The “True or Partially True” Technique for Testing Your Work

by Al Rodee
www.eftatlantic.com
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

I would like to share a technique I have designed to definitively test the EFT work. It is called the “True or Partially True Technique.” Since I have started developing this technique, it has superseded all others for testing the work I do with EFT.

Most tapping sessions are done around specific people or events that have caused trauma. Let’s say, for example, that Laura had a troubled relationship with her mother who was verbally abusive. All her life, “momma” put Laura down, told her she wasn’t going to amount to anything and made her feel like she wasn’t wanted which, in fact, she wasn’t. There could be many specific incidents around this core problem so let’s say we pick on the one that happened when Laura was 8 and she wanted to do something to please her mother so she rushed home from school before her mother got home from work and cleaned the house. Remember, nothing Laura could do would be good enough for her mother and this time was no exception. “Momma” came home, Laura waited, hopefully, expecting some praise, and the first thing her mother did was criticize her for not putting the mop away perfectly. “How stupid do you have to be to not know how to hang up a mop, girl?” says “momma.”

As we all know EFT is really good at re-framing how we look at the past and this situation is no exception. Through several rounds of EFT Laura realizes that it is not her fault that her mother was angry and it wasn’t Laura’s fault that she didn’t measure up to “momma’s” impossible demands. The low self esteem she has felt all her life starts to lift.

The cornerstone of my work is that all negative emotions can be transformed with love of self and others, gratitude for all that I have, and all that I am and forgiveness for self and others. Laura agreed that she was still holding anger towards her mother, and we determined that this was a good a time as any to forgive her completely.

We tap several rounds of EFT to help Laura recognize that “momma” was sad and angry, that she had likely been emotionally abused herself and help Laura find empathy for her mother for the first time in her life. It seems like she has forgiven her mother which is the last piece Laura agrees that she needs before complete healing takes place.

Here’s where the “True or Not True Technique” comes in. Ask your client to make a statement that directly reflects the success of the tapping you have been doing. In this case, it might sound something like, “I deeply and completely forgive my mother for the mop incident.” Watch the body language carefully and listen to how the words are delivered. If the words flow smoothly and the client has strong body language and good eye contact these are good signs. If he/she stumbles over the words and body language is defensive, resigned or otherwise weak you know there is likely still a problem. Either way there is more work to do. Once the statement is made, ask the client to go inside his/her feeling place, connect to the heart or the inner child and ask, “Is that statement true or partially true?” (Don’t be tempted to ask if it is true or false, it doesn’t work as you move through the technique.) The client will then answer “true” or “partially true.” Either way they answer, you need to then ask, “on a scale of 0-10, 10 being completely true and 0 not true at all, how true is that statement?” If they say 10 and their body language and eye contact are strong, you are likely finished. If they say anything less than 10 the question is, “what’s left to do?”

Many times the client will act like they are finished, present with strong body language and eye contact but say they are less than a 10 on the last question. This is the opportunity to release their own guilt, their need to hang on to some part of the problem, the idea that they have had this anger for so long that it would be embarrassing to let it go so quickly (this is a big one in my experience), or whatever is left of the problem. From what I have seen, this part of the problem will often come back to bother the client later.

To reiterate in short form without all the explanation:

1) Make a definitive, positive statement about whatever you were working to clear up
2) Go in to your feeling place (get out of your head…EFT is much less effective there)
3) Is that “true or partially true?”
4) Either way the client answers, ask: “on a scale of 0-10, 10 being totally true and 0, not true at all, how true is that statement?”
5) If 10 check your own intuition – ask, “how do you know it’s a 10?” – check body language and eye contact – and decide to accept the truth of the statement or to ask more questions.
6) If anything less than 10, or if you aren’t comfortable with the client’s “10,” ask, “what’s left?” or a similar question. Often, not always, the last bit resides within the person and is not about the other person or event.

I hope you find this useful. It has been a great help to me and my clients.
With Love,
Al

Al Rodee
www.eftatlantic.com