Ann: It’s probably been at least a couple of years ago now that I either ran across a reel or it could have even been an ad on Pinterest where it showed someone doing this EFT tapping on themselves – I want to say it was a clip of several different people doing it – like flipping from one person to another. And my thought was – okay, that looks really stupid – what the hell are they doing? I feel like I looked at enough of the caption to see it was called tapping and it was for anxiety, and I thought – that’s ridiculous – what sort of joke is that?

And then I’d see it again somewhere – still thinking it looked crazy and not seeing how in the world that could be helpful in any way shape or form. But recently I saw something about it again and realized that that it’s actually backed by science – well, now we’re talkin’

This is Speaking of Teens, the podcast that helps parents who are struggling to find peace and connection with their teens. My name is Ann Coleman; I’m an attorney turned parent educator and a mom who has been there - and I’m on a mission to help you build a stronger relationship and decrease the conflict with your kid so you can help them grow into the young adult they’re meant to be.

And today on the show we’re talking about the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT and yes – there’s some major science on this. Now there are two types of EFT – there’s the standard and the clinical.

Clinical EFT is simply the specific methods of EFT that have been used in scientific studies, which are now considered evidence-based self-help therapeutic method and over 100 scientific studies demonstrate its efficacy. It has been shown to have a direct physiological effect and there’s a huge body of evidence that indicating the association between physiological and psychological symptoms. The bottom line is that EFT is legit. It’s been shown to improve anxiety, depression, PTSD, pain, cravings, and increase mental well-being. I mean the numbers are incredible – one 6-week study included a group of veterans with diagnosed PTSD. Half received the regular standard of care of therapy and medication and the other half received a one-hour EFT tapping group session each week. At the end of the 6 weeks, only 4% of the group that received standard care showed such a reduction in symptoms that they no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis (so 96% still had PTSD). But – listen to this – a full 90% of the group that received EFT no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis at the end of the 6 weeks. And the list just goes on. So, no doubt this is an incredible tool to use for our mental health. It has also been shown to be effective in adolescents for stress reduction, anxiety, depression, disordered eating and even smoking cessation. It's certainly well worth your while to look into it for you or your kids.

And my guest on today’s show is extremely well qualified to speak to EFT and it’s benefits. Lauren Fonvielle is an Integrative Energy Practitioner specializing in EFT. She knows her stuff. She’s been trained and certified in various concentrations including being an Advanced Emotional Freedom Techniques Practitioner through EFT International. You’ll hear in our conversation just how passionate she is about EFT and its ability to help heal people.

Lauren: Okay, so EFT stands for emotional freedom technique, and it is a process of gently tapping on certain points of the body while simultaneously acknowledging the emotions that you are feeling. And this is a practice that can help with a wide variety of conditions ranging from anxiety and stress and overwhelm, which I think everybody can relate to in some regard - to also helping with physical pain or chronic pain. It can help overcome limiting beliefs and that negative voice in our head that can sometimes get really loud and tell us that we're not good enough. And it can help with cravings. So it can help with a lot of different things. And I know that in itself can lead people to be like, what? Like, how can tapping on yourself help with all of this stuff?

And so when I'm describing it to someone who is new to the practice or has never heard of it before, I say that it, or I like to compare it to acupuncture. So when you go to an acupuncturist, they take tiny little needles and they put them in at certain points of the body. And the points of the body where they put those needles in are the end points of the meridians. And the meridians are how energy moves through the body. So I like to think of that as, you know, our blood moves through our our veins and our blood vessels, our energy moves through something called meridians. And sometimes that energy can get stuck. And so we, instead of putting needles in, what we are doing is gently applying acupressure to some of those same points by gently tapping on them. And then in addition to that, we say phrases out loud, acknowledging how we are feeling. And so as humans, we in general don't like to feel angry, sad, frustrated, overwhelmed, those uncomfortable feelings.

And for the most part, when something comes up that makes you feel that way, angry, sad, frustrated, what do we tend to do? We tend to push it down, I call it stuff it, we stuff it down, and then we distract ourselves with something else so that we don't have to feel that feeling, right? And that can work in the short term. We can distract ourselves and maybe throw ourselves into our work, or we can throw ourselves onto our couch and have a few too many drinks or stuff a few too many chips in our mouth. And that in the moment will allow you to possibly not feel that feeling. But then over time, those feelings build up and build up and build up, and they get to a point where they are going to come out in some way.

