Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDoes Tapping Really Work For Anxiety?How Tapping for Anxiety WorksWhere Do You Tap for Anxiety?What Do You Say When Tapping for Anxiety?What Are the 5 Steps to Tapping?How Long Does It Take to See Results From Tapping?

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Does Tapping Really Work For Anxiety?

How Tapping for Anxiety Works

Where Do You Tap for Anxiety?

What Do You Say When Tapping for Anxiety?

What Are the 5 Steps to Tapping?

How Long Does It Take to See Results From Tapping?

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Tapping (emotional freedom technique, EFT), is a therapy type that combines features of psychotherapy with acupressure.EFT uses principles found in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) andexposure therapy, alongside somatic stimulation (i.e., tapping) of pressure points throughout the body.

In other words, EFT involves literally tapping the places on your body where you feel anxiety or other uncomfortable emotions.

EFT is known as an effective treatment for stress, physical discomfort, self-esteem issues, and addiction.EFT is perhaps most widely known as a treatment for anxiety disorders, including general anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),and phobias.

Here, we’ll focus on how tapping can help with anxiety specifically, including how it works, how effective it is, how to do it, and how long it takes to see results.

Therapy for Anxiety Disorders

There have been about 100 clinical trials showing the efficacy of tapping for anxiety. It has shown particular promise in the treatment of PTSD among war veterans, sexual violence survivors, motor vehicle accident survivors, prisoners, disaster survivors, and hospital patients. It has also been shown to be effective in the treatment of both general anxiety and depression.

Benefits of Tapping for Anxiety

Usually, it takes between 4 and 10 sessions of EFT tapping to see results. Besides decreased symptoms of anxiety symptoms, some additional benefits of tapping include:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Treatment

Why Tapping Techniques Can Calm You Down“Tapping allows our nervous system to be safe in processing the anxiety that lives in our body as well as change the thoughts that come with the feeling of anxiety,” Curtis explains. “Tapping creates new neural pathways in our brain while simultaneously regulating our nervous system to help us feel more calm and centered which creates a powerful and transformational mind/body connection.”

Why Tapping Techniques Can Calm You Down

“Tapping allows our nervous system to be safe in processing the anxiety that lives in our body as well as change the thoughts that come with the feeling of anxiety,” Curtis explains. “Tapping creates new neural pathways in our brain while simultaneously regulating our nervous system to help us feel more calm and centered which creates a powerful and transformational mind/body connection.”

Curtis says that tapping for anxiety can be used as part of a treatment session with an EFT therapist, or on your own when you are experiencing heightened times of anxiety. But it can also be used as a daily maintenance practice—not just during times when you feel your anxiety increase.

“It is important to remember to tap when you are not feeling anxious too,” she says. “That way, the nervous system is better equipped to enter an anxious situation already with a sense of more calm and ease because you have trained it to do so.”

How to Heal From Trauma

According to Curtis, there are nine different points on the face and body that you tap during a tapping session “round.”

The 9 Points on Your Body That You Tap During an EFT SessionThe side of your handThe inside of your eyebrow, where the hair of your eyebrow startsThe side of your eyeThe area just under your eyeThe area under your noseThe area between your bottom lip and chinRoughly two inches below your collarboneThe side of your body, at the top of your ribcageThe top of your head

The 9 Points on Your Body That You Tap During an EFT Session

The side of your handThe inside of your eyebrow, where the hair of your eyebrow startsThe side of your eyeThe area just under your eyeThe area under your noseThe area between your bottom lip and chinRoughly two inches below your collarboneThe side of your body, at the top of your ribcageThe top of your head

Usually, you tap these points, in this order. You can tap these points with both hands on both sides of your body, or with one hand on each side of your body, Curtis explains. “Our energetic meridians work as mirrors so the effectiveness is the same with either option,” she says.

What Are Energetic Meridians?You have acupuncture points located all throughout your body. These points are located along pathways. These pathways are known as “energetic meridians.”

What Are Energetic Meridians?

You have acupuncture points located all throughout your body. These points are located along pathways. These pathways are known as “energetic meridians.”

“All of these locations are important because they link to certain energetic meridians in your body which then link to certain organs.”

Types of Re-Experiencing in PTSD

Try This Script During an EFT Session

The basic script for what to say while you tap goes something like this, according to Curtis:“Even though I feel (insert emotion that you are feeling) in my (insert place you feel this emotion in the body), I love and accept myself anyway.”

Of course, there will be variations of the script above, and you should feel free to tweak it as you see fit. “It is important when we tap that we are speaking what is true for us,” Curtis says. “So if the statement ‘I love and accept myself anyway’ isn’t true, you can change it out with ‘I am being present with how I feel.’”

What If I Don’t Want to Say Anything or Can’t Think of What to Say?

You should also keep in mind that you don’t need to get too caught up in doing the script correctly. There’s no wrong way to tap, Curtis assures. “If it is easier for you to tap the points and express how you are feeling in a more fluid format that is great,” she says.

Kristen Curtis, Certified EFT Practitioner

What Is Self-Esteem?

Curtis shared what a typical tapping session would look like. Generally, each session follows the five steps listed below.

The 5 Steps in a Tapping Session

Once a round is done, you can repeat as many times as you’d like. “The goal of tapping is not to get your rating to 0, but to a manageable place which can be a 3 or 4 depending on where you started,”

Curtis says. “Keep in mind the intensity of the emotion may get worse before it gets better.” She encourages people to continue paying attention to how they are feeling and repeating the script until the feeling becomes more manageable.

