June 2020

I first came across tapping, a derivative of the Emotional Freedom Technique, when I was still at university. I went to a talk by psychologist Steven Wells, who has been teaching tapping for a couple of decades now.

I participated in a demonstration and was amazed how in 10 short minutes I was able to get to the root of the writer’s block I’d been struggling through for several years.

Initially I just used the technique on myself and my friends and family as I am a sceptical person and wanted to test its effectiveness myself before using it with my clients.

After I used it on a teenage girl’s arachnophobia - and cleared it completely in one session - I was prepared to use it with my clients.

I went on to do training with Steve and since then have been using it with my clients as a highly effective distress tolerance skill. It is also a technique that allows us to explore old traumas without re-traumatising the client in the present.

More than anything, it helps clients to tap into their inner wisdom leading to important breakthroughs in therapy and the acquisition of a skill that can be used long after therapy has finished.

How it works is not clear, but numerous university studies have shown tapping to be effective in the treatment of anxiety, phobias and PTSD.

It may be that in the treatment of trauma and PTSD, the constant bilateral touching of the face and upper body (by the client) keeps the person anchored in the present moment, so that they are able to process past traumas without being overwhelmed by it, in a manner similar to EMDR.

The traditional belief is that as tapping works by activating acupressure points, it gets the energy (chi) flowing freely through the body.

I’ll post a video soon on how to tap.