says, EFT comes naturally to TT'ers. With TT, we witness and share in
some magnificent and wonderful healing experiences. Even so, each time I use EFT
with someone, I'm thrilled and excited with the results, as if I had never seen
energy work before. For me, EFT and TT form a beautiful partnership.
GC COMMENT: I encourage everyone to blend EFT with your
favorite procedures. Almost invariably, the two procedures form what Margaret
calls a "beautiful partnerhip." I've had reports from all over the world of
enhanced results by blending EFT with Hypnotherapy, Therapeutic Touch, EMDR,
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Reiki, Talk Therapy, Focusing, NLP, Systematic
Desensitization, Imaging and just about every other technique you can name. The
advantage here is two fold....
1. You can continue to use your own comfortable procedures
while integrating a newer one. This allows an easy transition.
2. You can wrap EFT within more conventional techniques so
that the client isn't hit all at once with this strange appearing, belief
busting procedure. It can make things easier for new clients.
MARGARET CONTINUES: I'd just like to tell you
about my first outing with EFT. I have a friend whom I've only known for about
two months. When you read on, I'm sure you'll agree that our coming together was
a wonderful example of synchronicity.
I'll call my friend Sarah. When Sarah visited
my house for the first time, where two cats reside (actually, we live in their
home!), I discovered that she had a phobia about cats. If the cats were sleeping
soundly, she could tolerate their presence, but as soon as they started
stirring, she became very uncomfortable.
That was the weekend before Crystal's EFT
workshop. The following Monday, I called Sarah up and suggested (trying not to
sound too excited) that we try tapping for her fear. So she came over again and
I took her into my "Healing Room," where there were no cats in sight. I
questioned her about her phobia, and discovered that she was specifically afraid
of cats jumping up on her lap and scratching her.
We established that the SUD was 8--which was
her perception. Compared to other phobics, I would have put her at about a 5.
But as she chose 8, that's what we went with. Then she tapped on her fear of
cats scratching, and it dropped to a 4. We did a second round, and got it down
to 1. Then she said, "but if I were to have to face a cat, it might be
higher." So I suggested we do just that, and test it out.
GC COMMENT: This is a relatively common response from clients.
The tapping actually brings them down to 0 or 1 but they still remember what it
was like to be around their phobic object. They don't know if they will truly
feel calm under the real circumstances until it is tested and so, quite
naturally, they may still have some apprehension. Sometimes I find people that
completely resolve an emotional issue down to zero but still report a 3 or 4
simply because they don't believe it will last or because it "shouldn't get any
lower than that."
MARGARET CONTINUES: We went into the kitchen,
where one of my cats, Katie, was sleeping on a chair. I began to stroke her, and
she woke up and stretched, showing all her sharp little claws, then yawned so
that those nasty fangs were beautifully exposed. Sarah, who was standing about
two feet away, didn't move. I continued to stroke Katie, and after a moment
Sarah took a step closer and started petting her. She continued for several
minutes, and then began to say, "I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't
believe I'm doing this. I've never petted a cat in my whole life!" (I had to
give her a brief lesson on how to stroke a cat, with Katie a willing
participant!)
I know this is all familiar stuff for you,
Gary, but for me it was a tremendously exciting moment--and for Sarah as well,
of course.
Now here's where the synchronicity of Sarah
entering my life comes into it in a big way. I found out while talking to her
that she's not only afraid of cats, but of dogs, horses, mice, insects--in fact
just about every living creature. I was going to add there "except people," but
I believe she's afraid of people as well. She's a bundle of insecurities, with
absolutely no self-esteem, who is trying to take on reponsibility for the whole
world and, of course, failing miserably.
And she is a lovely person.
Who better to enter my life just as I'm
discovering EFT? Sarah is more than willing to serve as my guinea pig, and I'm
thrilled to have someone I can work with.
GC COMMENT: Oh yes!! For newcomers to EFT a willing and
cooperative friend to practice with is truly a gift. It allows us to get started
and sharpen our skills without feeling tenuous or unsure. Most of us know
someone like Sarah, a delightful and appreciative person with a long list of
issues. Spend time with the Sarah of your choice and you will likely get your
share of "one minute wonders" (e.g. Sarah's fast relief from her cat phobia) as
well as broader issues that take more artistry to unravel.
MARGARET CONTINUES: I've read all of the
Palace of Possibilities, and I want to incorporate affirmations along with EFT
in what we do together. I've also ordered the EFT Course (I've already
downloaded the manual and read it through), and I know that will be a tremendous
help. Sarah and I have tapped one more time, when an afternoon together with her
family and mine didn't go the way she had planned. She became terribly upset and
angry because she felt she had failed. After only one round of tapping her anger
and distress completely disappeared. Yes!
Just one more thing (I didn't intend this
e-mail to be so long!). The day after tapping for cats, I got an e-mail from
Sarah, in which she said, "I can't stop thinking that maybe a host of
favourable circumstances came together and made it work, and it might not work
again." How's that for an example of the "Apex problem"? (Except that even
with her doubts, she did come back for more.)
GC COMMENT: The "Apex problem" is Dr. Roger Callahan's term
for what amounts to Cognitive Dissonance. Basically, the EFT procedure is so far
removed from the client's belief system that they search for "other reasons" as
to why they feel so much better and have made progress. Interestingly, these
reasons are often even more ludicrous than the EFT procedure. It is a human need
to make sense of the world around us and when something comes along that doesn't
fit within the existing "writing on our walls" we literally fill in the blanks
with whatever is resident in our knowledge base. Some of the alternate
explanations clients come up with are candidates for the Comedy Hall of Fame.
MARGARET CONTINUES: Again, Gary, thank you,
thank you, thank you. I'm having a ball with EFT, and I want to share it with
the whole world!
Peace and love,
Margaret Condy
From Gary Craig's website
