Tapping? EFT?

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Does anyone know anything about the Tapping solution? A counselor suggested it for reducing anxiety. It’s based on accupressure points which you tap while saying a self-affirming statement. I’m very wary of new age stuff, and wouldn’t venture into anything more with the people who promote it, but I’m trying to figure out if the technique itself could be ok for a Catholic to use. It doesn’t seem to suggest anything about the “Law of Attraction” where you become like God. It just seems to be a powerful way to distract the brain when processing painful memories. It certainly seems to be less harmful than medications.

Thanks!
 
mysticalrdesign said:
Does anyone know anything about the Tapping solution? A counselor suggested it for reducing anxiety. It’s based on accupressure points which you tap while saying a self-affirming statement. I’m very wary of new age stuff, and wouldn’t venture into anything more with the people who promote it, but I’m trying to figure out if the technique itself could be ok for a Catholic to use. It doesn’t seem to suggest anything about the “Law of Attraction” where you become like God. It just seems to be a powerful way to distract the brain when processing painful memories. It certainly seems to be less harmful than medications.

Thanks!
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The importance of such things is what the individual believes about it. It does sound like it simply relies on a pyschological/sensory manipulation technique which would be a completely legitimate practice. As long as the person partaking in it is using it in that way, and the person applying it feels the same then everything is fine. Now if you believe their are mystic forces or spirits aiding it, then you shouldn’t do it, and if the person doing it believes their are supernatural forces at work then you shouldn’t be encouraging them.
 
I have had a little bit of exposure to tapping. My understanding is that it does not require any specific spiritual beliefs and is in no way a danger to your Catholic faith.

That being said, I am not too convinced of the science behind it and I haven’t had any success using this technique on myself. However, I have known people who suffer a great deal from anxiety who regularly tap and who find it to be centering and relaxing.
 
Hi Everyone,

I suffer from severe panic attack/ anxiety disorder. I’ve seen many therapists, tried medications and also did CBT. I am new to EFT the Tapping Solution and it is really starting to help me to be more calm. It doesn’t desensitize you from your feelings it just “clears” the feeling so that you can tolerate things easier. I would say it is not against the Christian religion at all. If anything it is a method that doesn’t involve mind altering meds and should be touted as another alternative.

Sometimes if it doesn’t work for someone it is because they aren’t tapping on something that is bothering them initially and once you clear that you can tap on other things. To make it better and bring Christ into my experience, I try to incorporate tapping about being more in Jesus’ image or bringing the Holy Spirit to guide me through my troubles. I’ve had great success with it. I think people are skeptical and scared because its hard work to get to the route of your problems and when you face them and see they are manageable then you can feel some healing.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask me any questions about any of the therapies I’ve tried for anxiety. I think the worst damaging is CBT and exposure therapy. I felt worse after doing these therapies.

Good Luck and God Bless!

Shan:o
 
mysticalrdesign said:
Does anyone know anything about the Tapping solution? A counselor suggested it for reducing anxiety. It’s based on accupressure points which you tap while saying a self-affirming statement. I’m very wary of new age stuff, and wouldn’t venture into anything more with the people who promote it, but I’m trying to figure out if the technique itself could be ok for a Catholic to use. It doesn’t seem to suggest anything about the “Law of Attraction” where you become like God. It just seems to be a powerful way to distract the brain when processing painful memories. It certainly seems to be less harmful than medications.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t consider acupressure or acupuncture as “New Age”. There is a lot of medical research going on about this, and it is more and more becoming accepted among the western medical community. There are anesthesiologists that practice medical acupuncture (my FIL went to one with very good results for his back and leg pain), and there is some published research on acupressure for the relief of nausea and vomiting in surgical patients and pregnant women and chemotherapy patients that show a beneficial effect in many patients. These are scientific and controlled studies. From what I have read, and I am no expert, the body releases certain chemicals (such as endorphins, which are very potent painkillers, and other substances) that have an effect on the brain when these points are stimulated.

So there is probably a physiological reason why this tapping on an accupuncture point may help, and there is no reason a Catholic can’t use it. And if it works, why not?
 
Acupuncture has nothing to do with new age. It is an ancient Chinese way to cure illness.
Before western medicine come into place, Chinese people use acupuncture as well as Chinese herbs to effectively treat patients. Acupuncture is part of great Chinese culture.😃
 
Maybe might want to read the following:

The Church and the New Age Movement
By Dr. John B. Shea, M.D., FRCP(C)
Issue: November, 2005

found at catholicinsight.com/online/theology/article_653.shtml

Things like THE PROMISE, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL, THE LAW OF ATTRACTION and THE TAPPING SOLUTION all have one thing in common: the sacred self. New Age stuff is all about that. God’s ways are mysterious but the STRONG DELUSION is meant to blur any insight we have unto HIS WAYS.

I think God wants all the glory and not just some of it. Just to consider.

Amen?
 
Just this past week, a very conservative (FSSP) Catholic priest recommended the EFT technique to me as a way to cure anxiety. He said that it really worked, as it helped him to quit smoking.
 
While its so awesome that God gave us these very capable nad curious minds to reflect on and assess the various things of the world we live in, we also have a church which provides us wit the much needed guidance when trying to sort things out on our own.

Respectfully, I am just a little struck that These replies sound like a lot of opinion, without a lot of consulting the teachings of our Church. If we truly trust that God has formed our Faith, than wouldn’t the most healing solution be to trust Him and what the Church teaches, until something changes? Even Galileo, in his day, was faithful to submit his findings to the Church because he saw the grace-filled opportunity of choosing obedience and faith over self-reliance and invention. Shortly thereafter the Church, who was a leading intellectual force in that day could make the declarations about his scientific findings and all was in the right order for him to be most humble in the gifts of scientific discovery he was given, for the sake of the world and advancement of civilization.