How to Express Your Feelings

Kristen Curtis, Certified EFT PractitionerChanges in your energy, emotions, and thoughts can happen after just one round or three minutes of tapping.

Changes in your energy, emotions, and thoughts can happen after just one round or three minutes of tapping.

Most people begin to see the effects of tapping within just a few tapping session rounds, Curtis says. So, this could mean that you begin to feel somereliefin just a few minutes. “Changes in your energy, emotions, and thoughts can happen after just one round or three minutes of tapping,” says Curtis.

However, even if immediate relief comes quickly, sometimes trying to transform some of the more deeply embedded emotions takes longer.

“EFT tapping is not only used to regulate the nervous system and transform emotions in the moment, but it is also used to get to the root of that emotion which typically leads back to a trauma from the past,” Curtis explains.

“Depending on the severity of the trauma, how old it is, and how deeply rooted it is in our subconscious, it may be necessary to spend several sessions tapping with a practitioner," says Curtis.

If you are interested in working with an EFT practitioner, consider contactingEFT UniverseorEFT International.

Summary

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

Journaling to Cope With Anxiety

7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Clond M.Emotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2016;204(5):388-395. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000483Church D, Stern S, Boath E, et al.Emotional Freedom Techniques to Treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: Review of the Evidence, Survey of Practitioners, and Proposed Clinical Guidelines. The Permanente Journal. 2017;21(4). doi:10.7812/TPP/16-100Wati NL, Sansuwito TB, Rai RP, et al.The Effect of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to the Self Esteem among Nurses. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences. 2022;18(SUPP2):239-242.Church D, Hawk C, Brooks AJ, et al.Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2013;201(2):153-160. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351Church D, Stapleton P, Mollon P, et al.Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD Using Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Healthcare (Basel). 2018;6(4):146. doi:10.3390/healthcare6040146Maurer N, Nissel H, Egerbacher M, Gornik E, Schuller P, Traxler H.Anatomical Evidence of Acupuncture Meridians in the Human Extracellular Matrix: Results from a Macroscopic and Microscopic Interdisciplinary Multicentre Study on Human Corpses.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:6976892. Published 2019 Mar 21. doi:10.1155/2019/6976892Church D, Hawk C, Brooks AJ, et al.Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2013;201(2):153-160. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Clond M.Emotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2016;204(5):388-395. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000483Church D, Stern S, Boath E, et al.Emotional Freedom Techniques to Treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: Review of the Evidence, Survey of Practitioners, and Proposed Clinical Guidelines. The Permanente Journal. 2017;21(4). doi:10.7812/TPP/16-100Wati NL, Sansuwito TB, Rai RP, et al.The Effect of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to the Self Esteem among Nurses. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences. 2022;18(SUPP2):239-242.Church D, Hawk C, Brooks AJ, et al.Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2013;201(2):153-160. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351Church D, Stapleton P, Mollon P, et al.Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD Using Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Healthcare (Basel). 2018;6(4):146. doi:10.3390/healthcare6040146Maurer N, Nissel H, Egerbacher M, Gornik E, Schuller P, Traxler H.Anatomical Evidence of Acupuncture Meridians in the Human Extracellular Matrix: Results from a Macroscopic and Microscopic Interdisciplinary Multicentre Study on Human Corpses.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:6976892. Published 2019 Mar 21. doi:10.1155/2019/6976892Church D, Hawk C, Brooks AJ, et al.Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2013;201(2):153-160. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Clond M.Emotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2016;204(5):388-395. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000483Church D, Stern S, Boath E, et al.Emotional Freedom Techniques to Treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: Review of the Evidence, Survey of Practitioners, and Proposed Clinical Guidelines. The Permanente Journal. 2017;21(4). doi:10.7812/TPP/16-100Wati NL, Sansuwito TB, Rai RP, et al.The Effect of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to the Self Esteem among Nurses. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences. 2022;18(SUPP2):239-242.Church D, Hawk C, Brooks AJ, et al.Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2013;201(2):153-160. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351Church D, Stapleton P, Mollon P, et al.Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD Using Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Healthcare (Basel). 2018;6(4):146. doi:10.3390/healthcare6040146Maurer N, Nissel H, Egerbacher M, Gornik E, Schuller P, Traxler H.Anatomical Evidence of Acupuncture Meridians in the Human Extracellular Matrix: Results from a Macroscopic and Microscopic Interdisciplinary Multicentre Study on Human Corpses.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:6976892. Published 2019 Mar 21. doi:10.1155/2019/6976892Church D, Hawk C, Brooks AJ, et al.Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2013;201(2):153-160. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351

Clond M.Emotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2016;204(5):388-395. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000483

Church D, Stern S, Boath E, et al.Emotional Freedom Techniques to Treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: Review of the Evidence, Survey of Practitioners, and Proposed Clinical Guidelines. The Permanente Journal. 2017;21(4). doi:10.7812/TPP/16-100

Wati NL, Sansuwito TB, Rai RP, et al.The Effect of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to the Self Esteem among Nurses. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences. 2022;18(SUPP2):239-242.

Church D, Hawk C, Brooks AJ, et al.Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2013;201(2):153-160. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351

Church D, Stapleton P, Mollon P, et al.Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD Using Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Healthcare (Basel). 2018;6(4):146. doi:10.3390/healthcare6040146

Maurer N, Nissel H, Egerbacher M, Gornik E, Schuller P, Traxler H.Anatomical Evidence of Acupuncture Meridians in the Human Extracellular Matrix: Results from a Macroscopic and Microscopic Interdisciplinary Multicentre Study on Human Corpses.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:6976892. Published 2019 Mar 21. doi:10.1155/2019/6976892

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