EFT - Extremely Freaky Therapy

Or emotional freedom therapy - to give it its proper name.

I heard a comedian the other day rant humourously about his wife being into all sorts of 'weird spirit stuff - because her real life is so shit'. Made me smile. I know lots of people who are 'into' odd things - whether it's Tarot, Angel Readings, Past Life Regression... you name it. There's lots of stuff out there and a lot of people are interested - mostly because I guess a lot of life is shit.

Take the news - murder, war, economic depression: not a lot to cheer you up there, is there? Even the 'and finally' segments seem to have disappeared, no short pieces on dogs who can play the harmonica or lost geese who travel 30,000 miles hiding in a Chrismtas hamper ... you know the sort of thing I mean. There's no 'good news'. And with religion being the source of many of the world's problems - in my perception - I can understand why some people are completley turned off by it, whilst others take great solace and comfort from it. It's not for me, for sure (me and god had an argument a long while back; we're still not talking).

So what is EFT? Emotional Freedom Technique. And why the hell am I interested? Well, not because my life is shit (though on occassions parts of it are, as with anyone), but because I am intrigued, and want to help people. (Oh my gawd I hear you say - she's going to say the Miss America 'and world peace' any moment now!). Well, put your cynicism aside - I really do want to help!

It kind of started when Sensei (Mr Deacon to those who've never seen him dressed in white and chopping a pile of roof tiles with his bare hands) did some reflexology on my foot - to help my bad shoulder. It worked! OK, so HOW does it work? No idea - and not going to go into that in depth, after all there's lots of resources on the web that will tell you loads more than I can. But - it works. Different things work for different people. This may well be the 'placebo effect' - but does it matter, if it works? You can scientifically disprove any medical effect whatsoever from homeopathic remedies, but they work (even if not for everybody).

One of our associate trainers, Kate, talked to me some while back about EFT. It was interesting, because it linked up with the pressure points we do in karate. I can see the logic there. And she also told me about 'energy medicine' - completely over my head this one! But with all those complementary therapies out there, and some working for some folks, but maybe not all, then there has to be something in it somewhere. Chakra, energy fields, auras - all a bit esoteric for me. So, I plumped for one that made most sense to me.

Also, I have seen the results of this particular therapy - EFT - on a friend. Now, wether it worked because she 'believed' or just 'needed' it to work or not I don't know - what I know is it worked. I could visibly see the difference before and after.

So, what is it? EFT is a mix of pressure point technique and NLP (NLP - neuro lingustic programming)in my view - two subjects I have an understanding of. By tapping on key points and using affirmative message construction, you help the individual you are working with to address an issue - whether it's weight loss, low self-esteem or any other emotional or even physical problem.

Is it going to work? I don't know. My first experience directly with it was yesterday. It certainly gave me pause for thought, and I am going to work on a couple of particular issues (nail biting for one - what a disgusting habit!).

My next step is to be trained in 'how to', and that I'm going to do in December. Watch this space!