Self-help: EFT for cravings

Emotional Freedom Technique in my (highly biased) opinion is one of the most useful tools for self-help, as well as an invaluable brief intervention to be included in the toolkit of anyone working in recovery/addiction, health or mental health field.

It is a somewhat weird-looking procedure which combines stimulation of a series of acupressure points with a bit of psychology, and it sometimes called “acupuncture without needles” or “emotional form of acupuncture” or just “tapping therapy”.

I don’t know anything that works quite like this with addictive cravings – and I’ve seen it work for alcohol, cigarettes, chocolate, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and most other addictive substances (and process addictions, e.g. self-harm, gambling, elements of OCD).

To me, the best thing about it is that the technique is “portable” and the client can take it home with them and use it for themselves.

Anyway, here is a simplified version of the EFT procedure for you to try for yourself. If you are in recovery please be mindful of your safety – it may be wise to try this exercise with a substance that is not going to endanger your progress – as an example, you can try this with something that you find a little hard to resist, e.g. chocolate or crisps.

Step 1. As you are experiencing the craving or desire for whatever substance/process, rate it on the scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the weakest and 10 is the strongest.

Notice the physical sensation of the craving – where is it in your body? What is the feeling like?

If you actually have the chocolate etc. in front of you – smell it and notice the qualities of the smell, how appealing it is, whether it makes you salivate etc.

Step 2. Use three fingers of one hand (doesn’t matter which) to tap on the side of the palm of the other hand – it is the part of the palm which you would use for chopping bricks if you were doing karate. This is the so-called Karate Chop point.

As you tap on the Karate Chop point, say the following Set-Up affirmation 3 times (out loud if you can):

“Even though I have this craving for (insert name of substance), I accept myself” (or, instead of “accept myself” you can use any positive statement about yourself, such as “I am cool”, “I am a good person” or simply “I am OK”.)

Step 3. Tap on the following acupressure points with two fingers of either hand (please be gentle with yourself, don’t leave any bruises!) – it does not matter which side of the body you tap on. As you tap, FOCUS on the sensations of the craving, and at each point say the Reminder Phrase (out loud, if you can): “this craving for…”, or “this (chocolate, etc) craving”.

Points to tap on:
(I’ve uploaded a chart that shows all main EFT acupressure points, including the ones below – you should find it at the bottom of my profile page)

• Eyebrow – beginning of eyebrow, just to the side of the bridge of your nose
• Side of eye – outer corner of the eye, on the edge of the eye socket
• Under eye – under pupil, on the edge of the eye socket
• Under nose – self-explanatory
• Chin – under lower lip (not at the end of chin)
• Collar bone – the area where the inner end of collar bone joins the first rib and the sternum (just under the “knobbly” part of the collar bone if yours is protruding a bit)
• Under arm – about 10cm/4inches under the armpit on the seam of your shirt/top – for women this is where you may feel your bra, and for men – nipple level; as it is quite a large area I suggest to use three fingers to tap here.
• Top of head – there are many acupressure points on the head, so tap lightly with all fingers around the crown (this area is best avoided though if you have high blood pressure, just leave it out if you need to).

Step 4. Take a nice deep breath and check out the current level of craving on the scale from 1-10. If you have the substance in front of you, smell it again, notice any changes in the smell (it often, though not always, changes to neutral or unpleasant). If the intensity of the desire reduced a bit but you would like to get it lower, repeat the procedure with the following adjustments:

The initial Set-up affirmation “Even though …, I accept myself” should be changed to reflect whatever you are experiencing now, e.g. “Even though I still have some of this craving…” or “Even though I still want it a bit…” etc, and so should be the Reminder Phrase in Step 3 – instead of “this craving”, say “remaining craving” or “I still want it a bit” etc.

Continue until the craving subsides altogether and you feel comfortable. It usually takes not more than 2 or 3 rounds, or cycles of EFT to reduce the craving to very low or at least manageable levels.

Research evidence for EFT is still scant as it is a very young therapy (just over a decade old), though there have been a number of research papers published in respectable journals that demonstrate its efficacy.

The anecdotal evidence is vast, and there are hundreds of case studies available on the site of its developer Gary Craig, www.emofree.com.

Whether you believe in meridians or the body’s energy system (I am not sure that I do, but that hasn’t stopped me from using EFT to help hundreds of people over the years), it is really worthwhile exploring this.

I’ll probably do some more blog posts on EFT in the future when time allows (unless I get censored!!!)