Eft/tapping Q & A Podcast W/ Gene Monterastelli - Emotional Freedom Techniques

EFT is a very powerful tool for bringing about change and can be used in many different settings. It can be done alone, with a practitioner, in groups, in short bursts, over a number of sessions, and over the telephone or Skype. As time passes not only are studies being done to explore what EFT is effective for, but the data from these studies is also being used to uncover the best ways to use EFT. In this interview Dawson Church and I discuss what these studies tell us about how to get the most out of EFT. (There are even a few things that I found surprising.)

It is very easy to say (especially in tough times) “All we need is love”. The hard part is to know what that means beyond bumper sticker sentimentality. In this interview with Brad Yates we talk about in real terms what is love, what is self-love, and most importantly how can we use EFT to feel a sense of love in a tangible way.

I bet you are like me. Somewhere in your home or office there is a large pile of self-help books, cds, and dvds. In addition to this physical pile of resources there is a folder on your hard drive full of ebooks, pdfs, audios and interviews, also filled with amazing information...and you have never looked at over 90% of these resources They looked enticing. They looked valuable. They looked like they would improve your life. Somehow we never get around to using to them. This is a common problem. (So much so, at one point in my notes this interview was entitled “Are you addicted to self-help resources?”) In this interview I talk with EFT Master Maggie Adkins about how we can best do self-directed improvement work. The issue is not concerning having access to tools (we all have too many tools and resources), but instead about how we approach the process. Maggie shares many practical ways to show us how we can take advantage of the materials we have, using them in a constructive way to ensure that we are moving

When it comes to teaching tapping children are one of my favorite groups. They take to tapping right away because they don’t have many of the hang-ups adults do of needing to understand everything or concerns about looking foolish when they tap. Like adults, when kids tap they become happier and healthier. One of the bonuses of teaching them to tap is we help them to clear issues whilst they are small, preventing them from growing into life-long issues. In this interview I talk to Till Shilling about introducing kids to tapping and how to get into schools and classrooms.

Did you know that healing from a tapping session can be spontaneously reversed? It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens more often than you would think. In this interview with Karin Davidson we explore the two factors which can bring about a total and instantaneous reversal of a tapping session, and how in three minutes this can be prevented. We discuss the gamut point, which I think is one of the most powerful, but most forgotten tapping points, and its key role in preventing spontaneous reversal of the benefits of EFT.

Do you have a good relationship with your inner critic? Very few people answer that question in a positive way because to most of us it is nothing more than a “critic”. It is always there waiting to pounce, waiting to point out everything we have done wrong, everything we have missed, and everything we will do wrong in the future. Did you know that this inner voice exists to be helpful? No, really, it is! Our inner voice is always on guard, looking out for danger and things that will get in the way of what we want and need. The problem is that for most of us is it working too hard. In this conversation with Judy Byrne we talk about how the critical voice came to be so critical and how we can transform it from being a giant nag into something that is very helpful.

Sometimes when I prepare for an interview I have a really good idea about what we are going to talk about. I am very familiar with the topic, the guest’s work, or both. Other times I am caught off-guard (in a good way). This is one of those interviews. In the first minute Tania Prince took my idea of shyness and turned it on its head. This set up an awesome conversation about what can be changed and what isn’t really an issue at all. Often we confuse being uncomfortable around others which causes us to be quiet (AKA acting shy) with someone who is comfortable in a group of people and is just being quiet. We can get ourselves into trouble when we try to change someone who is just quiet because we think that being shy is bad and that we need to pull them out of their shell. This is a great interview with lots of tapping tips for dealing with discomfort around others and what being shy really means.

Since Feb of 2011 I have had the opportunity to be part of teaching an advanced anger management class to inmates in a local jail. I consistently describe the experience as “the coolest thing in my life.” It has been a really amazing experience and I have learned a lot from it. I was lucky enough to be Jondi Whitis’ guest for the June episode of “eftTapFest” which is part of EFT Radio On-Line. In the conversation we talk about: What I have learned about teaching EFT by teaching it in a Jail What I have learned about creating a community to rally in support of one cause What I have learned about stretching myself What I have learned about crowd funding Even if you never intend to work with inmates, write a book, or lead a community of support, there is a lot you can learn in this conversation.

In preparing for the podcast I usually exchange a few emails and do a pre-interview with the guest to figure out what topic we will cover and to create a plan for the interview so that it goes smoothly. When I was doing my pre-interview with Gwenn Bonnell I asked her what she wanted to talk about. She said, "We could talk about shoulders and shoulds." I asked her repeat it because I wanted to make sure I heard her right. She really said, “shoulders and shoulds”. I know many issues have a tendency to show up in the same part of the body over and over again, but I had never heard of the connection between shoulder issues and the things we feel we should do. In this interview Gwenn does an amazing job of making the connection and showing us how we can respond with EFT.

