The EFT Manual

Short and simple, sell a book cheap, sell expensive DVD’s to people willing to try anything to help themselves find solutions to their emotional problems. I feel like I am having the DVD’s pushed on me, when I can’t afford them. I am afraid they may take advantage of people who are in real need of help. That would be sad. If these techniques are intended to benefit the majority of people they are intended for, then you would think that sharing the additional lessons on the DVD’s would be more reasonable in price. I will stay with my older coping techniques. I’m not saying don’t try “tapping” and affirmations the book. If it works for you, then the book is worth the price. I am saying don’t expect miracles.
Rating: 2 / 5
The EFT Manual

As the title implies, this is a book on EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). EFT is a healing practice in which you think of an emotional issue and tap on various spots about your face, chest, and hand. The technique takes about three minutes to do and it is claimed that severe phobias, anxieties, and stress can be resolved using this technique.

As to the book, the author assures us that, while he has written it for professionals, he has conveniently “dumbed down” his presentation so that it also benefit laypersons. I may only be a layperson, however, I’m not that dumb. Whether read as a “professional” or as a “layperson”, it remains true that there is no evidence presented within the book to support the theory behind EFT. In fact, the entire proof of EFT is based upon rhetorical arguments.

Those arguments are:

1. “Everyone knows” that western science is conservative and, therefore, often fails to realize that a radical new thought is true. I.e. the once heretical thought that the Earth was not the center of the Universe.

2. “Everyone knows” that there is a life force, even though such a phenomenon is not recognized by western science since this “life force” is metaphysical in nature. Like the mind which is also a metaphysical idea since it has no specific physical location, the life force is an epiphenomenon of common physical forces such as electricity. Unlike physical forces, however, this life force can apparently stores memories or, otherwise, is sentient.

3. “Everyone knows” that the Chinese have studied the life force for millenia, which led to the meridian system used by acupuncturist.

Conclusion: Since “we all know” there is a life force, the Chinese belief in qi, a metaphysical life force traveling through energy meridians within our bodies, must be correct (After all, how could millenia of belief be wrong? Of course, for tens of thousands of years, mankind also believed the Earth was flat). Therefore, western science, despite being too conservative, will eventually come to realize at some unknown future date that this metaphysical life force does exists and, as the Chinese now know, does flow along channels on a metaphysical plane about our bodies.

4. The author has discovered, though cannot prove, that emotional distresses are caused by “blockage” of this metaphysical life force/energy. (The implication that emotions are, at least in part, metaphysical phemenona is not addressed - nor is the implication that this “life force” is qualitatively different from actual physical forces).

5. The author has discovered, though cannot prove, that the Chinese, despite millenia of studying the life force system, were using “overkill”. His good old American ingenuity has led him to realize that needles are not required to stimulate these metaphysical energy meridians. In fact, all that is required is a few brief finger taps on specific points where the energy accumulates.

Hence, EFT is born. The author claims that this technique will resolve any emotional problem within minutes by “unblocking” the dammed up life force. In support, he provides several “case histories” which anecdotally “prove” that EFT can provide dramatic relief.

However, after stating that EFT is essentially “miraclous”, the author promptly begins “hedging his bet”. As it turns out, EFT might not work. So, you need to try various other acts, including something called “collarbone breathing” to improve you chances of success.

“Collarbone breathing” is a peculiar activity where you place a finger against the place where your collarbone meets your sternum then tap with the other hand on the back of the hand touching the collarbone and, while doing this, do a couple of half-breaths while inhaling and then two more while exhaling. And that isn’t the end of it. You switch hands and do the same procedure, then you bend your finger and place that finger’s knuckle against the spot and once again go through the breathing routine and, finally, do that again using the knuckle on the other hand.

No basis is given for why “collarbone breathing” affects the mystical life force within you nor, for that matter, does the author even try to demonstrate how EFT is based upon or varies from the Chinese meridian system. The reader must simply accept that the author “knows” about this life force and must trust he is not “conning you”.

Even should you try the “collarbone breathing”, it turns out that EFT still might not be effective. In fact, the most common advise is to “persist” for days, weeks, months of doing regular EFT. If such is done, the author promises you will eventually succeed.

Of course, this begs the question as to why EFT is presented as a “ten minute” solution and, more importantly, it begs the question as to whether EFT is anything more than a scheme to get you focused on your problem and in the frame of mind to make changes. In effect, the whole “life force”/”acupuncture” angle seems like a ruse to glamorize the process and, thereby, provide the reader with “justification” for putting in the effort. In other words, EFT relies on the “placebo effect”.

As to the case histories, these are more like advertisements. There are no statistics to determine the success rate nor histories in which the EFT technique failed nor analysis of the procedure. While the implication is that these case histories are “common”, they may simply be the few exceptional cases in which a highly suggestible client was dramatically affected by the suggestions inherent in the EFT procedure.

Like with stage hypnotism, a small but significant portion of the general population is highly suggestible and, therefore, an unfounded procedure, such as EFT, can have dramatic effects on such persons though the procedure will have little effect on less suggestible persons. Without statistics or analysis, it is difficult to know whether the cited case histories are typical or exceptional.

It should also be noted that the author repeatedly mentions that the reader can get a better understanding by purchasing his videos demonstrating the techniques. As expected, these videos are not cheap. (I should note that mention of the videos is not aggressive and, though I do feel they are intended as a sales pitch, the pitch is mild).

On a final note, I have tried EFT. The tapping is relaxing and does lead you to a more contemplative attitude toward the problem you are focusing on. It did not, however, resolve or substantially reduce the anxiety caused by or other negative aspects of the problem.

Despite my reservations, I do believe that the “placebo effect” is beneficial as long as you are generally emotionallly stable. Just because a procedure does not work due to the alleged reasons does not mean it should be disregarded. However, the reader should realize that using EFT works because it causes the user to focus in a positive way on a problem which he/she might otherwise avoid or, if addressed, to which he/she would react negatively.

Rational and behavioral therapies are based on the principle that we act habitually and, therefore, our beliefs shape our day-to-day reality since we react without thinking (i.e. habitually) to how we see (believe) our world to be moment by moment. If you consciously change how you think/act around a negative stimulus then you are pre-empting the automatic habitual response and, by so doing, you will eventually change your belief regarding that stimulus and, thereby, reduce or end the habitual response. Similarly, you carry out EFT persistently and, by objectively reflecting on your “problem”, you will change your belief as to the negative aspect of that issue.

So, it is probably worth $15 to buy the book if you want a physical procedure which you can carry out regularly to train yourself to be objective to emotional trigger issues and, thereby, garner since relief from anxieties, worries, and other negative moods and emotional states. However, I would skip the videos.

Rating: 3 / 5
The EFT Manual