And sometimes that is emotionally and you kind of lash out at a loved one that maybe doesn't deserve it. And sometimes it's physically and you start to manifest things physically. And I think a lot of people can relate to that to like when you are under a lot of stress, where do you feel that in your body? A lot of people can feel that in, the neck and shoulders is a common one for stress, but it's not just with stress that we feel things physically.

It can be with any emotion that we haven't allowed ourselves to really process and move through. And so in general, tapping is just, it's a simple tool to help you to feel your emotions in a safe way so that you can move through them and you can stop stuffing them down and ignoring them and allowing them to build up to that point where they're going to cause you pain either physically or emotionally.

Ann: Okay, so that I have all kinds of questions. All right, so the meridians you were talking about. Okay, so meridians, is that like, is that a scientific terminology or is that something from Eastern medicine that, okay, so to explain to me what that is exactly.

Lauren: Mm-hmm. So meridians are commonly talked about in Chinese medicine. And it is this idea that our energy moves through these meridians. And so, when you are dealing with heavy emotions, sometimes that energy can get stuck.

As far as the science part of it, there are studies that show that tapping on these points is sending a message to the amygdala in the brain. The amygdala is the part of the brain that controls fight or flight. That's the part of the brain that is there to protect us in those situations where we need to fight back and we need to run away. But when we're talking about chronic anxiety or chronic stress or chronic pain, what's happening is that alarm is going off constantly. And when that alarm is going off constantly, it's sending cortisol, which is the stress hormone, into the body. And while there are certain situations where we want that to happen, when it's happening on a regular basis, that's not healthy. And so the studies have shown that by tapping on the end points of these meridians, it's sending a message to the amygdala and telling the amygdala, hey, you don't actually need to be in fight or flight right now.

And doing so, it reduces the amount of cortisol being pumped through the body by up to 43%. That was a study that was done by Dr. Peta Stapleton. It's a really big number. Yeah, really big number. So even if just learning some of these points, and this is what I say in my workshops, right? Like if you come to one of my workshops and some people come, you know, they'll drag a spouse or something to it as somebody that who's very skeptical, right?

And the idea is, give it a try, see how it makes you feel. There's different modalities for different people, different things resonate with different people. And I always tell people, if the one thing you take away from this practice is like, oh, I really like this one point. And I know that when I'm feeling really stressed, I can tap on that one point and take some deep breaths and know that that's going to reduce the amount of cortisol, that stress hormone, and help me feel more grounded in the moment, then great you know, and if that's all you take away from it, it's something that can be of benefit to you.

Ann: Yeah, no kidding. I mean, so you just said the word I was going to ask you about grounding. So is that what it's doing? Sending a message to the amygdala that, hey, I'm still here, we're still here, we're okay, it's okay. Is that what it's all about?

Lauren: Yeah, so it's this idea, right? So there's this, I know that we don't have video, but I'm gonna show you using my hand and I'm gonna describe it to people. So I'm gonna take my hand and put it in a fist with my thumb inside the fist. And so if we think of this fist as my brain and this part of my brain, the prefrontal cortex, where we make our good decisions is this part of my hand, the front part of my knuckles. And so information comes up the brain stem to the prefrontal cortex. That happens when we are calm and at ease and things are functioning properly.

Ann: Yeah, yeah.

Lauren: And when that amygdala like we talked about, that alarm center is going off, I'm gonna pretend that's my thumb, this alarm is going off, it's like that part of your brain, the prefrontal cortex where you make your good decisions, it's like you flip your lid is what they say. And you literally can't access that part of the brain when that alarm center is going off. So that's situations where you may be so stressed out, maybe you're at work and you're in front of your desk and you have a billion deadlines and you don't know what to do first. And maybe you even say to yourself, I can't even think straight. And you can't because you cannot access that part of the brain.

So when you're tapping, it's sending that message to the amygdala and then the prefrontal cortex is then coming back online. So now you can make those good sound decisions again. And we all wanna make decisions from that from that calm place, from that grounded place, not that frantic energy where you feel like you're all out here. You wanna feel more grounded and in your body and at peace when you're making any decision, but of course important decisions in your life. So yeah, it can absolutely help with you feeling more grounded.