Stress is not becoming a part of our daily lives, it is already part of our daily lives. What is now common is that we moving from a general level of stress to feeling completely overwhelmed. The difficulty with feeling overwhelmed is that once we are in the middle of it we can't see clearly enough to reach for a tool like EFT. In this interview with Carol Look we look at the simple things we can do daily to keep our stress in check and keep us from becoming overwhelmed.

"Manifesting" more money in our lives is not about sitting in a dark room with our eyes closed, listening to instrumental music, and imagining that we are a giant magnet pulling big chunks of gold towards us. The way we bring more money into our lives is about recognizing new opportunities for making more money and getting out of our own way enough to act on these opportunities. When we see these opportunities clearly and are acting from the things we know how to do, it feel like money just shows up. It becomes effortless because we are no longer fighting to find opportunity and we are no longer fighting ourselves emotionally. In the interview with Margaret we talk about exactly how to put ourselves into a place where making money feels easy.

One of the keys to effective EFT and tapping is to be clearly tuned into the issue we want to address. There are lots of creative ways of doing this. In this interview I talk with Ann Ross about how we can use a simple technique of working with our ‘inner committee’ to isolate specific issues and transform them rapidly. Ann's helpful approach is easy to understand and you will quickly be able to add it to your daily tapping routine.

The key to effective tapping/EFT is being able to tune into the issues that need work. There are many ways of doing this. The most common way is to say phrases out loud while tapping, but sometimes we don’t know what to say. The issue might be too deep, the memory might be too painful, or we just can't seem to come up with the right words to describe what is going on. In this podcast I talk to Marie Holliday about a simple and elegant way to tap for issues called the photo technique. We talk about how easy it is to do, for which issues it works best, and how you can start using it right away with photos, icons, x-rays, or really any image to improve the tapping progress. Please take the time to learn about this powerful technique, it is a great tool to add to your tapping/EFT toolbox.

Often when parents come to tapping they are looking for something to fix or change their children.  In reality, when we are surrogate tapping for others we are making a transformation in ourselves that in turn creates space for others to change. In this interview Carol Tuttle and I talk about how parents can use tapping for their children, themselves, and to transform all the relationships within the family. 

I think that giving thanks and celebrating big and small successes is a really important thing to do. It is also important to recognize the gifts that come with adversity when things don't work out as planned. Last December I was lucky enough to be a guest on Carol Look’s radio program. We talk about what we mean by celebration, giving thanks, abundance, create v responsibility, and we do a lot of tapping on how we can become clear in order to make good choices in our lives to move us towards achieving the greatness we are worthy of. Side note: Personally, I am a little uncomfortable with a lot of the law of attraction language and conversation. Some it borders on the woo-woo, and some of it is downright ridiculous. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do think I have a unique point of view, which we examine in this interview.

For tapping to be successful we need to tune into the issue at hand. There are many tools and techniques to do this. In this interview I talk to Andy Bryce about how we can use making sounds as a way of tuning into issues and emotions. By using sounds we can find ways to describe emotions as well as tune into emotions without having to go point by point through the entire issue, which can at time be painful. This is a very simple approach and an easy tool to add to your tapping tool box.

Reversal, psychological reversal, polarity reversal, and secondary benefit are all terms which are thrown around a lot when working with tapping. They can be caused by our thoughts, what we put in our body, and the electronic devices that surround us. It doesn't really matter what you call them, if they are present then tapping will not work very well (if at all). In this interview I talk with Lindsay Kenny about two major types of reversals and what you can do to correct them.

Emotions are more than just what we feel. When we experience an emotion there are many things happening at a biochemical and cellular level. In this interview with Stacey Vornbrock we talk about what happens physically when we feel emotions, how we can become addicted to them, and how to break that addiction. By recognizing the addictive nature of some emotions we can find see our way to new ways to tap.

Shame is the most powerful, self-defeating and crippling of emotions. In this interview I talk to Rhona Clews about the power of shame, how it is created, how it is toxic in our lives, and how we can use tapping to clear it out.

I don’t know about you, but I constantly find myself answering questions about EFT and tapping. It is great that we can draw from on personal experience (and the experience of those with whom we work) when sharing about tapping, but in many cases this is not enough. It is useful to have structured, peer-reviewed scientific studies to build the wall of proof that so many are looking for. To that end I have something in two parts that will help you respond to people who are looking for scientific proof about tapping and EFT. First, I have an interview with Dawson Church, PhD about completed research studies, on-going research studies, and planned research studies. Second, I have a summary of many of the recent studies to make it easier for you to talk about them.