How do You View the EFT Glass; Half Empty or Half Full?

June 26, 2016 Articles

Why do some people see the EFT glass as half empty while others see it as half full?

Is EFT as a therapeutic intervention an expanding phenomenon or growing far too slowly given its potential impact for humanity?

In many online forums and wherever tapping practitioners gather I hear a mix of disappointment about the progress regarding the public’s lack of acceptance of EFT or excitement about its recognition. The half empty group asks why EFT isn’t more widely known or what will it take for people and professionals to be familiar with tapping and acknowledge its effectiveness.

I think it is important to have some perspective here. Acupuncture and Meridian therapies have been around for thousands of years and yet recent reports show that in the U.S. only nine percent of Americans have tried it in their lifetime.

I’ve been a chiropractor for 25 years. While Chiropractic is considered a mainstream healthcare modality, born here in the U.S. 120 years ago, has 17 chiropractic colleges, is recognized by Medicare and most insurance companies and yet only 8% of Americans have been to a chiropractor within the last year.

EFT on the other hand is not even 25 years old, and has no EFT colleges and only a handful of practitioner certification programs and yet millions of people have tried it or are familiar with it. I believe that we must keep this in perspective.

While it is easy to become frustrated that more people do not know about tapping, significant progress has been made in a short period of time.

• EFT research studies have grown significantly. In a relatively short period, without any support from federal grants or funding, we now have 3 meta-analyses, over 30 randomized controlled trials published in over 20 different peer review journals, by more than 60 investigators in 10 different countries.
• Tapping modalities like TFT being listed by the US Department of Health and Human Services agency SAMHSA, (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) as an evidence-based practice in their registry.
• Books by some of the world’s leading authors in trauma, like Bessel Van der Kolk and Peter Levine, we are seeing the inclusion of tapping and EFT.
• People are searching for EFT online…A Google trends study showed that even three years ago in 2013 there were over 9 million searches for EFT and Tapping included search terms.
• Favorable reports in the media such as the BBC, Dr. Oz, Oprah and more.
• Nearly every week I witness online EFT forums that offer posts of another successful presentation on tapping to teachers’ groups and therapists/mental health counselors’ associations.
• On a professional teaching perspective, Alina and I now are privileged to witness a significant change at our EFT and Matrix Reimprinting trainings. In the past year, there has been a significant uptick in professional attendance with approximately 50-75% of the students being health care professionals, whether it be psychologists, therapists, acupuncturists, naturopaths with more and more being licensed health care providers.

So, yes, there are many who do not yet know what EFT stands for or what tapping is. Yes, there are tapping skeptics and always will be. Sure it will be great when Wikipedia revises its description of EFT. Yes, it will be great when more people are looking to try EFT. But until then, it still comes down to you and me…changes happen like today when I was talking to a hospital administrator about tapping and childhood trauma and yesterday in a conversation with a former pharmaceutical executive about EFT and alternative ways to work with pain and inflammation. We are the EFT warriors, with each conversation opening a doorway connected t infinite possibilities. We are the ones who will create a tipping point that does not feel like a tipping point until the day it happens. It’s up to you and me. Keep it up!

Craig Weiner