EFT – Emotional Freedom Techniques – is a brilliant self-help tool for stress.  One of the beauties of the approach, which is based on the ancient Oriental idea of energy being organised in the body via meridians – is that it can provide both skilled depth therapy with an experienced therapist and a self-help tool that anyone can use for themselves.

At its simplest, EFT consists of tapping a series of points on the body while focusing on what is troubling you as specifically as you can.  So, ideally, your attention would not just be on being angry with your boss but on the feeling you have in your body and where you have it when you are angry with your boss right now.

The basic recipe is this: check in with yourself. On a scale of 1 – 10 how strong is the feeling you want to deal with?

Tap on the karate chop point on the side of the hand – the fleshy part between the little finger knuckle and the wrist while saying three times: “Even though I have this (burning anger in my throat when I think of what my boss said e.g.) I deeply and completely accept myself.”  Then take a reminder phrase which might be, in the example above, “this burning anger in my throat”, and repeat it while tapping about seven times on each of the points on the body listed below.  Go round the points twice.

Go inside again and check how strong it is now. If you are not yet down to zero, revise to something like: “Even though I still have some of this...”  Keep going until you are zero.  If the feeling changes change the words to reflect it. Persist until you are zero.

The points are

Crown of the head

Eye brow – on the nose end straight up from the tear duct

Side of the eye – still on the eye socket

Under the eye, still on the socket.

On the top lip halfway between the lip and the nose

On the chin, halfway between the bottom lip and the point of the chin

Collar bone – junction of collar bone, breastbone and first rib

Under arm on the bra strap or at nipple level. You will know when you have found it because it will be something between slightly sensitive and quite painful to tap

At the sophisticated end of the scale, 14 of the world’s leading exponents of EFT will be teaching and talking and listening and discussing and pooling ideas with other EFTers in London at the EFT International Masterclass 2008 in October. Dates are 11/12 with pre and post conference days as well. Details also on my website.