EFT horror story
I've just come off the phone to someone enquiring about EFT who was concerned it didn't work for her in the past. She'd been to see a pyschologist for OCD who did EFT 'from out of a book'. I'm appalled at the lack of professionalism. Whilst it's simple to learn the physical tapping points in a few minutes, it's not possible to master the nuances of the questioning, analysis and using intuition in the same time, especially for something as complex as OCD. Thankfully, after a lengthy conversation I was able to explain to the lady how EFT can work and how it's best done, i.e. without reading it out from a book. She's booked in to see how it can work for her when done with someone who has more experience than her other therapist. I wonder if the psychologist's insurance would cover her for a therapy she doesn't appear to be qualified or skilled in?
Stories like this disappoint me because they're taking advantage of someone who is vulnerable and doesn't have the experience to say whether their therapist is skilled to do that particular therapy. The lady told me she would lie about her SUDs rating just to get away. I wonder how many others have "run into" EFT in that way when expecting a professional treatment?
Answers:
Well, I've not come across any (that I recall), but I'm sure there are plenty of "therapists" out there who have just read it up in a book and think they can do it too. After all, to some people it's the "latest thing" and if you've read up on it, you must obviously know all about it... erm.... NOT.
I have come across people who have come to me for treatment or have asked for advice as they have downloaded the free EFT manual and are struggling with getting results, but that's only to be expected as you can't really get a true feel for how to deal with the more complex issues, just form reading the manual. It can help with some of the basic issues, and give the person a feel for what EFT is about, but you need to see a practitioner or see it in action to get more of a feel for it.
Love and Reiki Hugs
Answers:
I know of a member on a different site who uses EFT. He proudly shared with others that he didnt have any training but learned it by reading books.
I was horrified when I heard about that!!
Answers:
Scary, truly scary. I suppose these book-trained EFT therapists also happily work on clients who have clinical depression?
Answers:
I've heard Ann Adams, who runs Gary Craig's EFT Masters accreditation course, talk of people who approach her to enroll on the Masters program days after they've been introduced to EFT because they've had such good results! Gary only accepts applications from people who have been practising EFT for 3 years as a minimum along with several other important requirements - so that goes to show how much skill is needed.
Answers:
On the plus side here ( although I totally agree with the post ) one of the joys of EFT is that there is,to my knowledge, not one known case of EFT 'badly applied' ever doing any harm to the person -so despite the poor name this gives to the therapy, at least the poor souls having cruddy experiences will not be harmed at all.
And as for the therapy getting a poor name, no need to worry there as the thousands of amazing results every day more than attest to the efficacy of EFT and energy psychology in general.
But as ever, the golden rules are 'get qualified!' Please!!!!
Ruminumi
EFT-adv, Psych-k facilitator
Answers:
Thanks for the comment, Ruminumi - what an lovely unusual name :)
I've heard of two ocassions when badly applied EFT has apparently left an unhappy mark. ReikiAngel mentioned one in this thread on this forum: . Another was from another therapist who in their early days of doing EFT tried to cram treatment into too short a time due to the client being financially strapped. From what they said, the result was not too happy. These are annecdotes, and possibly few and far between.
I'm glad that Gary hosts so many success stories on emofree - that weight of evidence has definitely helped celebrate the success that EFT can be.
Answers:
I recently had to spend an hour an a half treating a client for trauma experienced from a therapist who listed EFT amongst their therapies and ended up doing no EFT but a "past life regression" on the client, who felt forced under trance to invent a past life and had a terrifying experience. This client had also been told by two separate meridian therapy practitioners that they were "resistant" and that they were no good at finding SUDS (numbers). All untrue.
Answers:
Oh that'll be helpful... instill some more negative beliefs in the client. Perhaps they think the client will come back for more treatment to help with those. [&:]
Although some clients may exhibit resistance when trying to determine the SUDs, there are other techniques that can be used to determine the level they are at, such as muscle testing, etc.
Definitely doesn't sound like EFT professionals to me.
Love and Reiki Hugs
Answers:
Masha B As I get more experienced in a variety of therapies, I am getting more and more convinced that the therapist themselves are more important than the method they are using! I regularly see people who had negative or disappointing experiences with some of the best (in my experience) therapies and approaches such as EFT, often either because the practitioner in question appeared to do it mechanically ("out of a book"), or didn't seem to establish rapport with the client before launching into delivering "treatment".