 

Ann: That's I'm smiling because I mean, I've gone through my entire life feeling exactly like that. I have anxiety generalized anxiety and have had since a kid and my son did too does have still. So if I had known about this because we always did breathing and square breathing and you know, we did meditation which you know, a lot of this stuff works on the same center of the brain. I mean, it goes straight to the amygdala. But I'm just so interested in how the tapping it must send some kind of electronic signal, I guess, maybe to the brain, okay, through these meridians, that tells the amygdala that we're really not under attack, that everything's okay somehow. I just, I'm just so curious who discovered this? How did they discover that tapping? And I guess it came from Eastern, the Eastern medicine part of it?

Lauren: Yeah, yes. So yeah, so it is, you know, it is derived from the Chinese medicine and the Meridian points and acupuncture, but it was actually a therapist. And before it evolved into EFT, it was originally called TFT, which is thought field therapy, which was something that was really only done by therapists. Whereas now EFT, you know, you of course can be a therapist and practice EFT, but you do not have to be a therapist to be an EFT practitioner - it's separate.

So the way the story goes of how this started was this therapist was working with a client who had a really big fear of water. And I'm not just talking about fear of going in the ocean or fear of swimming in a pool, but like fear of washing your face and taking a shower, fear of water, extensive fear of water. And they had been working together for a while, quite some time, and she had not made any progress on overcoming this fear.

The meridians are associated with different organs of the body. And so I believe it was like the under the nose point, which is related to the stomach, which is where she was feeling just like this, that gut feeling, sick feeling, sick to your stomach type feeling and they were talking about her fear, and he just asked her to start tapping and talking about the fear that she was having. And as she was doing that, she started to feel like that she wasn't scared of the water, and they happened to be outside when they were doing this. And she got up and she started walking towards this pool. And the story goes that he was like, no, you can't go in the pool, you don't know how to swim.

Ann: Let's not go that far.

Lauren: And she was like, no, I know. She's like, but I'm not scared of it. And she put her feet in. And so, yeah, it's something that can help you to overcome fears. It's just helping to create these new neural pathways in the brain so that you begin to think about things differently. And when we think about things differently, then we feel differently. And then when we feel differently, we take different action. So it is a modality that helps you do just that.

Ann: So, Lauren, remind me, you are therapist too? You're not a therapist. So you tell me about how you learned all this and what you do exactly.

Lauren: I am not a therapist. Uh, no. Yeah, so I got into this because of my own journey with anxiety and stress and really looking for holistic ways of managing my anxiety. It was a time in my life where, you know, some big things were going on personally. I started having panic attacks and I knew that I needed to do something in order to really show up as the best mom as I could for my kids. And it took me on this journey and the journey started with becoming a yoga teacher and meditation teacher and then I was introduced to this practice of EFT through one of my coaching programs that I was in. And then I just went on to study that more and I got certified through EFT International. They have, in my opinion, the best certification process and it's a very lengthy process and I worked one-on-one with a master trainer and got certified that way. And it's, you know, you don't of course have to be certified in EFT to practice it yourself, but it was because of my own transformation with it, I just really wanted to learn more and I just kept studying and kept going and still am, you know, continuing to do the training, yeah.

Ann: Now, well, we sound a lot alike because that's exactly, I mean, once you start something and you learn about it and then you just, I mean, I've been digging into adolescence for four and a half years, so I totally get it. And so two things I don't wanna forget both, so I'm gonna go ahead and say, all right, so I wanna know where the meridians are and I wanna know in your experience, because you said you teach yoga and you taught meditation, so you practice meditation still? Okay, so tell me how you feel these things differ because I know some about mindfulness and mindfulness meditation and that kind of thing. So how do you feel like tapping and mindfulness differ as, I mean, it's obvious how they differ as a practice, but how do they differ, do you think, in the way that they help someone internally?

