Below are short descriptions of EFT terms that are commonly used. Where a more lengthy description is available, each term links to its own page in > EFT Learning Resources > Core EFT Skills Library (Coming Soon). Definitions adhere to AAMET EFT Training Guidelines.

Aspects

Aspects is an EFT term used to describe each individual piece of a larger or more global issue. If we were working with a Fear of Lizards, for example, the following aspects or considerations might be revealed while tapping:

• Creeped out by scaly, slimy skin
• Afraid to touch
• Unflinching eyes
• Fast moving
• Shortness of breath when I see one
• Remembering my mother’s fear, etc.

In general, addressing specific aspects separately will give the best results. An experienced EFT explorer will also want to determine which aspect is the most intense before applying EFT. Let’s take another example: A Fear of Flying. How many potential aspects can you name?

The Generalization Effect

After you address a few related specific events with EFT, the process starts to generalize over the entire global issue, and the emotional charge of the whole problem may seem to collapse. For instance, if you were physically abused as a child and you tap to heal and neutralize the emotions for several of the worst incidents, the healing may generalize and spread over the whole situation.

Even incidents that you have not addressed with EFT may be much less upsetting or even neutral. War veterans with hundreds of traumatic memories have reported that after tapping for 5 or 6 of the worst memories, most of their remaining terrible memories seem distant and no longer painful.

A good question to ask yourself or others:

Think of something else that happened, something similar – does that bother you like it used to?

Intensity or SUDS Levels

Measuring Intensity Levels or SUDS (Subjective Units of Distress) Levels is a core EFT skill. By rating our subjective experience (the charge or intensity of an emotional or physical issue or the truthfulness of a limiting belief), we can tell how far we have come and/or how much further we wish to go.

Measuring Intensity Levels is typically done on a scale of 0 (lowest intensity or truthfulness) to 10 (highest intensity or truthfulness).

To address the issue Throbbing Pain in My Shoulder, for example, a woman rates her initial pain level at an “8.” After a round of EFT, she experiences her pain dropping a couple of points to a 6. Since the Intensity Level is higher than a 2, at least one more round of EFT is typically applied.

For those not comfortable with this kind of measuring (or for children) there are other creative ways to gather information about the intensity or truthfulness of an issue or limiting belief. Holding hands together to represent “smallness” or low intensity and farther apart to represent “bigness” or greater intensity is one example.

Testing Our Results

In EFT, change is often immediate and measurable. Testing allows us to check if the original problem has been solved or if a healing event has taken place. If not much change has occurred, testing can show us what still needs our attention. Being able to test confidently, gently and accurately is the hallmark of any committed EFT practice.

Learn more about Testing Our Results

Psychological Reversal (PR)

Psychological Reversal or PR was a term coined by Dr. Roger Callahan to describe what was going on energetically in the body when tapping would not work. During his early experiments with TFT (Thought Field Therapy, an early precursor to EFT), he noticed that roughly 40 percent of his patients were simply not getting the benefit of the treatment.

The Setup was eventually developed by Gary Craig because he deemed it a lot quicker to correct for Psychological Reversal than it would be to test to see if it was present every time someone addressed a new issue or aspect. In other words, balancing negative attention to the subject, “Even though _______,” with the affirmative statement, “I deeply and completely accept myself,” is intended to naturally disarm PR or any energetic (or emotional) resistance to resolving the issue at hand.

The protective aspects of Psychological Reversal (PR) are well understood in the field of EFT. For example, self-judgment about our own challenges or fear of the consequences of change (both to self and others) can have us at odds with what we are trying to achieve, and this can show up in our body’s subtle energy system as “reversal.” In this respect, while our energy systems can certainly be considered reversed against treatment, we can also become more consciously aware of our own protective behavior. This awareness can be healing in itself.

How we individually experience Psychological Reversal (PR) or Resistance is helpful to understand, especially when EFT does not seem to work or we are dealing with complex issues.

Coming Soon:

Tell The Story Technique
The Movie Technique
Sneaking Up
Tearless Trauma
Intuition and EFT
Rapport
The Importance of Testing
Secondary Gain
Core Issues and more…