Tapping & EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique): Pseudoscience, Quackery or Wildly Effective Healing Modality?

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Does Tapping Really Work?
Body, Diet & Nutrition, Lifestyle, Podcast, Podcast-new, Recovery, Recovery & Sleep

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Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Does tapping really work?

Tapping (also known as EFT or “emotional freedom technique”) is a practice in which you tap specific parts of your body and simultaneously say an affirmation. It is supposedly a wildly effective healing modality that combines ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology.

My guest on today's episode – Nicolas Ortner – created and produced the breakthrough documentary film “The Tapping Solution,” which followed ten people who used tapping to overcome significant challenges, including chronic back pain, fibromyalgia, insomnia, devastating grief and more. He has also authored multiple books on tapping, including The Tapping Solution.

In today's show, I put Nick in the hotseat to explore whether or not tapping really works.

During our discussion, you'll discover:

-The fascinating history of tapping…9:40

-A short demonstration of tapping you can do on your own…15:50

-What if you just tap and don't do any affirmations, or vice versa…33:30

-The difference between tapping and acupuncture…38:30

-Who chooses which points are supposed to be tapped, and what happens if you “forget” a point…42:00

-Whether Nick's “style” of tapping is different than other styles, and if so, how…52:30

-How tapping would look for a chronic injury or nagging pain in a joint that won't go away…55:30

-How to tap for insomnia, high cortisol or stress…57:20

-And much more!

Resources from this episode: 

Nick's “Tapping Solution” books on Amazon and his other titles

Heal Your Body by Louise Hay

EFTuniverse.com – EFT / Tapping Research

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Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Nick or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!

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6 thoughts on “Tapping & EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique): Pseudoscience, Quackery or Wildly Effective Healing Modality?

  1. Where can I find Nick’s video documentary?

  2. Helen says:

    A few years ago, The American Psychological Association (APA) approved EFT/Energy Psychology/Tapping as an approved protocol – so psychology professionals can now take training and get continuing education (CE) credits. Dawson Church PhD and David Feinstein PhD, both clinical psychologists, did years of work and research to make this happen.
    https://www.efttappingtraining.com/eft-research-p…

    I’ve studied tapping for 14 years now, and it really is marvelous and flexible tool. I’ve seen amazing results. (Some of the best from a 10th degree black belt who uses it with students for performance. He ‘stacks’ it with NLP and other modalities, some ancient.) If you consider the science behind acupuncture then tapping makes sense. Thanks for doing a podcast on this!

    1. Joe says:

      Just for the record, Dawson Church is not a clinical psychologist. In fact he does not hold an accredited PhD and is being pretty disingenuous when he uses the title “Dr”.

  3. Ludwig says:

    Are there people for whom tapping just doesn’t work? I’d read EFT for Sports Performance awhile back and tried to use it repeatedly, but it never seemed to make a bit of difference in measurable results. It’s harder to tell whether it’s working for emotional issues, of course, because our numerical evaluations there are more subjective. I’ve also noticed that I can never seem to fall under hypnosis, so I wonder if these are related in any way. Any way to test whether it’s working? Or suggestions for adapting it in some way I might not have thought of? Thanks.

    1. Renee says:

      Hi there,

      From my own personal experience, I was first introduced to EFT in 2013. It was nothing short of amazing however I did many other holistic natural things as I was dealing with deep grief. It takes time for EFT to integrate I feel. I read everything about it and I just know it works for me because I have had results. For example I was training for a half marathon and the night before I started to get panicky thinking who was I kidding? I tapped and did it in 2.04hrs. It works 😊

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