Lauren: Yeah, I think what really I love the most about tapping and that helps it to kind of stand out and be different is the somatic part of it, that you're actually physically doing something in that you're tapping on your body. You know, I'll work with clients who say, I can't meditate, you know, they have that monkey mind, all the thoughts going back and forth, and they can't meditate. And so what I have found is that tapping is a really beneficial practice and complements other modalities, particularly meditation really well, because, you know, when you have that monkey mind and all of these thoughts swirling around, you can tap and you can say those things out loud, right?

Like you can go through that laundry list of stuff that you have to do for the day and say, I'm really anxious because I have all this stuff to do and you're tapping on the points as you're saying all of these things that are going through your mind. And in my experience, it's kind of almost like, it's not gonna make those thoughts completely go away but in acknowledging them and speaking them out loud because there's a real power in saying things out loud. It almost kind of sweeps the thoughts over to the side. So then when you go into your meditation practice, I find that it's a little bit easier to sink in to the meditation when you've kind of acknowledged all this stuff that has been weighing on you first.

 

Ann: So you could do the tapping before you do your meditation for the day or whatever and kind of get that stuff. I love that monkey mind thing. That's, mine's a monkey, a squirrel, two or three animals, two or three critters in there at the same time. So, all right. So that brings me then to the meridian points then. Could you talk about that a little bit and like, you know, what you recommend and that kind of thing?

Lauren: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, so there are, I'll just walk you through where these points are. And then I can also share with you a PDF, so if people are listening to that and they just wanna click on the link for the PDF so they can visually see it, sometimes that's a little bit easier too. Okay, so the first point is on the pinky side of the hand. So you can tap with either hand, right? I'm a righty, so I tend to tap with my right hand, but you can do vice versa.

And so you're tapping on the pinky side of the hand. And this is where we do what's called the setup statement. And you say a phrase three times. So the script for that phrase goes like this. Even though I'm feeling really anxious right now, I love and accept myself. Even though I'm really anxious about this, you know, project I'm working on. You want to be as specific as possible with what's going on.

Some people, you know, they don't know why they're anxious or overwhelmed or stressed. It's just, you know, it's just there. But if and the practice can help you get more specific, but if you know what's going on and you know why you're feeling that way, you want to be as specific with your words as possible, that's an important part of tapping. So you would say that sentence three times or a version of that. Even though I'm feeling really anxious and I'm feeling it in my neck and my shoulders, I love and accept myself. So you're acknowledging it and then you're saying something positive at the end of the phrase.

And then we move to the next point, which is right in the top of the head, the crown of the head. And you would just repeat that phrase, I'm feeling really anxious. Coming to the eyebrows. I'm feeling really anxious. So the start of the eyebrows. And then we move to the sides of the eyes. I feel this anxiety in my body. Coming, then we point under the eyes. All of this anxiety in my body. Keeping the phrase really simple, then we tap right underneath the nose. I'm feeling really anxious today. And then we move to the chin crease. All of this anxiety I feel in my body. Then we move to the collarbone. So you can tap with two hands, which is what I'm doing, or you can tap with one hand. Sometimes people say they feel uneven if they're only tapping on one side. All of this anxiety in my body.

Then we're gonna go under the arm, so the side of the body, for women it's about the center of the bra strap, and for men it's about two and a half inches down from the armpit. I'm feeling really anxious. And then the back of the hand between the pinky and the ring finger. I'm feeling really anxious. And then pause there, that's what we call one round of tapping, they call it a round because we're tapping around in the circle around the body. And those are the main points of the protocol.

Now, if you go to an acupuncturist, they're gonna put needles in all over your body. So there are additional points, but for tapping or EFT, those are the only points of the main protocol.

Ann: Okay, so my question then, so you do the one round. How long is it like a specific amount of time that you tap on each meridian?

auren: So no, I mean, I think the books say like at least seven to eight times on a point, I probably spent longer than that. I just say however long it takes you to say the phrase that you're saying, knowing there's really no wrong way of tapping. If tapping on a particular point bothers you for some reason, it's uncomfortable, you can skip over it, that's okay, that's not gonna ruin anything. And just listening to your body. You don't wanna be tapping yourself so hard that you're hurting yourself. You just want to gently, sometimes people say, well, how hard do you tap? I give the example of tapping on somebody's shoulder to get their attention, just lightly. You're just lightly tapping on these points, yeah.