Its prudent to exercise caution about what exactly are the “energies” being manipulated by these various techniques, and are there ordinary and material ways to address the issue at hand so as to not go against the teachings of our faith for the sake of some superstitious hope in disguise as easy healing…

Here’s below is some solid (name removed by moderator)ut IMHO from Women of Grace, and thanks for letting me share. I have personal experience that these things go way off track really easily, and am just concerned for your relationship with Our God of all Healing who does really want whats best for us, and for the dignity of your whole person to not be broken up into someone elses version of little energy bits…👍

Is it Christian?
Compounding this problem are attempts by practitioners to apply a Christian veneer to these practices to make them more palatable to the faithful. For instance, some practitioners claim that Jesus may have used Reiki, or claim the energy they are manipulating is actually the Holy Spirit. Others say that one can simply substitute the name of Jesus or God for this energy force, or choose to believe its source is God, and they will not be violating Christian tenets.

But this is not true simply because the very basis of energy medicine – the energy itself – is not a Christian belief, but a thoroughly New Age concept.
“The New Age god is an impersonal energy, a particular extension or component of the cosmos; god in this sense is the life-force or soul of the world,” writes the authors of the Pontifical document Jesus Christ Bearer of the Water of Life.

“This is very different from the Christian understanding of God as the maker of heaven and earth and the source of all personal life. God is in himself personal, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created the universe in order to share the communion of His life with creaturely persons.”

In addition, Christians believe that man is a union of body and soul and that the soul is an essential form of the body – not an energy force.

“From a spiritual perspective, it is the soul that is the life-principle of the body, not something else. Consequently, there is no spiritual ‘life energy’ animating the body,” write the apologists at Catholic Answers. “Any energy used as part of the body’s operations” such as the electricity in our nervous systems “is material in nature, not spiritual. . . . Since this is contrary to Christian theology, it is inappropriate for Christians to participate in activities based on this belief.”
 
TV0 said:
Maybe might want to read the following:

The Church and the New Age Movement
By Dr. John B. Shea, M.D., FRCP(C)
Issue: November, 2005

This link is broken. There is currently ongoing medical research into Tapping on meridian points and kinesiology. And I don’t know what your qualifications are with regards to being a medical professional. I would say if your doctor or therapist suggested tapping, that it has proven effective in the treatment of some disorders; and there is no harm done in trying it. I agree with the individual that said that acupressure and acupuncture have been around for millennia. As long as the person does not involve themselves in a Chinese religion, there is no harm done. While some EFT practitioners also do The Law of Attraction, it is not a requirement. I read an entire book on Tapping and it did not mention the Law of Attraction at all.

found at catholicinsight.com/online/theology/article_653.shtml

Things like THE PROMISE, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL, THE LAW OF ATTRACTION and THE TAPPING SOLUTION all have one thing in common: the sacred self. New Age stuff is all about that. God’s ways are mysterious but the STRONG DELUSION is meant to blur any insight we have unto HIS WAYS.

I think God wants all the glory and not just some of it. Just to consider.

Amen?
Click to expand...
 
I’m glad this topic has come up. I’ve done tapping and it often works well. The technique is used to relieve stress caused by worry, illness, anxiety, pain and the like. It has no spiritual component. Since it does not include the use of drugs it should be placed in the category of holistic medicine.

I recommend one change. The technique includes an unnecessary psychological step called an “affirmation” in which the person “deeply and fully accepts himself”. Catholics can leave this part out and just do the tapping.

Also we should know that stress and anxiety can often have a nutritional cause. A good example is magnesium deficiency, which is very common, and can cause symptoms of depression.
 
Regarding the tapping affirmation “I deeply and completely accept myself” I think Catholics should change it to something like this:

“Even though I have this (sore shoulder), I deeply and completely place myself in God’s hands”
 
laruecharles said:
Regarding the tapping affirmation “I deeply and completely accept myself” I think Catholics should change it to something like this:

“Even though I have this (sore shoulder), I deeply and completely place myself in God’s hands”
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I like your alternative. I don’t think anyone should “deeply and completely accept oneself” because that tends to imply “deeply and completely fail to discern one’s own true character or, yes, failings”.

We treat failings in our society as though they made us lesser people–hence the need for “self esteem” movements and the like. A healthy examination of one’s own actions does not mean that we hate ourselves, as these kinds of mottos would seem to have us believe.

Thankfully there is a wisdom much, much bigger than you, me and all of us combined.
 
The Emotional Freedom Technique, EFT, also known as tapping, is not an “evidence-based practice,” clinically it is only classified as a “promising practice.” I have serious doubts about it’s use after having been exposed to it, first by a trusted Catholic friend who happens to be a licensed therapist and again through a mental health institution I am associated with. (Please note that that institution does not use EFT in treating its clients - that in and of itself is neither an endorsement nor a condemnation of the technique on the part of the institution.)

EFT is based on the non-scientific practices of mind-body medicine and the traditional Chinese medicine form of acupuncture which is based on the alleged existence of opposing energy forces known as yin and yang rather than the medical form. These practices are both based on a pantheistic belief in a universal life force which is not compatible with Christianity

The founder of EFT is not a psychologist, psychiatrist, nor a licensed therapist. He is a Stanford engineering graduate, a minister in a non-denominational church, and an avid student of A Course in Miracles-which in and of itself should be a warning sign.

After all that I’ve learned about EFT I’ve chosen to stay away from it, far away from it.
 
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