What is the Science Behind Tapping?
To begin to understand EFT, we can look to our understanding of how stress effects us.
When we are stressed out and feeling poorly – even at a so-called low level – our bodies are in a state of discomfort or even high alert. This sense of stress can continue for hours, days, weeks or months, depending upon our unique orientation to life. We might be quite used to this, or simply accept it as a part of living – even as we struggle under the weight of it – physically, emotionally, in our relationships...
This pressure can seem to come from outside of us, but consider that this stress actually happens inside us in the form of negative thoughts, unexpressed feelings or deep sense of unease, for example.
When our sympathetic stress responses have been activated, we find ourselves in a state of fight, flight, freeze, flop or fawn. Our bodies release adrenaline and cortisol - powerful stress hormones designed to help us take action for safety and survival or shut down for the same reasons. Sometimes this response is appropriate (jumping out of the way of a speeding car, for example), and sometimes it isn't (e.g. inability to express ourselves clearly, screaming at loved one, stuffing down our pain, reaching for the bottle, etc.)
Our parasympathic responses are active in us even when we're at rest. This is the deeper nervous system (see Polyvagal Theory) that either fosters a sense of connection, safety, calmness and emotional regulation (particularly in relation to others) or the opposite – a state of shut down, disconnection or immobilization.
How often do you connect with a deep sense of safety, calm and relaxation? EFT can help...


Can EFT Help Heal Trauma?
"Trauma is what happens inside of us" – Gabor Maté
EFT can reliably calm our outsized stress responses – like fear, frustration or chronic anxiety – in the moment it is happening, allowing us to think more clearly and make better choices.
In skilled hands, EFT can further be used to address and disarm what gets activated that is often at the root of our stress – those bad things that happened, our negative thoughts about them, our unfortunate conclusions about ourselves – so our nervous systems can safely relax. We may be trying to protect ourselves – consciously or unconsciously – from bad things happening again. In other words, we may be responding now based on how we were conditioned by what happened to us.
In this way, our stress responses now could be trauma responses. An EFT approach allows us to begin gently having our relationship to what happened. In many cases, as we tap, allow what's most present for us in the moment and find relief – a trail can open up back to the early times in life when we developed our strategies, behaviors and protective coping skills. The awesome thing is, EFT can help us gently approach and resolve any feelings, memories or stories that arise.
