Emotional Freedom Work (EFW) has evolved out of the much better known EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). EFT is part of a band of other interventions that offer the individual rapid resolution of emotional issues. Other methods/techniques that promise to resolve issues quickly are Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), various forms of hypnosis, The Healing Codes, Psych-K, to name a few. These techniques do indeed offer many the resolution they seek and often very quickly, which is of course excellent when it happens.
It is our view, however, based on our clinical experience and research, that when these methods do not work, it is where the ‘whole person approach’ has been overlooked (see Story of Health series). It is our experience that a model is only ever as good as it’s weakest point. When it doesn’t work for certain individuals and in certain conditions, it is at that time we need to ask the question why?
What is missing? What is being overlooked? When these questions are answered the model can better be adapted to meet the needs of greater numbers. Let us be clear, there is no one thing that will address everyone’s needs. Sustainable solutions are to be found where there is a merger of methods, disciplines and techniques that aspire to meet the needs of the individual emotionally, socially, mentally, spiritually and environmentally.
This is why we have developed what we call EFW, which without apology takes from EFT but combines with Quantum Physics, Epigenetics, Naturopathy and Psychoneuroimmunology, thus taking into account more than the laws of positive affirmations and traditional Chinese Medicine and Meridian Philosophy. In other words EFW is a much more comprehensive package, because it embraces those principles and disciplines that enhance the human condition.
A simple way to illustrate our point is the undeniable truth that ‘a positive message cannot survive in a dehydrated body’. A body that is dehydrated is suffering a great deal of stress. When the body is denied its most priceless fluid there is an over production of cholesterol, which is a biological response known as ‘dehydration alert’. The cholesterol is being produced to preserve what water there is in the cells because the body recognises there is insufficient water to perform its countless tasks.
When the body is stressed in this way the biological stress feeds back up to the mind, compromising all our mental functions i.e. perceptions, moods, concentration, memory etc. Therefore trying to think positively and sustain a positive way of being becomes increasingly difficult as the body pulls the mind down (see Persuading the Body series). This is vital to understand because if the subtle dance between mind, body and spirit is not understood and respected then the negative consequences of their interplay will undermine your best efforts and this example is just one of many factors that can prevent the rapid resolution offered by some of the aforementioned interventions. Other compromising factors include a life lacking meaning and purpose.
One of the worst crimes we can commit against our spirit is living a life without meaning and purpose. It ‘dumbs down’ all the senses and slowly erases potential. Equally self limiting is an environment that is not conducive to your endeavours and aspirations: it is important therefore to have a sanctuary. If the environment does not support the individual then gains made in one area of the self e.g. mind or spirit, can so easily be diminished. So weakness and lack of attention in one area of the human condition can easily prevent progress for the whole self.
Emotional Freedom Work takes account of the subtle dance between mind, body and spirit and has developed EFT in a way that we believe makes the very powerful outcomes it offers more sustainable. The individual is then less likely in two or three months, maybe even a year to be saying ‘that worked for me for a time, but I feel right back where I started’. EFW does not pretend to be the Holy Grail. It is a straightforward yet sophisticated method that gives greater scope for leading the individual out of the darkness and into the light. It too can deliver its results quickly but there is greater emphasis on doing it thoroughly, as results that endure, we believe, is the highest ambition of therapy.