Our bodies are a  transmitter and receiver of energy as represented by its electromagnetic field. The human body produces electromagnetic fields with cells and tissues that can be measured on the skin, while all of our organs produce biomagnetic energy.

Within these energy fields, diseases and disturbances can often be measured before their physical symptoms can be detected. All these energies have a frequency, and through the process of EFT, and interference pattern is established to disrupt those frequencies associated with stored trauma and emotional disturbances. (click here to see brain scans before and after EFT sessions)  EFT literally taps into these specific energy fields to redirect their flow, alleviating electromagnetic and biomagnetic fields of disturbances and blocks.

In addition to using acupuncture point stimulation,  this technique incorporates other psychotherapy techniques, such as relaxation and memory recall, causing a long term cognitive restructuring within the brain. In psychological terms, remembering a trauma is a conditioned feedback loop. The nervous system associates stress with a certain memory. By interjecting the Reframing Technique* of EFT plus tapping the acupoints, this feedback loop is broken and the stress response is eliminated.

As Gary Craig says in his book EFT, “A number of scientific papers have been published in per-reviewed journals that describe what body’s nervous system, hormonal systems and genes happens in order to produce rapid and dramatic change. They show, among other findings, that pressure on acupoints is as effective as the insertion of acupuncture needles . They also found that acupuncture sends fear-dampening signals directly to the limbic system…” In addition, it has been found that EFT reduces cortisol, the signature stress hormone of the body.

Another concept used to explain the success of EFT is that of neural plasticity. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that scientists discovered that our brains and neural pathways are in constant flux. Before that, it was believed that the brain grew until we were about 17 years old and then remained static. However, in 2000, Eric Kandle, MD won the Nobel Prize for medicine with his discovery that within just one hour if repeated stimulation, the number of connections in a neural bundle can double. (Craig, 65) This explains not only how we store traumatic memories in neural pathways, but also how, from a purely energetic perspective,  we can replace and transform those memories.

EFT combines the remembrance of a specific incident with a statement of positive acceptance. This introduces the possibility of cognitive change. Coupled with the tapping of acupoints, this unlinks the painful memory with its associated neural bundle, thereby no longer triggering that stress response in the body.