Even though I have personally been putting a lot of effort into training/qualifications in my chosen field over the last few years, I am becoming increasingly aware that the number and the standard of qualifications does not seem to bear much relevance to how effective a practitioner is - but their personality, humanity and genuine desire to connect with people really does. (Have I been wasting lots of time and money on courses??)
Stories like this disappoint me because they're taking advantage of someone who is vulnerable and doesn't have the experience to say whether their therapist is skilled to do that particular therapy. The lady told me she would lie about her SUDs rating just to get away. I wonder how many others have "run into" EFT in that way when expecting a professional treatment?
Answers:
Well, I've not come across any (that I recall), but I'm sure there are plenty of "therapists" out there who have just read it up in a book and think they can do it too. After all, to some people it's the "latest thing" and if you've read up on it, you must obviously know all about it... erm.... NOT.
I have come across people who have come to me for treatment or have asked for advice as they have downloaded the free EFT manual and are struggling with getting results, but that's only to be expected as you can't really get a true feel for how to deal with the more complex issues, just form reading the manual. It can help with some of the basic issues, and give the person a feel for what EFT is about, but you need to see a practitioner or see it in action to get more of a feel for it.
Love and Reiki Hugs
Answers:
I know of a member on a different site who uses EFT. He proudly shared with others that he didnt have any training but learned it by reading books.
I was horrified when I heard about that!!
Answers:
Scary, truly scary. I suppose these book-trained EFT therapists also happily work on clients who have clinical depression?
Answers:
I've heard Ann Adams, who runs Gary Craig's EFT Masters accreditation course, talk of people who approach her to enroll on the Masters program days after they've been introduced to EFT because they've had such good results! Gary only accepts applications from people who have been practising EFT for 3 years as a minimum along with several other important requirements - so that goes to show how much skill is needed.
Answers:
On the plus side here ( although I totally agree with the post ) one of the joys of EFT is that there is,to my knowledge, not one known case of EFT 'badly applied' ever doing any harm to the person -so despite the poor name this gives to the therapy, at least the poor souls having cruddy experiences will not be harmed at all.
And as for the therapy getting a poor name, no need to worry there as the thousands of amazing results every day more than attest to the efficacy of EFT and energy psychology in general.
But as ever, the golden rules are 'get qualified!' Please!!!!
Ruminumi
EFT-adv, Psych-k facilitator
Answers:
Thanks for the comment, Ruminumi - what an lovely unusual name :)
I've heard of two ocassions when badly applied EFT has apparently left an unhappy mark. ReikiAngel mentioned one in this thread on this forum: . Another was from another therapist who in their early days of doing EFT tried to cram treatment into too short a time due to the client being financially strapped. From what they said, the result was not too happy. These are annecdotes, and possibly few and far between.
I'm glad that Gary hosts so many success stories on emofree - that weight of evidence has definitely helped celebrate the success that EFT can be.
Answers:
I recently had to spend an hour an a half treating a client for trauma experienced from a therapist who listed EFT amongst their therapies and ended up doing no EFT but a "past life regression" on the client, who felt forced under trance to invent a past life and had a terrifying experience. This client had also been told by two separate meridian therapy practitioners that they were "resistant" and that they were no good at finding SUDS (numbers). All untrue.
Answers:
Oh that'll be helpful... instill some more negative beliefs in the client. Perhaps they think the client will come back for more treatment to help with those. [&:]
Although some clients may exhibit resistance when trying to determine the SUDs, there are other techniques that can be used to determine the level they are at, such as muscle testing, etc.
Definitely doesn't sound like EFT professionals to me.
Love and Reiki Hugs
Answers:
Masha B As I get more experienced in a variety of therapies, I am getting more and more convinced that the therapist themselves are more important than the method they are using! I regularly see people who had negative or disappointing experiences with some of the best (in my experience) therapies and approaches such as EFT, often either because the practitioner in question appeared to do it mechanically ("out of a book"), or didn't seem to establish rapport with the client before launching into delivering "treatment".
Even though I have personally been putting a lot of effort into training/qualifications in my chosen field over the last few years, I am becoming increasingly aware that the number and the standard of qualifications does not seem to bear much relevance to how effective a practitioner is - but their personality, humanity and genuine desire to connect with people really does. (Have I been wasting lots of time and money on courses??)