Ann: Okay, and you mentioned something interesting and that I talk about all the time too is the emotional awareness part because if people just know that they're anxious and they don't know why they're anxious, is that how specific, like I know you said, you wanna get as specific as you can if you know why you're anxious, but is there any part of this that helps people to get to that awareness part?

Lauren: Yeah, absolutely. So you can come in just being like, I'm really anxious, I'm really overwhelmed, I don't even know why I'm feeling this way, right? And so we can call that tapping globally. So we would tap on the global issue of feeling anxious and overwhelmed. And then as we continue to tap, what starts to happen is that sometimes memories start to come up. Sometimes they're memories from a long time ago that in your mind, you don't think have anything to do with why you are feeling the way that you're feeling right now. So let's say, for example, maybe you're not feeling good enough. You're doubting yourself, and you're not feeling good enough about something that's going on in your life. And then you have some memory come up of when you were sitting in your elementary school classroom, and your teacher said something that made you feel bad, right? And so logically, our minds wanna be like, well, that was so long ago, that isn't why I'm anxious or stressed today. But I promise you, when these memories start to come up, especially when they feel like they're coming out of nowhere or that you say, oh, they're not related, there is some sort of link and there is a reason why that is coming up. And so tapping really helps you to connect the dots and can help you get to the root of why you are feeling the way that you're feeling.

So it's totally fine if you don't know and you come in and we start globally. The job of the practitioner is to continually ask questions and then those questions help you think about how you're feeling or what you're noticing and we get there. You slowly come down the funnel and we get to the root of it eventually.

Ann: So with a practitioner then, you set up like regular appointments to come in and do this. And so what if they're not like anxious at the moment, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to bring out those feelings that they have when they're not with you, when they're anxious or how does that work?

Lauren: Yeah, so typically, someone that comes to me is dealing with something, right? So maybe there's something going on in their life, and maybe they don't know why they're feeling anxious. And we want to get to the root and get to why that that's happening. So, you know, in that example, if they're not feeling anxious in the moment, we can talk about what's going on in their life that day, what they're thinking about, what's you know, what's taking up the most space in their brain? And we can and we can start there. Other people come with something specific. I recently worked with a woman who had a fear of going on elevators. And so each session, that was the ultimate big goal, but it's not like the whole time we were tapping on that because it leads to other things. A lot of the time it does lead to memories from the past that we can then explore and unpack.

Ann: Yeah, so being afraid of getting on an elevator might be, might go back to a time when she was trapped in something or caught in something and couldn't get out or something like that maybe.

Lauren: Yeah, it could. In her situation, she was never really in a situation. It's not like she had some direct correlation of like, oh, she was in an elevator at one point and got really scared. But it ended up being more related to not feeling in control and issues in the past where she wasn't in control. She was a child and she felt like she didn't have any power.

Having awareness around it and looking at those situations kind of in a new light, then of course helps us to feel differently. And again, we feel differently, we act differently. And that's when you get the different results that you want. And I'm happy to say that she, at the end of working together, we worked together one-on-one for eight weeks. By the end of that eight weeks, she was riding elevators and not having panic attacks. Yeah.

Ann: Oh my. That's awesome. Doesn't that make you feel so good that you actually change someone's life like that?

Lauren: Yeah, well, she changed her own life and she did the work, you know, to get there. But like being a part of that and being a guide in that practice, like, yeah, it's a complete honor.

Ann: Well, true. Yeah.

Lauren: Yeah, incredibly grateful to be able to do the work that I'm doing.

Ann: It's amazing. Well and that out-of-control feeling, I think that's where a lot of our anxiety comes from. I mean, you know, riding, getting on an airplane and that kind of thing. That's where that comes from for me is not being in control. So I totally get that. So in you mentioned that you had panic attacks too. I mean, I've had a few. I've had one that felt like total panic. But mostly mine are I think anxiety attacks where I just am way up here with the anxiety. So when you're in that moment of having something like that, how do you recommend that, is it a different kind of thing when you're tapping when you're actually in the middle of a panic attack or do you do the same thing?

Lauren: You do the same thing. I will say, it's going to be a lot easier for you to utilize the tool during a panic attack if it is a practice that you're doing on a regular basis. Because if it's something that you're just doing once in a while, it's not gonna be as easy to break it out of the tool bag if you aren't doing it on a regular basis. So even tapping, I always try and encourage people to tap even for a couple of minutes a day just to make it a more regular practice so that when you're in those situations, you can take it out and use it. Because I think that's the beautiful thing about tapping is that it can be used proactively as part of your self-care practice, and then it can be used reactively in those situations where you're feeling really overwhelmed and stressed out.

Ann: So if you use it as a daily practice, is it more than kind of like a meditation in the words that you say or are you not talking? I mean, tell me about that. So if it's just a daily practice and you're not doing it when you're anxious or when you're sad or when something's going on, how do you do that?

Lauren: Yeah, so if you're doing it on a daily basis, you know, depending on, you know, when you're doing it, right, you could do it at the end of the day and take some time to just tap and talk about the things that bothered you that day, right? You know, it could be as simple as I can't believe my boss said that to me today, or that guy cut me off when I was driving. And that really made me mad or, you know, just kind of going through your day and tapping it out. Or if there's worries about something that you've got coming up the next day, you could tap about that. It's really, it just depends on what you're dealing with. You always do want to use words though, wherever possible. You can use this as just like a silent tapping process and just tap and breathe and that will help you feel calmer. But really, figuring out what words to use for you and what really resonates with you and saying that out loud, hearing yourself speak it out loud. I can't stress enough how much of a power there is with that, right?

So for example, I was working with someone and we were working with that, I'm not good enough, I'm not good enough to go do this work that I want to do. And she was saying it, I'm not good enough, as we're tapping on the points, I don't feel good enough, I don't feel good enough. And we like went through a few points. I don't feel good enough. She's like, oh, so ridiculous. That is ridiculous. I am good enough to do this. There is something powerful about saying it. Like that in itself can be the cognitive, you know, awareness and flip of a switch to help create that change.

 

Ann: So, let’s go back and tell me how was it you found EFT and started your practice.

Lauren: So, it was it was a time that there was a lot there was a lot going on. We had just we just moved to a new state. My kids were little, four and two. And we my husband is in the military and we found out that he was going to have to deploy again. And it came very unexpectedly. He was in the reserves. And I was living in this land of, oh, that's not gonna happen. You know, like I thought, oh yeah. Anyway, so we got this, we got notice and my anxiety just started going nuts because we had done deployments before but this was the first time since having kids. And I was just, you know, scared. I was scared of being alone in this new town, not knowing anybody. Our families were far, like no support, no support system. And, and that is, and when I started having those panic attacks, I knew like, I'm not going to be able to like deal with this unless I can get this under control. And, and so the first thing I did was went to the doctor and the doctor was like, wanted to put me

Lauren: You know, I was desperate at that point and was like, okay, and I started them, but I did not like how they made me feel. And I basically made a deal with myself that I was going to try some other holistic avenues. And if, you know, in a certain amount of time, check back in with myself, and if I was still having the panic attacks, then I would try another medication.

And so, I mean, I just, I say that, like, I, there's nothing wrong with taking medication. That, like, I, you know, there's, there's a time and a place for that. But, like, for me at that time, I just, it wasn't working for me. So, um, and that's when my journey really began and I signed up for yoga teacher training and, and it was the best decision I could have made because I was around people that were, you know, into energy work and into all of these different modalities of healing. It's how I got introduced to sound healing and meditation and reiki and, and then ultimately tapping and tapping was, was a real game changer for me. So when, you know, we talked a little bit about how anxiety and stress can, can come out physically in the body. And for me, it was neck and neck pain, but also I have TMJ. So my jaw will would like lock up and very, very painful situation. And I was doing all sorts of things to try and help with that, you know, getting the they have like a night brace thing that you go to your dentist to wear. And I was putting like peppermint oil on I was trying to only eat softer foods and nothing really seemed to be helping. And so when I was dealing with that, when I first got introduced to EFT, and so when I found out that not only could this help with anxiety and stress, but that it could also help with physical pain, I was very, very intrigued by that. And after first being introduced to it in a group setting, where it was really focused on anxiety and noticing, I'm like, oh, this is, I was skeptical. I mean, I was definitely skeptical. And noticing that like, oh, wow, I do feel a little bit better. That's really interesting, I don't know what's going on. I was very curious, like I wanted to understand why I was feeling better. And so I kept doing it on my own, and then I signed up for some one-on-one sessions and wanted to focus on the physical pain. And so that experience was eye-opening.

Through that tapping practice, that first one-hour session, it became abundantly clear to me that I was holding on to emotional pain in my jaw. And once we got to the point of recognizing what that was, I felt a big difference in the amount of physical pain that I was having in my jaw, unlike any other thing that I had tried to create that change or find relief from the pain. And so it really blew me away. I was kind of dumbfounded by the whole thing. But that was enough for me. I was like, okay, I still don't understand what the heck is happening or why this is working, but it's making a really big difference for me. And that was it. That was enough for me to just keep going and keep going with it.

 

Ann: No kidding. Well, and you know, this is a stupid question and don't be offended by it. I'm just wondering how much of this, because I do meditation and so totally believe in, your mind is in control of everything, your body, everything that's going on. So I'm wondering how much of this is specific to the tapping on the meridians and how much of it is we can contribute to the mind saying, okay, now I'm gonna start getting better. You know, I'm doing something now that's going to help. And how much of it is, I mean, not a placebo effect because it's not, because you're thinking about it. But I just wonder how much of it, you know, you can owe to just thinking about these things and getting these things out in the open and how much is the like actual physical, you know, tapping. What do you think, what's your opinion about that?

Lauren: Yeah, no, I mean, I think it's really a combination of the two. I think there is something to be said for the somatic part of actually tapping on these points. And then also speaking them out loud is going to create that, like, aha moment, right? That you then begin to think about it differently. And then, of course, I think, you know, when you think, oh yeah, I'm doing something differently, this is gonna be the thing that works, I think that definitely helps, but at the same time, I was very skeptical, I didn't think it was going to work, and it did, right? So I don't think, this is not a practice that you have to believe in order for it to work, because there is this science of tapping on the points and reducing the cortisol and there's so many different studies that are being done. There's studies that are being done right now in Australia that's happening in schools, and they're doing this with kids in the schools. And those preliminary results are showing that not only is it reducing the anxiety and stress for the kids, but it's also improving their test scores. So, I mean, there's just, yeah, or there was a study that was done on veterans, so veterans who had been diagnosed with PTSD, because tapping can help with PTSD. And they had this group of veterans, they taught them tapping, and then they tapped with a professional once a week for six weeks. At the end of that six weeks, 90% of the veterans in that group had a reduction in their PTSD symptoms. So, I mean, yeah, like, yeah. And I... Absolutely amazing. Mm-hmm.

Ann: That's amazing. That is truly amazing.

That study by the way divided a group of veterans with PTSD in half – half got the 6 weeks of EFT and half got the standard talk therapy and meds. As you heard Lauren say, the half that received the EFT did fabulously well – they actually had such a reduction in their PTSD symptoms that they no longer met the diagnostic criteria for that disorder – in other words – they were cured.

The other half of those veterans with PTSD received the standard treatment protocol of psychotherapy and medication. Of that group of veterans inly 4% saw their symptoms reduced to the point that they no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. 96% of those people still had a PTSD diagnosis. THAT is some pretty incredible evidence of efficacy, isn’t it? I believe it’s certainly worth trying.

And listen, I’m extremely impressed with Lauren – she used to be a business coach so she’s made a career switch just like me and she works with all sorts of people who need relief from anxiety, stress, and chronic pain both virtually and in person and in small groups or one-on-one.

She has all sorts of free resources included a masterclass and there’s also a back-to-school course that is still available. I’ve included everything in the show notes including her YouTube channel, her free live tapping group for entrepreneurs and more information on the scientific research – you’ll find the link to go to everything right there in the app where you’re listening.

That’s it for Speaking of Teens today. Come join us in the Speaking of Teens Facebook Group - The link is right there at the very bottom of the show description in your app.

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Speaking of Teens is produced and edited by my sweet husband, Steve Coleman and I do all the research, writing, and hosting - obviously.  And by the way, this podcast is 100% certifiably ChatGPT free – nada – no AI – good or bad – it all comes straight out of my little pinhead and not some bot thank you very much.

We’ll talk soon!